Paul Coates, Jan. 25, 1961

 

 
 

  Jan. 25, 1961, Mirror Cover  

Jan. 25, 1961: Mel Blanc, 51, is making progress after being badly injured in a head-on crash with Menlo College student Arthur Rolston, 18, on Sunset Boulevard at the notorious “Dead Man’s Curve” at Groverton Place. Blanc suffered head injuries, a broken pelvis and two broken legs. After the crash, the city of Los Angeles moved quickly to reconstruct that section of Sunset by “raising the outside lanes,” The Times said. 

Paul Coates writes about one of his worst fears: Being assigned to do a first-person story about the rain.

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"Dead Man’s Curve" on the Daily Mirror

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 25, 1941

 
 

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  Jan. 25, 1941, Comics  

Jan. 25, 1941: The recent Jew persecutions in Rumania struck a special note of horror to a visiting American because they were so invisible, Tom Treanor says.

Why cast Margaret Sullavan as a Jewish refugee ("So Ends Our Night") when she looks as Irish as Paddy's pig? Jimmie Fidler says.

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

  2011_0123_mystery_photo_top  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: These are  photos published in 1965, showing Hal Needham, Stephanie Epper and Patty Elder.]

Here’s a mystery sequence of photos showing a stunt that went wrong.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 8 Comments

Wife Seeks Divorce After Learning Mother-in-Law is Black

 
 

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  Jan. 25, 1911, Twins  

Jan. 25, 1911: Divorce proceedings reveal the peculiar tale of Elda P. Kenny/Kenney and her husband, Robert.

The Kenneys married in Cleveland in 1902 and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter, The Times says. In 1910, the Kenneys returned to Cleveland to see Elda's parents and she decided to visit his parents in Shenandoah, Va.

Robert refused to accompany her, so Elda went alone. And she was horrified: Her mother-in-law "was as black as your shoe," she told the judge in her divorce proceedings. 

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Posted in #courts, Countdown to Watts, Crime and Courts | 7 Comments

Found on EBay — ‘They Call Them Camisoles’

They Call Them Camisoles A rather battered but interesting copy of “They Call Them Camisoles” has been listed on EBay. “Camisoles” was written by Wilma Carnes under the pen name Wilma Wilson and is a graphic first-person account of her time at Camarillo (“Camisoles” was the hospital’s nickname for straitjackets.) She was beaten to death by a soldier during a “drinking party at her home” in 1943. 

This copy carries an interesting inscription to Howard Francis Chase and is signed, but has suffered water damage and the cover is badly torn. “Camisoles” is hard to find on the open market, although it’s in many public libraries,  and it is usually listed at a high price. Bidding on this copy starts at $200, which seems high, considering the condition.

ALSO

“They Call Them Camisoles” on the Daily Mirror

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Matt Weinstock, Jan. 24, 1961

 
 

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Jan. 24, 1961: All it takes is a little earthquake to get people reminiscing about the great jolts of the past, Matt Weinstock notes.

DEAR ABBY: A mother in our neighborhood is giving her 15-year-old daughter a stork shower. The girl is not married and will not be by the time the baby arrives. The 17-year-old father-to-be spends all his time at the girl's house. He quit school last year, hasn't a job and isn't looking for one. The juvenile authorities won't allow the couple to get married because the boy "seems unable to accept responsibility" and has a poor family background. All the mother of the girl says is "It could happen to anyone and what's done is done, so give the kids a break." Fifty people are invited to this shower. I think it is in very poor taste. 

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Paul Coates, Jan. 24, 1961

 
 

  Jan. 24, 1961, Mirror Cover  

Jan. 24, 1961: Paul Coates uses the kidnapping and death of Rose Marie Riddle, 6, to explore the story of another young victim of a child molester.

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Posted in Columnists, Crime and Courts, Front Pages, Paul Coates, Suicide | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

  2011_0213_mystery_photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: This is “The Bugle Sounds.”]

Aha! Mystery tanks!

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 8 Comments

Jack LaLanne, 1914 – 2011 [Updated]

  Oct. 4, 1974, Jack LaLanne  

Oct. 4, 1974: Jack LaLanne celebrates his 60th birthday by swimming from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf  in San Francisco — with his hands and feet tied and pulling a 1,000-pound boat.

In addition to his usual training program — rising at 4 a.m.  for 90 minutes of weightlifting, 30 minutes of swimming and 30 minutes of running — he had sat for an hour a day in a bathtub filled with water and 100 pounds of ice, which brought the temperature to 55 degrees, The Times said.

[Updated at 9:32 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said LaLanne was handcuffed. His hands and feet were "bound by cords that allowed minimal freedom."]

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Posted in broadcasting, health, Obituaries, Television | 5 Comments

Matt Weinstock, Jan. 23, 1961

 
 

  Jan. 23, 1961, Comics  

Jan. 23, 1961: A requisition for a book titled "The Bride Stripped Bare" came into the county museum accounting office and Margaret Hooker, a little uneasy, checked with Dorothy Martin of the museum reference library, who had ordered it, for verification … and Matt Weinstock has the rest of the story.

CONFIDENTIAL TO "WILLING TO WORK": Be a bellhop. Money grows on trays!

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Paul Coates, Jan. 23, 1961

 
 

  Jan. 23, 1961, Mirror Cover  

Jan. 23, 1961: If brewers are developing instant beer, can “instant writers” be far behind, Paul Coates asks.

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Posted in Columnists, Food and Drink, Front Pages, Paul Coates | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 23, 1941

 
 

  Jan. 23, 1941, Civil War  

  Jan. 23, 1941, Comics  

Jan. 23, 1941: Tom Treanor sums up his experiences in Europe with thoughts on reporting and censorship. “The assumption that great untold stories are lying around in Europe like gold nuggets on the sidewalk is a gross libel on United Press and Associated Press,” he says.

HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK: Bob Stack drawing envious glances — and a few ribbing remarks — at the Sunset Alleys as he helps Betty Grable remove her high-heeled pumps and don bowling shoes, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

  Jan. 22,2011, Mystery Photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: This is the production of the 1949 film “Sand.” ]

Here’s another scenic shot….

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

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 22, 1941

  Jan. 22, 1941, Rumanian Army Quells Revolt  

  Jan. 22, 1941, Comics  

Jan. 22, 1941: Times reporter Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II, files the last in his series of columns from Europe before heading to Los Angeles. “And now at last goodbye to Europe, goodbye to this strange and tortured continent where anything goes and it's finders keepers, losers weepers. The boat sails in an hour.”
 
Cutest thing in town: Olive, the 46-inch midget whose singing and dancing highlights Earl Carroll's new revue, Jimmie Fidler says. 

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

  2011_0121_mystery_photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

  Nov. 11, 1927, Jesse James  
  Nov. 11, 1927: “Jesse James” at Loew’s Metropolitan theater. Look! It’s Rube Wolf!  

[Update: Please congratulate Mary Mallory, who recognized this as the 1927 production of “Jesse James.”]

Today, our mystery crew is filming a stagecoach.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 13 Comments

Hollywood’s Rename Game

  June 27, 1937, Movie Titles  

  June 27, 1937, Movie Titles  

June 27, 1937: I stumbled across this article while trying to determine the title of the film in Wednesday’s mystery photo, which was in production as “Death Valley.” One of the more entertaining examples is “Murder in the Deep South,” which was shortened to “In the Deep South” and “Deep South” before being renamed “They Won’t Forget.”

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Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, Jan. 21, 1961

 
 

  Jan. 21, 1961, comics  

Jan. 21, 1961: Paul Coates has a terrific item on a radio announcer whose life fell apart after he  lost his job because the station went to rock ‘n’ roll.

Charley used to patronize a place on Hill Street near 5th where one doughnut and coffee were 10 cents. But it became a hangout for beatnik types who would dawdle for hours over their cups of java, crowding out the regulars. The place recently changed ownership and the price was raised to 16 cents. Now everything is back to normal, Matt Weinstock says.

DEAR ABBY: How does a married woman, 29, cope with a 14-year-old neighbor girl who hangs around her husband constantly? The girl is as physically mature as I.

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Posted in art and artists, broadcasting, Columnists, Comics, Front Pages, Matt Weinstock, Paul Coates, Rock 'n' Roll | Comments Off on Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, Jan. 21, 1961

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 21, 1941

 
 

  Jan. 21, 1941, President Repeats Oath  

  Ja. 21, 1941, Comics  

Jan. 21, 1941: In these confused and tortured times when democracy seems floundering in a swamp of its own failings we hear too often the defeatist cry that we must have Fascism to fight Fascism. In Lisbon is an American who thinks that democracy's failures come from being not democratic enough, Tom Treanor says.

Jimmie Fidler says: Neapolitan Pizza (specialty of Romeo's Chianti Restaurant). Dissolve 1/10 yeast cake in little warm water slightly salted, mix with one cup flour to make soft dough. Wrap in damp towel and leave overnight in warm place. When ready to make the pizza, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness, place in pie pan which has been greased with olive oil. Pour in one cup drained canned tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Place thin slices Mozzarella cheese over tomatoes and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over all. Cook in 400-degree over for 15 minutes and serve piping hot.

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Another Good Story Ruined – The Black Dahlia

Elizabeth Short fake picture
Here we have another popular faked picture of Elizabeth Short. The image on the left is genuine, as far as I know. The bizarre image on the right has been flopped and retouched. 

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Another Good Story Ruined – The Black Dahlia

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Photography | Comments Off on Another Good Story Ruined – The Black Dahlia

Matt Weinstock, Jan. 20, 1961

 
 

  Jan. 20, 1961, Comics  

Jan. 20, 1961: Matt Weinstock has an item on fiberglass coffins and mentions “You Haven’t Lived Until You’ve Died in L.A.,” a song from the hapless 1951 musical revue co-authored by Larry Gelbart that used the name of Weinstock’s book “My L.A.”

CONFIDENTIAL TO "AFRAID OF CRITICISM AT THE OFFICE": If you want never to be criticized, say nothing, do nothing and you'll be nothing.

ALSO

 “My L.A.” on the Daily Mirror

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