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This poster for “Secrets of a Secretary” – with an appearance by Edna Fisher and Rube Wolf, above right, has been listed on EBay. Rube Wolf isn’t terribly well-known today, except around the Daily Mirror HQ. He was a prominent composer and bandleader in Los Angeles. (Video: “Pretty Red Hibiscus”). For this event, he was appearing at Loew’s Warfield in San Francisco. Bidding on the poster starts at $199.
Watching CBS’ new savior, Jeff Sagansky, hold his first press conference this week, I kept wondering whether he’d ever heard William Link, co-creator of “Columbo,” describe the origins of that classic Peter Falk detective show.
It “should have been a failure,” Link said, because it broke five cardinal rules of network TV: “It had very little action and almost no sex. The central character often didn’t enter until 15 or 20 minutes after the opening credits. The plots were complex, demanding the viewer’s strict attention. Entire episodes could be nothing more than stretches of cat-and-mouse dialogue. The lead, when he finally did show up, wasn’t a 6-foot, granite-jawed, two-fisted hunk of macho bravado, but a short, klutzy, badly groomed, ill-attired career officer who didn’t carry a gun and was easily winded.”
”Columbo” was part of a great lineup of early 1970s mysteries on NBC that also included “The Snoop Sisters” (Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick and Art Carney as their chauffeur in the pilot episode), “Hec Ramsey” (Richard Boone), “McCloud” (Dennis Weaver) and “McMillan & Wife” (Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James).
Steven Bibb, a member of the Daily Mirror’s Brain Trust, has graciously shared some of his pictures as mystery photos. Thanks Steven!
[Update: This is Dorothy Dell in a 1934 photo from “Wharf Angel.” Please congratulate Eve Golden for identifying her!]
Dell was killed in a car wreck on Lincoln Avenue a few hundred feet past South Gate Street – an intersection I’m not able to locate – hours after a preview of her latest film, “Shoot the Works,” when the car driven by Dr. Carl Wagner struck a curb and rolled over, hitting several trees and shearing off a utility pole. Wagner was a witness in the Sphinx Murder of Pasadena. What was the Sphinx Murder? I’ll save that for another time.
[Update 2: The accident was at Lincoln Avenue and WESTgate Street in Pasadena, not South Gate. Nothing like moving a car accident to the other end of L.A. The perils of the rewrite desk taking information by phone.]
Walter L. Gordon Jr., left, and Judge William C. Beverly Jr.
This week, the UCLA library honored the 103rd birthday Walter L. Gordon Jr., one of the pioneering African American attorneys in Los Angeles. Judge William C. Beverly Jr. was also honored for donating Gordon’s rich collection of photos, which has been titled the Walter L. Gordon Jr./William C. Beverly Jr. digital collection.
I interviewed Gordon years ago, when I was researching the life of Charles Matthews, the first African American member of the Police Commission. Gordon was extremely helpful and most gracious in describing his experiences in the Los Angeles courts.
Here’s a sample from the Gordon-Beverly collection:
These are contestants in a drag ball at the Club Alabam in the 1940s.
Photo 1: Walter L. Gordon Jr. and Judge Judge William C. Beverly Jr. Credit: UCLA Digital Library
Photo 2: Drag ball at the Club Alabam, 1940s Credit: Walter L. Gordon Jr./William C. Beverly Jr. Digital Collection
Imagine my surprise to discover that there were seals in MacArthur Park. And the proof, in the form of this postcard, has been listed on EBay.
Research in The Times clips shows that seals were kept in the park, along with mud hens and swans, around 1904 to 1908. Judging by this Nov. 14, 1904, story, it didn’t go well and at least some of the seals were taken to Santa Catalina Island.
The Palace Theater, 630 S. Broadway, via Google maps’ street view.
Eric Richardson of Blogdowntown reports that the 1911 Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway, will be open for self-guided tours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m on Saturday, June 25, as part of the Bringing Back Broadway campaign.
My friend Mark Bahti has posted an excellent guide to buying Native American arts and crafts. Mark operates Bahti Indian Arts, which was founded by his father, Tom.
Mark says: Visitors to any of Arizona’s 22 tribes have a wonderful opportunity to buy handmade work directly from the artist or from an Indian entrepreneur.
But is it Indian? Or handmade? How to tell?
Mark notes: Misrepresenting goods as Indian-handmade is a federal offense so more reliable shops will not do so.
Photo: Apache crown dancers Credit: Arizona Historical Society
Steven Bibb, a member of the Daily Mirror’s Brain Trust, has graciously shared some of his pictures as mystery photos. Thanks Steven!
[Update: This mystery fellow was a toughy. Steven identifies him as Berry Kroeger from the film “The Iron Curtain.”]
[Update 2: Don Danard of the Brain Trust questions whether this is Berry Kroeger and says it’s Mauritz Hugo, who also appeared in “The Iron Curtain.” Reference photos are hard to find, but I would say Don is correct that this isn’t Kroeger, but is actually Hugo. Thanks Don!]
[Update 3: Steven says: There is no snipe on the back of the photo, just the handwritten name of the actor, “Berry Kreuger.” The front of the still says “A scene from the Twentieth Century-Fox Production “The Iron Curtain.” The still number is 720 – 31.]
One of the more prolific architects in early 20th century Los Angeles was Arthur S. Heineman, who designed this home for E.A. Webber at 2248 4th Ave. in West Adams Heights, as shown in The Times.
This Heineman home at 781 Prospect Blvd., Pasadena, is on the market for $2,990,000. According to the agent, the house was built for $17,000 ($407,276.38 USD 2010). The original owners were mining engineer Willis Hindry and his wife, Mary.
Photo: 781 Prospect Credit: Darrell Done Real Estate
Primary Resources, a blog of Metro’s Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive, has posted some images of vehicles, including this “King Tut bus,” decorated for the U.S. tour of “The Treasures of King Tutankhamun” exhibit, which was on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for four months starting in February 1978.
Photo: King Tut bus, 1978 Credit: Metro
The Autry National Center is offering two film series on Saturdays through the year.
The museum shows a Gene Autry double feature at noon on the first Saturday of the month in the Western Legacy Theater. Upcoming films are “Rhythm of the Saddle” (1938) and “Cow Town” (1950) on July 2; and “Heart of the Rio Grande” (1942) and “Sons of New Mexico” (1950) on Aug. 4.
The museum is also offering a monthly series in the Wells Fargo Theater titled “What Is a Western?” The films are “Once Upon a Time in the West” at 1:30 p.m. on July 9; “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 13; “Tombstone” (1993) at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 17; “Winchester ’73” (1950) at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 22; and “Unforgiven” (1992) at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 12. Tickets are available here.
The museum is also showing “Bells of San Angelo” (1947) at 2 p.m. on Aug. 27 to honor Roy Rogers’ centennial.
A post by Baseball Toaster alum Bob Timmermann (in private life he’s a librarian at LAPL) alerted me to the upcoming convention of the Society for American Baseball Research, July 6-10 at the Long Beach Hilton.
The group plans a bus tour of old baseball fields in Los Angeles but tickets are sold out (my pals at Esotouric ought to think about adding one to their popular lineup).
Presentations scheduled for the convention include an amazing array of historic subjects, including:
The Wonder Team in the White City: U.V.M. at the Intercollegiate Base Ball Tournament of 1893, by Tom Simon.
Organized Baseball Circles the Wagons and Silences the Whistle-Blower, 1912, by Steve Steinberg
Fielder Jones, the Offensive Efficiency Paradox of His Hitless Wonders, and How They Stunned the Cubs in the 1906 World Series By Playing Against Type, by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte
Integration in Cleveland – The Indians, the Negro Leagues, and Local Media Involvement, by Stephanie Liscio
Integrating the Pacific Coast League: A Social History of Integration, by Amy Essington
Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles: A Pictorial History of Baseball from East LA to Dodger Stadium, by Francisco Balderrama and Richard Santillan
ps. I have always wanted to add a feature on vintage/historic sports to the Daily Mirror. Keith Thursby did a great job when the DM was at The Times. If anybody is interested in contributing to this labor of love called the Daily Mirror, drop me a line.
Photograph by Howard Decker / LADailyMirror.com
[Howard says: The lady in the fur coat is Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner, known as Lana, with her newly minted (seventh, I think) husband Ronald Pellar, known as Ronald Dante and Dr. Dante. They are shown arriving at LAX after being married in Las Vegas May 9, 1969. Pellar/Dante was an illusionist in Vegas. As I recall only UPI Photos and myself were there to get photos of the newlyweds. I got a dozen shots and sold them all. The lady on the left is obviously a fan. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end….]
[Please give Howard a big thanks for sharing his photos with us! You may not know but Howard also covered the famous incident in which a drunken Gail Russell plowed her convertible into Jan’s Restaurant on Beverly Boulevard in 1957. — lrh]
Howard Decker (a.k.a. Fibber) sends along another mystery picture from his career as a photographer. Thanks, Howard!
The Times Sunday Business section featured the former home of Van M. Griffith (d. 1974), the son of Griffith Park donor Colonel Griffith J. Griffith. (For some reason, the early stories in The Times refer to him as “Dan Griffith” rather than Van.) What makes Dan/Van Griffith interesting to us is his role on the Los Angeles Police Commission in the 1940s.
[Update: The photographer has been identified as Franz Krieger.]
Lens, the photography blog of the New York Times, has published a mystery album of Nazi photos, including this shot of Adolf Hitler. The Times is trying to identify the mystery photographer who took these images.
Photo: Adolf Hitler, 1941 Credit: New York Times
For Tuesday, we a couple of shots from a mystery film.
[Update: As most people realized, these are frame grabs from the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence of “Fantasia” or “Night on Boob Mountain,” as we have been calling it at the Daily Mirror HQ. They pass quickly and Walt Disney certainly never imagined that people would one day have the ability to go through a film frame by frame to find them. Considering all the speculation about images purportedly hidden in Disney films like “The Little Mermaid,” it’s remarkable that this sequence in “Fantasia” hasn’t received as much attention.]
I was intrigued by Sunday’s Then and Now piece by Anthony Mostrom on Charlie Chaplin’s “Kid Auto Races at Venice” and I thought I’d do a little digging.
Here’s what I found.
The film includes footage of two races. One of them is a pushmobile/soapbox derby race in which vehicles start from a ramp. The other race features half-size, gasoline-powered cars.
Judging by the film, the race course was set up on the streets of Venice and was fairly informal. Notice the loose dogs in the top photo.
The film makes freely cuts back and forth between the two races.
And I suppose nobody in 1914 was watching for continuity gaffes.
Photograph by Larry Harnisch / LADailyMirror.com
The South Pasadena Police Department set up a memorial for Officer Kevin A. Sandoval, 23, who died after he collapsed and hit his head during training at the Burro Canyon Shooting Park on June 14.
A viewing is scheduled Thursday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m. with a Rosary at 7 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church, 1527 Fremont Ave. The memorial is Friday, June 24, at 11:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 16025 Cypress St., Irwindale. Burial is at Forest Lawn Covina Hills, 21300 Via Verde Drive.
Photograph by Howard Decker
[Update: Howard says: The beautiful bride is Kris Harmon, on her way into the church in Brentwood to marry Ricky Nelson on April 20, 1963.]
Our good friend Howard Decker (a.k.a. Fibber of the Brain Trust) sends along this picture of a mystery wedding. He says, “I took the photo with my Rolleiflex that I won for a buck in a raffle a few years earlier when I was a copy boy for the Examiner.”
Thanks, Howard!
Eve Golden describes herself as: a biographer, show-business historian, photo archivist and obituary writer. And a haughty dowager.
Queen of the Dead—dateline June 18, 2011
• Mildred Wolf, who played piano accompaniment to silent films, died on June 5 at the age of 101. As a silent-film fan, I know how important a good pianist is—once, the accompanist at a New York revival house didn’t show, and that was one ruined Marion Davies film. Wolf was one of thousands of musicians thrown out of work by the advent of talkies (which I still insist are just a fad). Her son, Charles Bernstein, became a film composer, which is either ironic or inevitable, I suppose.
• Jeanne Bice, who died on June 10 at 71, was a genuinely nice gal who was responsible for more godawful fashion than anyone since . . . well, honest, she may have been unrivaled. Her Quacker Factory churned out Day-Glo plaids, bedazzled headbands, holiday-themed horrors, all sold on QVC. But you couldn’t hate Jeanne Bice—and believe me, I tried. She “got the joke,” which I always admire: “I’m an overweight woman who wears funny clothes and a headband for God’s sake! That’s funny,” she happily admitted.
• Catching up on a few older obits, we find real-life film-noir dragon lady Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu (sister-in-law of South Vietnam’s president, Ngo Dinh Diem), who died on April 24, age 87. OK, she was kind of evil: when Buddhist monks immolated themselves, she said she would bring mustard to the next barbeque. The Eva Peron of South Vietnam, her influence was decidedly mixed: according to one obit, “she pushed through measures that increased women’s rights [but] orchestrated moves to ban contraceptives and abortion, outlaw polygamy, forbid divorce and close opium dens and brothels. Wrestling, cock-fighting and boxing followed on the forbidden list.” But here is where I reveal my utter shallowness—did you see the photos of her? All I could think was, “omigod, she is gorgeous.” In an early-’60s “gowns by Jean Louis” way. She made Jackie Kennedy look like a Cockney chimney sweep.
• And we lost several real heroes recently: Mietek Pemper (91, on June 7) was a Plaszow concentration camp inmate who compiled and typed Schindler’s famous list of 1,200 Jews to be saved for factory work. Maurice Craig (also 91, on May 11) saved Dublin, in a way: the architectural historian worked for decades (with only middling success, sadly) to preserve the city’s ancient buildings from demolition. “Architecture is the most accessible of the arts; yet paradoxically it is the least noticed by people at large,” he wrote. Crusading lawyer Dana Turner (who died at 57 from heart disease, on April 28) fought for the rights of the transgendered, particularly in employment. She was seen in the 2006 documentary Cruel and Unusual, about transgender women being sent to male prisons.
—Eve Golden
ladailymirror.com 
