James Curtis: L.A. Voices – Dick Lane, Part 7

Posted on August 31, 2011 by lmharnisch

spade_cooley_1954_0216_crop
Photo: Spade Cooley, named the honorary mayor of Encino, gives dictation to secretary Gloria Murphy, who is riding his stallion, Golden Nugget, 1954.

This is Part 7 of James Curtis’ 1975 interview with Dick Lane. In this segment, Lane discusses roller derby, professional wrestling,  Gorgeous George, Spade Cooley, the Santa Monica Ballroom, Klaus Landsberg, and a famous incident in Los Angeles TV lore in which Lane put his hand through the fender of a used car during a commercial.

James Curtis’ interview with Dick Lane Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Continue reading →

Posted in 1982, Film, Hollywood, James Curtis, L.A. Voices, Obituaries, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Found on EBay – Hartsook Portrait

Posted on August 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Anita King Hartsook

This Hartsook photo of Anita King as a gypsy girl, possibly from the 1915 film “Carmen” starring Geraldine Farrar and Wallace Reid, has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $24.97.

Posted in 1915, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – Hartsook Portrait

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on August 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Aug. 30, 2011, Mystery Photo

[Update: This is Carrie Finnell. Please congratulate Dewey Webb for identifying her. Finnell (d. 1963) was a famous stripteuse of the 1920s and ‘30s who invented the art of tassel twirling with her “educated muscles,” shown here in repose. ]

Here’s our mystery lady du jour.

July 30, 1938, Carrie Finnell
July 30, 1938: Carrie Finnell and her “educated muscles” at the Follies! 

Continue reading →

Posted in Mystery Photo, Photography, Stage | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Tenor Salvatore Licitra in Coma, Fights Lung Inflammation

Posted on August 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Salvatore Licitra

Tenor Salvatore Licitra remains in a coma after an accident Saturday night in which he crashed his Vespa, sustaining injuries to his head and chest.  According to Italian news reports, doctors at Garibaldi Hospital say Licitra is on a ventilator and they are treating an inflammation of the lungs.

“Even if it can be improved, it is not possible to predict which brain functions are still intact,” according to a Google translation of RagusaNews.com.

According to Italian news reports, Licitra was going about 30 mph and riding without a helmet at the time of the crash, sustaining  severe injuries to his head and chest. Italian news reports are vague, but apparently Licitra lost control of his scooter. No other vehicles were involved.  He was taken to a hospital in Modica  and transferred by helicopter to Garibaldi Hospital in Catania.

Licitra was en route to receive the Premio Ragusani nel Mondo on Sept. 3.

ALSO

Tenor Salvatore Licitra in Critical Condition After Crash

Tenor Salvatore Licitra Injured in Vespa Accident

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tenor Salvatore Licitra in Coma, Fights Lung Inflammation

Rosa Parks Archives Off-Limits to Scholars

Posted on August 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

rosa_parks_archive
Photo: The Rosa Parks archive. Credit: Guernsey’s Auctioneers.

 

Julian Bond and Jeanne Theoharis have a piece in the Washington Post’s opinion pages tracing the troubled history of Rosa Parks’ archives.

Parks’ papers and other items have been caught in a legal dispute between her relatives and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. Guernsey’s Auctioneers was awarded custody of the material by a probate judge and ordered to sell it to a single buyer with various claimants dividing the proceeds. As the material languishes in legal limbo (apparently every library wants it but none can afford it), scholars are denied access to Parks’ material.

Bond and Theoharis write:

It is unthinkable that a collection of Thomas Jefferson’s or Martin Luther King Jr.’s papers could be locked away for four years, let alone put up for auction without a single scholar being allowed a preliminary view to assess its value to American culture and history. Indeed, scholarly appraisal would be assumed to increase the importance and value of the material. But Rosa Parks has been reduced to a children’s book hero — lauded as the “mother of the civil rights movement,” not treated as a serious political thinker in her own right. Through the hype surrounding the posthumous sale of her possessions, which include her party gowns, glasses and sewing basket, she has been transformed into some sort of celebrity commodity.

The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat, freshly sculpted with European craftsmanship by the bots a paper.li. The bots are leading with TMZ’s “Kim K — Mystery Buyer Wants Sex Tape Off the Market.”  Oh goodie.

Posted in African Americans, History, Libraries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 7

Posted on August 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 8, 1943, Zoot Suit Riots

Photo: June 8, 1943 — A mob of servicemen stop a streetcar on Main Street to remove a passenger wearing a zoot suit.

Here’s a second radio address by Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, delivered June 16, 1943, on the Zoot Suit Riots. Bowron discusses letters he has received, the way Hollywood influences Los Angeles’ image, the city’s financial standing and buying War Bonds to finance a cruiser to be named the Los Angeles.

Notice the reference to the Beebe case. This was a famous 1943 police brutality case involving Stanley H. Beebe, who died at Los Angeles County Hospital after telling emergency personnel that he  had been kicked in the stomach by a police officer following his arrest for public drunkenness.  The Beebe case would require numerous posts, so I won’t get into it further at this point.

Copies of Bowron’s speeches may be found at the city archives, where I copied them years ago.

“Zoot Suit” and History, Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Latinos, Radio, San Francisco, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on ‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 7

Found on EBay – Witzel Photo of Dorothy Dalton

Posted on August 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dorothy Dalton Witzel

This Witzel portrait of actress Dorothy Dalton has been listed on EBay. That’s some fur coat she is wearing! The photo is listed as Buy It Now for $14.99.

Posted in Fashion, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Photography, Witzel | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – Witzel Photo of Dorothy Dalton

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on August 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

Aug. 29, 2011, Mystery Photo

[Update: No one identified mystery woman Ruth Clifford (d. 1998) in “Hollywood Boulevard” which featured former mystery folks Esther Ralston, Jack Mulhall, Betty Compson and Creighton Hale!].

Here’s today’s mystery woman, courtesy of Steven Bibb!

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Tenor Salvatore Licitra ‘Struggling Valiantly’ After Crash

Posted on August 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

 

Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra is in serious but stable condition, according to Sergio Pintaudi of Garibaldi Hospital in Catania, where the singer is being treated for head and chest injuries after crashing on his Vespa Saturday night.

Pintaudi said that Licitra is “struggling valiantly” but the injuries to his brain are serious.

Hospital Director Angelo Pellicano said Licitra was in a coma with extensive injuries when he was brought to the hospital by helicopter from another facility.

The above is based on Google translations of Italian news reports.

La Repubblica | Corriere del Mezzogiorno

Also:

Tenor Salvatore Licitra in Critical Condition After Crash

Tenor Salvatore Licitra Injured in Vespa Accident


Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on August 29, 2011 by lmharnisch
hearse_chevy_suburban_ebay
Photo: 2001 Chevy Suburban hearse for sale on EBay. Bidding starts at $7,000.

Queen of the Dead – dateline August 29, 2011

• When songwriting great Jerry Leiber (“Hound Dog,” “Ready to Begin Again,” “Yakety Yak,” “Stand By Me,” “On Broadway”) died on Aug. 22 at 78, I asked musician and writer Josh Alan Friedman—who knew Jerry—for his input. “I’ve thought a lot about this,” says Josh. “Jerry was smarter, wittier, greater and more important than Irving Berlin. Trying to be sensitive about it, I’ll say I really love and miss the bastard.” My glam writer friend Donna Lethal adds, “Josh knew many more sides of Jerry than I did – I only knew the flirty Jerry, who refused to believe he was aging. I cut his veggies when he wasn’t looking and let him grab my leg under the table.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Queen of the Dead | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Tenor Salvatore Licitra in Critical Condition After Crash [Updated]

Posted on August 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

Salvatore Licitra Tenor Salvatore Licitra is hospitalized in critical condition with head and chest injuries at an Italian hospital after a Vespa accident on Saturday night near Modica, in the province of Ragusa, while he was en route to receive the Premio Ragusani nel Mondo on Sept. 3.

According to Italian news reports, Licitra was going about 30 mph and riding without a helmet at the time of the crash, sustaining  severe injuries to his head and chest. Italian news reports are vague, but apparently Licitra lost control of his scooter. No other vehicles were involved.  He was taken to a hospital in Modica  and transferred by helicopter to Garibaldi Hospital in Catania.

Doctors are trying to reduce swelling. Licitra’s condition is “complex,” according to the Google translation.

[Update: Licitra’s unidentified girlfriend, a passenger on the  scooter,  apparently sustained little if any injuries in the crash. Italian news reports said she was waiting at the hospital for word on Licitra’s condition.]

Licitra’s official website has some information.

EARLIER

Tenor Salvatore Licitra Injured in Vespa Accident [Updated]

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tenor Salvatore Licitra in Critical Condition After Crash [Updated]

New Light on the Death of Joe Hill

Posted on August 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

Nov. 20, 1915, Joe Hill Executed

Nov. 20, 1915: The Times publishes the account of the execution of Joe Hill (Joe Hillstrom)  by firing squad.

 

The New York Times has two terrific stories that are well worth your time.

The first is Rachel Donadio’s feature on the search for a lost work by Leonardo da Vinci, which might be hidden behind a fresco in the Palazzo Vecchio. Giorgio Vasari, the fresco artist, left what might be a tantalizing clue: “cerca trova” — “seek and you shall find” painted on a battle standard.

The second is Steven Greenhouse’s story on new research into the death of labor activist Joe Hill. William M. Adler, the author of a new biography titled “The Man Who Never Died,” says that he found a letter from Hill’s girlfriend explaining that he was shot by a rival suitor and not during the fatal holdup of a market — the crime for which he was executed in 1915.

On the jump: Joe Hill’s execution.

The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat assembled to the highest standards from Twitter feeds by the bots at paper.li.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Labor, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Tenor Salvatore Licitra Injured in Vespa Accident [Updated]

Posted on August 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

Websites are reporting that tenor Salvatore Licitra, who first gained fame as a last-minute cover for Luciano Pavarotti at the Met, was badly injured in a Vespa accident.

[Update: According to Google translations of Italian websites, Licitra was on his way to receive an award at the time of the crash. No other vehicles were apparently involved. It sounds as if he lost control of his scooter. His unidentified girlfriend, a passenger on the scooter, was not badly injured, according to reports.]

[Update: Met prepares for ailing Pavarotti, 2002, New York Times. | Licitra debuts at the Met, New York Times. | Licitra makes L.A. Opera debut, 2005, L.A. Times.  ]

Arts Journal here: http://bit.ly/nNs4zq

ANSA report here: http://bit.ly/qEab3v

La Republica here: http://bit.ly/oHxvyM

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Mystery of the Crimean Cannonballs

Posted on August 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

I was so intrigued by Roger Fenton’s 1855 photo from the Crimean War that I thought I’d do a little experimentation.

Crimea

Image: With cannonballs. Credit: Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.

Crimea

Image: Without cannonballs. Credit: Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Continue reading →

Posted in 1855, Another Good Story Ruined, Photography | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated++]

Posted on August 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

Aug. 27, 2011, Mystery Photo

Here’s another mystery photo, courtesy of Steven Bibb!

[Update: Nobody has even attempted to identify our mystery lady. I guess I’ll leave her as an unknown for now. ]

[Update 2: I stand corrected, thanks Dewey! There were two guesses. This is Patricia Dane!]

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

An Inquiry Into Photographic Truth

Posted on August 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

Las Vegas Mob Experience

Image: The Las Vegas Mob Experience.

Nancy Trejos of the Washington Post visits the Las Vegas Mob Experience, an interactive museum/theme park,  (tickets $30) at the Tropicana.

As I bought my ticket, the young lady behind the counter said, in an accent I would have expected to hear in Queens, “Sign your lives away. If you’re whacked, it’s not my fault.”

The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat assembled with soft Corinthian leather by the bots at paper.li.

Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Courts, History, Museums, Photography | Tagged , | Comments Off on An Inquiry Into Photographic Truth

Found on EBay – Great White Fleet Visits L.A., 1908

Posted on August 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

Great White Fleet, 1908

A photographic postcard of the Great White Fleet’s visit to Los Angeles in 1908 has been listed on EBay. Notice that it has been pulled from a scrapbook.  Bidding starts at $3.69.

Posted in 1908, Found on EBay, Harbor | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – Great White Fleet Visits L.A., 1908

Marion Eisenmann: Artist’s Notebook – L.A. Marathon

Posted on August 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

Mach 21, 2010, L.A. Marathon

“L.A. Marathon,” by Marion Eisenmann

Note: I’m reposting the artwork that Marion Eisenmann did for the Daily Mirror when it was with latimes.com. This entry is from last year’s L.A. Marathon. Marion will be giving monthly classes in plein air painting on Thursdays at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia.

Marion Eisenmann and I decided to try something different from our exploration of local landmarks by going to Santa Monica to see the finish of the 2010 L.A. Marathon. I found a good viewing spot at the base of a light pole on Ocean Avenue just beyond the finish line, while Marion looked for interesting images to combine in a collage of the race.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Art & Artists, Artist's Notebook, Marion Eisenmann | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Marion Eisenmann: Artist’s Notebook – L.A. Marathon

Texas Cattle Rustler Gets 99 Years

Posted on August 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

Carl Wade Curry
Photo: Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assn. Special Rangers Scott Williamson and Marvin Wills along with Carl Wade Curry. Credit: Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assn.

Carl Wade Curry of Athens, Texas, was sentenced to 99 years for cattle rustling. Betsy Blaney for the Associated Press in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. And here’s a 2010 story about Curry’s arrest from the North Texas e-News.

ps. Curry acted as his own lawyer.

The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat sculpted from the most exclusive Twitter feeds with Old World craftsmanship by the bots at paper.li.

Posted in Animals, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A Kinder Simpler Time Dept.: Bank Holiday and Long Beach Quake, 1933

Posted on August 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

March 3, 1933, Bank Holiday

March 11, 1933, Long Beach Quake

image
In researching the premiere of “Nagana” and brief career of Tala Birell, I stumbled across a series of stories from 1933 that was worth a closer look. Are things tough today? To be sure. But here’s what our grandparents (or great-grandparents) had to deal with:

On March 1, 1933, California Gov. James Rolph declared a bank holiday that was supposed to last three days but didn’t end until newly inaugurated President Roosevelt reopened the nation’s banks on March 11. Just in time for the Long Beach earthquake.

The Times published series of cartoons by Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale and a long editorial urging readers to remain calm and that all would be well. The bank holiday was, at worst, a temporary inconvenience, The Times said.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Comics, History | Tagged , , | 1 Comment