Keith Thursby writes: The Rams picked a real winner in the NFL annual draft.
Rafer Johnson would become world famous in 1960 by winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the Rome Olympics. He already held the world record in the event and when not competing in track was playing basketball at UCLA.
This post originally appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org.
Jan. 22, 1959: Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer is shot to death in a fight with Moses Samuel Stiltz. According to police, Switzer borrowed a dog belonging to Stiltz, then lost the dog. Switzer paid $50 for the return of Stiltz’s dog. Switzer decided Stiltz owed him the money and a fight ensued. Somewhere there should be the line: “both had been drinking heavily” and here we have it: “Switzer had three beers and a Martini.” The shooting occurred at the home of Rita Jane Corrigan, former wife of Ray “Crash” Corrigan.
Keith Thursby writes: I finally found a Times story in which the paper talked about people living in the Chavez Ravine area. Cordell Hicks’ short story told of some local kids who tried to find a place in their neighborhood to play baseball.
Hicks wrote: “They were out in force yesterday with pick and shovel and a burro named Jenny Lind intent on clearing a portion of the site they hope will be a 40-acre youth recreation center promised by [Dodger owner Walter] O’Malley. ‘We can’t wait forever,” they said.”
Father Raymond Reha, director at Queen of Angels school, said the boys “have grown strong and quick climbing these hills and scrambling in and out of the arroyos. They could be the baseball players on tomorrow.”
Note: This post was published in 2009 on latimes.com and is available via Archive.org.
Now that Anastas Mikoyan has returned whence he came, a lady named Natasha Smith would like a few unkind words.
She was born and reared in Russia and barely escaped with her life during the revolution. She speaks and understands the language.
She watched TV interviews in which Mikoyan answered questions through an interpreter. She knew what he and the interpreter said. She found Mikoyan very sharp and admired his sense of humor.
She is certain, however, that Mikoyan understands some English and used the time taken to translate to figure out his answers, usually evasive or retaliatory.
The reason she is sure of this is that she caught him a couple of times answering questions before they had been fully asked.
Jan. 21, 1959: Matt Weinstock has a roundup of light items, including the visit of Soviet leader Anastas Mikoyan, some poetry, pranks and funny stories. A perfect way to end the day.
Weinstock’s column was published in 1959 in the L.A. Mirror and reposted on latimes.com in 2009. It is available via Archive.org.
Jan. 21, 1959: Paul Coates takes a look at the way pornography (and pretty light stuff at that) was peddled in the 1950s, when it was illegal to send such things through the mail.
Coates’ column was originally published in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and reposted on latimes.com in 2009. It is available via Archive.org.
Before TNT airs “I Am the Night,” (“inspired by a true story,”) I’m digging for references to Fauna Hodel, George Hodel and the Black Dahlia. So far, it’s not going well..
On June 2, 1976, the Nevada State Journal published a story about Fauna that says she tracked down “her natural mother and found her — in Hawaii. ‘I also found some new brothers I didn’t know I had,’ she added. It was a pleasant meeting and they correspond occasionally. And her curiosity is satisfied.”
In a later story, Fauna would describe Tamar Hodel as “the hippie of the year.”
What she apparently did not find is anything about her grandfather George Hodel or the Black Dahlia. And Fauna’s unfinished 1990 biopic also didn’t mention the Black Dahlia or George Hodel.
Maybe we should call “I Am the Night” “inspired by a new story.”
March 17-18, 1968: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. calls for the end of the Vietnam war in appearances at the Disneyland Hotel and Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
This post originally appeared on latimes.com in 2008 and is available via Archive.org.
Retired LAPD Capt. Ed Jokisch , who was in the Homicide Division in the 1940s, fought back against the claims in Steve Hodel’s “Black Dahlia Avenger” franchise until his death in 2011. This letter from former Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay agrees with Jokisch that there was no coverup by the LAPD.
I’m posting this now because TNT’s “I Am the Night” may raise questions about LAPD complicity in the Black Dahlia case. If you are new to the “Black Dahlia Avenger” franchise, Kay supported Steve Hodel’s case against his father, Dr. George Hodel. But even Kay thought Steve Hodel was going too far in claiming a massive LAPD coverup.
The letter was originally published on the “Warning Bells” blog of Gary Ingemunson, the independent counsel for the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Dear Brain Trust: I received word this week of the loss to cancer of one of our prolific, knowledgeable and veteran contributors, Lee Ann of the trio of solvers Lee Ann, Megan and Thom, who moved with us from latimes.com to the ladailymirror in 2011. I have never met most of you, but I look forward to your answers every week and devote much thought to selecting a movie and the various images. More than one of you has written to me privately thanking me for the mystery movie and telling me how this little quiz has helped them get through a hard time in their lives.
Please join me in sending our deepest condolences to Megan and Thom
This week’s mystery movie was the 1944 Warner Bros. film “Crime by Night,” with Jane Wyman, Jerome Cowan, Faye Emerson, Charles Lang, Eleanor Parker, Stuart Crawford, Cy Kendall and Charles Wilson.
Screenplay by Richard Weil and Joel Malone from a novel by Geoffrey Homes. Photography by Henry Sharpe (Sharp), dialogue direction Harry Seymour, film editing by Doug Gould, sound by Robert B. Lee, art decoration by Charles Novi, set decoration by Julia Heron, gowns by Leah Rhodes, makeup by Perc Westmore, special effects by Lawrence Butler and Edwin Linden. Directed by William Clemens.
“Crime by Night” has never been commercially released. It airs occasionally on TCM.
Bessie Lasky in her studio, courtesy of Jesse L. Lasky.com.
Though overshadowed by her husband, Jesse, Bessie Lasky was as much an artist as he, a multitalented artist in many fields with some renown from the 1920s through the 1950s. Born Bessie Ginzberg April 30, 1888, in Boston, the gentle, spiritual woman earned an early education in Boston’s Sacred Heart Convent before studying at the New England Conservatory of Music with hopes of becoming a pianist.
After marrying vaudeville producer Jesse L. Lasky in 1909, however, Bessie’s life turned inward as she focused on marriage and motherhood. A shy and retiring woman, Lasky preferred the quiet and peace of her garden and home to that of the overly superficial, social, and grand world of entertainment. She spent her time playing the piano and working on poems when not gardening and taking care of home and children, enjoying the life of the mind and spirit.
Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” is now on sale.
Jan. 21, 1959: The Mirror brings out an extra when Cecil B. De Mille died of a heart attack at the age of 77..
The post originally appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org.
Some earnest men in the advertising business are concerned about the derogatory image of their profession that has been created in the public mind and quietly are running it up on the flagpole to see who salutes.
As they see it, the constant references to the Madison Avenue boys as polite villains, enforcing conformity on people through fear and repetition has reached an alarming point.
They feel that even greater damage can be done potentially by the rash of current books depicting advertising and public relations men as ruthless, double-crossing, three Martini boys who will stop at nothing to sell a bill of goods.
Note: This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. It is available via Archive.org.
Fidel Castro, the bearded boy wonder of Cuba, has been sassing his kindly, benevolent, slightly wealthy Uncle Sam lately.
Young Fidel has taken it as a personal insult that a few of our congressmen are suggesting tough measures to let him know that we don’t like the way he’s doling out justice to the beaten men of Fulgencio Batista’s crumbling dictatorship.
The lad is most annoyed at one Rep. Wayne Hays (D-Ohio), chairman of the House foreign affairs subcommittee, for the latter’s suggestion that we cut off U.S. credit to Cuba, or stop importing Cuban sugar.
Fidel states flatly that how he disposes of his country’s “war criminals” is none of our business.
And I — for one — reluctantly agree.
Note: This column appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. It’s available via Archive.org.
If you’re curious about whether “I Am the Night” is indeed “inspired by a true story,” I did a bit more digging into the tale of Fauna Hodel and her unfinished film “Pretty Hattie’s Baby” (spoiler alert – there’s nothing about the Black Dahlia or Dr. George Hodel).
“Pretty Hattie’s Baby” was filmed in Reno in 1990. When the shoot finished, the Reno Gazette-Journal published a letter from Fauna “Pat” Hodel thanking the city for being so generous to the cast and crew.
But on Sept. 17, 1992, the Gazette-Journal reported that the $7.5-million film was never finished because of “litigations and financial problems.” The story by Sandra Macias said that the legal problems were settled, but that Fauna Hodel was trying to raise $3 million to finish the movie herself. Fauna said that two days of filming remained, plus two months for editing.
On June 3, 1996, the Honolulu Advertiser reported that Fauna Hodel was staging “Working the Dream: The Fauna Hodel Story,” which featured her and some friends as well as clips from the unfinished film.
Again, no mention of the Black Dahlia or Dr. George Hodel.
Jan. 19, 1959: Practical jokes in mid-century America. Matt Weinstock has the details..
The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished in 2009 on latimes.com. It is available via Archive.org.
Jan. 19, 1959: After Paul Coates column about the man who stole toupees – a new meaning for “hair loss,” he received a call from “the head of the hair department at Max Factor.” (Really)..
The column originally in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. It is available via Archive.org.
In 2007, the Library of Congress began putting historic images on Flickr (remember Flickr?) and this was one of my favorites: The first all-woman jury in Los Angeles AND the first all-women jury in California..
Warning, you will see this image for sale on EBay. It’s from the LOC and free.
Also, here’s a P-51 being built at North American Aviation.
This post originally appeared on latimes.com and is available via Archive.org.
In preparing for the launch of TNT’s “I Am the Night,” I thought it would be interesting to do a bit of research on Fauna Hodel. Just to see if she ever mentioned Dr. George Hodel earlier in her life.
I found a Nov. 24, 1990, feature in the Reno Gazette-Journal on “Pretty Hattie’s Baby,” which was being filmed on location in Reno. The film starred Alfre Woodard, Charles S. Dutton and Jill Clayburgh. For complicated reasons, it was never released.
In the feature story by Sandra Macias, Fauna Hodel calls her biological mother, Tamar, “the hippie of the year.”
And there isn’t a word about the Black Dahlia or Dr. George Hodel. Nada.
Ten years ago, when we were doing the Daily Mirror blog at latimes.com, several of us wondered what became of Butch Harris and his attempt to join the Cub Scouts.
Fortunately, the L.A. Sentinel is online and we have an answer. Unfortunately, it’s quite ugly.
According to Stanley Robertson a Scout official said Cub Scouts at 87th Street Elementary “were not ready to integrate.
Robertson also said that a “Negro official of the Boy Scouts — from another district — who reportedly chastized them, saying:
“I don’t know what you people are raising all this fuss for. These people are pretty nice. They’ve been real good to me. Look at this good job they gave me. There’s nothing wrong with separate but equal.”
We also learned Butch Harris’ first name: Lewis. The other two prospective Scouts were Victor Crowe and Gregory Johnson. As time permits, I’ll see if I can learn the final resolution.
Back in 2003, a few photos from Elizabeth Short’s scrapbook were sold on EBay for $7,611.11 Perhaps they look familiar. I archived the page (it has vanished from EBay, of course) to keep anybody from claiming that they found them in their dead father’s belongings. (Ahem).
Jan. 18, 1959: OK, it was a benefit game. But still..
Keith Thursby writes: Rosalind Wyman was a bright, young politician and a driving force in bringing the Dodgers to Los Angeles. The paper profiled the City Council member as a Times woman of the year, noting brightly that “she is quite a woman.”
“The dark-haired, more-green-than-brown-eyed young woman … wants a first-class zoo for the city, more cultural assets and greater improvements in the central district,” wrote Cordell Hicks.
This was post originally published on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org.
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