Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 13

Posted on October 23, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf, Undated Photo

Georgette Bauerdorf at the wheel of a Jeep at Camp Pendleton in an undated photo, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

The final hours of Georgette Bauerdorf’s life remain something of a mystery.

On Oct. 11, 1944, Georgette departed alone from the Hollywood Canteen between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. She apparently picked up a hitchhiking serviceman, Sgt. Gordon R. Aadland, at Sunset Boulevard a few blocks west of Vine Street between 11 p.m. and midnight, a location in the vicinity of the Hollywood Canteen, which was at 1451 N. Cahuenga Blvd. just south of Sunset Boulevard.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31

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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 12

Posted on October 22, 2014 by lmharnisch

Hollywood Canteen

The Hollywood Canteen as portrayed in the 1944 film “Hollywood Canteen.” And being a movie, this is a set, not the actual canteen.

Hollywood Canteen snapshot

For comparison, here’s an undated snapshot of the actual canteen. Notice that there’s no awning and no portrait studio next door.

As a junior hostess at the Hollywood Canteen, Georgette Bauerdorf was scheduled once a week on Wednesday nights. On the night of Oct. 11, 1944, she was nervous and anxious, according to her friend June Ziegler, 20, 1851 Linda Rose Ave., Eagle Rock, who also volunteered as a hostess on Wednesdays.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Antisocial Parking

Posted on October 21, 2014 by lmharnisch

well_behaved_women_parking_2014_1021_rotate_02

Well-behaved women seldom make history, but they also don’t take two parking spaces.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 11

Posted on October 21, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf, George Bauerdorf, Connie Bauerdorf
Georgette Bauerdorf, left, George F. Bauerdorf and Constance Ann “Connie” Bauerdorf Dillon in an undated photo, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Although Georgette Bauerdorf, 20, was living by herself in the apartment at El Palacio, 8493 Fountain Ave., in the weeks before she was killed, she was not entirely unsupervised. She had regular contact with her father’s secretary, Rose L. Gilbert, who lived at 6450 W. Olympic Blvd.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31

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Posted in 1944, Architecture, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo — B.J. Merholz Edition (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

 

Oct. 25, 2014, Mystery Photo
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1942 Paramount film “Lucky Jordan,” starring Alan Ladd, Helen Walker, future TV producer Sheldon Leonard, Mabel Paige, Marie McDonald and Russell Hoyt. Anthony Caruso, better known for Star Trek’s “A Piece of the Action,” has a brief scene.   It was written by Darrell Ware and Karl Tunberg, based on a story by Charles Leonard.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Nigel De Brulier — Soothsayer From the East?

Posted on October 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Nigel de Brulier Nigel de Brulier, courtesy of Mary Mallory.


For decades, Hollywood typed actors for their looks, personality, temperament, a shorthand telling audiences what they could expect whenever the actor appeared. Some personalities like Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, and Cary Grant rocketed to fame through their megawatt looks and charm, deep talent, or fierce drive. Others like Franklin Pangborn, Ned Sparks, Edna May Oliver, and Thelma Ritter provided tart flavor to films as prominent character actors, adding zesty spark, comic interludes, or high energy with their strong characterizations.

Gaunt, imploring Nigel de Brulier, a live version of an El Greco painting, added a note of mysticism or fanaticism to silent films with his impassioned clerics or wild-eyed madmen. His characters often seemed to inhabit their own spiritual worlds. Tall, lean, gaunt and possessing piercing eyes, de Brulier endured ill health and work struggles as a young man, bringing realistic fervor and devotion to his roles.

Corrections: This post changes the year De Brulier declared an interest in U.S. citizenship from 1909 to 1899 and notes that he was in the second screen version of “Ramona,” the first being made in 1910.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

1944 on the Radio — Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge

Posted on October 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Oct. 20, 1944: Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge. Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 10

Posted on October 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 16, 1944, Daily News

Georgette Bauerdorf arm in arm with two servicemen, published in the Daily News, Oct. 16, 1944. 

Georgette Bauerdorf, 20, had been living alone in an apartment at El Palacio, 8493 Fountain Ave., since Aug. 28, 1944, when her sister, father and stepmother left to go back East.

News accounts say that while Georgette was by herself in the apartment, she was extremely generous with visiting servicemen.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31

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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

To the (Anonymous) Author of This Editorial: I Dance on Your Grave

Posted on October 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 16, 1944, Los Angeles Examiner

Oct. 16, 1944, in the Los Angeles Examiner.

Posted in 1944, World War II | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

1944 on the Radio – NBC Symphony With Marian Anderson, October 15, 1944

Posted on October 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

Radio Dial 1944


Oct. 15, 1944: The NBC Symphony Orchestra, with guest Marian Anderson, conducted by Frank Black. Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 9

Posted on October 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 13, 1944, Daily News

A portrait of Georgette Bauerdorf published in the Daily News, Oct. 13, 1944.

It’s unclear from news reports whether Georgette Bauerdorf was pursuing any further education after apparently graduating from the Westlake School for Girls. Several stories in the Los Angeles papers say that she worked at one of the local papers, possibly as a copy messenger, but none of the stories identifies the newspaper. The Daily News (Oct. 13, 1944) said: “Last year, anxious to become a newspaper reporter, she worked for several weeks on a Los Angeles daily.”

The newspaper accounts of the killing say that she was a junior hostess at the Hollywood Canteen, but none of them say when she began. Apparently she was one of about 30 young women who volunteered at the canteen on Wednesday nights.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31

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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 8

Posted on October 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 13, 1944, Herald

The Herald-Examiner published a photo of Georgette Bauerdorf with a question mark, one of its visual cliches of the 1940s, Oct. 13, 1944.

The investigation revealed that the young woman found face-down in the bathtub at 8493 Fountain Ave., was Georgette Bauerdorf, who was born in New York on May 6, 1924. Her father was George F. Bauerdorf and her mother was Constance Bauerdorf. She had an older sister, Constance Ann Bauerdorf, born May 1, 1920 (d. 2014).

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, Oct. 14, 1944

Posted on October 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 14, 1944, Comics

Oct. 14, 1944:

Danton Walker says: David Sarnoff, RCA president, predicts a television gadget that will be worn on the wrist but contains a practical television screen.

Louella Parsons says: Constance Moore and Dennis O’Keefe report next week for “The Earl Carroll Vanities” — but hold everything! Republic has just bought the rights to the title and there’s not a single Carroll beauty in the lineup. And Earl, himself, will be conspicuously missing. I can’t think of anything funner, except a Ziegfeld Follies movie without a Follies girl!

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.
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Posted in 1944, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

 

image
This week’s mystery movie has been “Badlands” (1973), written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek and Warren Oates. I generally avoid more recent films, figuring that they are too easy, but realized that 41 years isn’t all that recent anymore. I chose “Badlands” because it was based on the Charles Starkweather saga of the 1950s.  I try to vary the eras and genres to make the mystery films more challenging, although I have neglected musicals because most are so well known and westerns because I don’t have many in the archives.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 40 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf: An Unsolved Murder, Part 7

Posted on October 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

 

Oct. 13, 1944, Georgette Bauerdorf

Georgette Bauerdorf found dead, Oct. 13, 1944, Los Angeles Times.

Oct. 13, 1944

This account has been assembled from newspaper stories that generally agree, but contradict one another on some details. Newspapers of this era often published long excerpts from coroner’s inquests, but not in the Bauerdorf case, so I have had to gather the details piecemeal. Here’s what I have gleaned from The Times, the Examiner, the Daily News and the Herald-Express.

Note that breaking news stories in this era were typically done by rewrite men taking information over the phone. As a result, names are often spelled phonetically, depending on what the rewrite man thought he heard, such as Atwood/Attwood and Lulu/Lula.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
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Posted in 1944, Black Dahlia, Homicide | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Dick Grace, Hollywood’s Daredevil Sky Pilot

Posted on October 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

 

photoplay2829movi_0186
Dick Grace in action.


Hollywood and aviation took off at about the same points in history, helping to put each other on the map. Early American aviators inaugurated the fledgling field in the early 1900s, just as early filmmakers were introducing short motion pictures to the American public. These film directors and producers sought out the magical sport of flying, capturing it with their cameras and screening it for astonished audiences. The Wright brothers’ first flight, the Dominguez 1909 Air Rally, as well as several others, were shot as moving pictures and shown to the public. Soon, stars themselves took to the air, with actress Mabel Normand possibly the first celebrity aloft in the 1914 Keystone short, “A Dash Through the Clouds.” Aviation really took off when it helped win the Great War in 1918.

Air thrills excited audiences, particularly those tricks performed by former war pilots barnstorming the country, so the movie industry quickly turned their cameras to the skies. Early films captured flying stunts by building large stands atop high hills and shooting angles that made it appear stars were aloft in the area. By the early 1920s, studios hired veteran aerialists to devise spectacular air stunts to energize moviegoers, stunts which also goosed the adrenaline of the thrill-seeking pilots. Mostly forgotten today, except by dedicated aviation fans, Richard “Dick” Grace stands out as perhaps Hollywood’s top daredevil sky pilot, intentionally diving and crashing planes for movies, living to tell the tale. Grace’s life and flying career rival any daring adventure concocted by film studios.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in Aviation, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Wikipedia vs. Joe Streater

Posted on October 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

Awful Announcing.com

Thanks to Earl Boebert for pointing us to this one. From Awfulannouncing.com:

For years, [Joe] Streater has been falsely linked with one of the greatest scandals in the history of college sports. Streater was 100% not involved in the point shaving scandal despite the fact media organizations including Sports Illustrated, The Associated Press, local media outlets, and Boston College blogs say he did. Here’s the AP version:

“BC basketball players Rick Kuhn, Joe Streater and Jim Sweeney were persuaded to fix nine Eagles games during the season. Kuhn and two money men were handed 10 years each in prison.”

Streater wasn’t even on the team or in school at that time the point shaving took place in the 1978-1979 season, an observation that is occasionally made on message boards and comment sections, but is quickly dismissed given the abundance of articles stating that Streater was among those involved.

So how does a man’s name become besmirched to the point where his false indiscretions are constantly retold to the point they become common fact in today’s media?

The answer – Wikipedia.

Previously:

Me vs. Wikipedia

Another Wikipedia Hoax Exposed

I Accidentally Started a Wikipedia Hoax

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth, Part 19

Posted in Sports, Wikipedia | Tagged , | Comments Off on Wikipedia vs. Joe Streater

1944 on the Radio — Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge

Posted on October 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

October 11, 1944: Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge. Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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Georgette Bauerdorf: An Unsolved Murder, Part 6

Posted on October 10, 2014 by lmharnisch

El Palacio Apartments

El Palacio Apartments, 8491 Fountain Ave., in a photo from the Los Angeles Herald-Express, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

image
El Palacio in 2008, as shown by Google Street View.

Los Angeles Times, May 10, 1931: El Palacio is dedicated.

El Palacio Apartments, where Georgette Bauerdorf was killed, were designed and built by William R. Hauptman, with gardens by Seymour Thomas. By the time El Palacio opened, Hauptman had built several apartment buildings in West Hollywood, including the Coral Gables, Royal Madrid, Royal Palms, Villa Poinsettia and   Wyngate Manor. The Times noted that in December 1928 that the emperor of Japan attended the dedication of the Lotus Garden apartments, which adjoin El Palacio.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |  Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31

Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, Oct. 10, 1944

Posted on October 10, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 10, 1944, Comics

Oct. 10, 1944

Walter Winchell: All Around the Town

The Waldorf’s special entrance for private railroad cars … Ramshackle Lower East Side apartments without any bathing facilities – in the world’s most modern city .. The 22 reservoirs that supply the town with aqua … Sidewalk tie salesmen now hawking campaign buttons as a sideline … Debutantes perched on a limb of their family tree – looking down on the peasants … Greenwich Village trees that live without sun and water … Bowling Green, the burg’s oldest park, where the Injuns sold Manhattan … West Street, the most expensive waterfront property in the world: $470,000 an acre. At one time it was covered with water … Card sharps who sit in cheap hotel lobbies and practice shuffling cards … Grimy houses near Washington Market that were swanky mansions a century ago. Time rubs the glamour off everything.

Louella Parsons says: The news was hardly out that “Jubal Troop” had been postponed than Claudette Colbert was knee deep in scripts. The story that caught her attention, and the one she has accepted is “Guest Wife,” which she will do for Bruce Manning and Jack Skirball. But hold everything — that isn’t all! Don Amecho co-stars with Claudette. This means Don’s first independent fling, “What Manners of Love,” will wait.

Now it is Carole Landis wealthy Al Vanderbilt is beauing to the nightspots. Apparently he and K.T. Stevens are no longer romancing, for he is seeing the ex-Mrs. Wallace every eve.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments