Mary Tyler Moore on Broadway

 May 14, 1980, Mary Tyler Moore

March 14, 1980: Mary Tyler Moore stars in “Whose Life Is It Anyway?”

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Westbrook Pegler, March 14, 1941

 
March 14, 1941, Westbrook Pegler

March 14, 1941: Westbrook Pegler uses the construction of Ft. Bragg to praise open shops over strictly union labor. Carpenters were paid 90 cents an hour, or $12.97 an hour USD 2009.

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TV Show D.A. Arrested in Nude Pot Party

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Uh-oh.

March 14, 1960: William Talman, who plays prosecutor Hamilton Burger on the “Perry Mason” TV show, is arrested at a nude pot party in West Hollywood. The Times didn’t report that they were naked until a few days later.

On the jump, a long profile of Vice President Richard Nixon. Fun fact: His favorite snack is cottage cheese and ketchup.

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Some Princeton Men Say Kissing and Dancing Are Wrong

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March 14, 1920: You may recognize the name John Harlan. President Eisenhower nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1955.

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Wife Beater Bluffs Police

March 14, 1910, Standoff

March 14, 1910: Charles Edmondson beats his wife with a vest containing a sack full of coins, then holds off a squad of police by asking to see the officers’ warrant. Upon the advice of a lieutenant, the officers drop the matter and consider it closed until the chief learns about it.

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Hearing on the Gas House, Part 4

DSCF1912

Sept. 8, 1959: This is the fourth part of a transcript of testimony by “Holy Barbarians” author Lawrence Lipton before the the Los Angeles Police Commission on the Gas House, the Beat hangout in Venice.  Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

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Jim Murray, March 13, 1980

 
March 13, 1980, Jim Murray

Jim Murray backs so far into a profile of Bear Bryant that he just about goes through the guardrail and down into the Grand Canyon.

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Hedda Hopper, March 13, 1942

 
March 13, 1942, Hedda Hopper

March 13, 1942: Jimmy Cagney learns lines quickly while Humphrey Bogart is slow and painstaking, Hedda Hopper says … and John Barrymore reads them from a blackboard!

On the jump, Irene Dunne took a trip to Europe to try to avoid making “Theodora Goes Wild,” but it launched a series of screwball comedies.

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Mistrial Declared in Finch Case

 
March 13, 1960, Finch Trial

March 13, 1960, Finch Trial
Photograph by Nelson Tiffany / Mirror News

Attorney Grant Cooper, left, and Dr. R. Bernard Finch await verdict.

March 13, 1960, Finch Trial

March 13, 1960: The judge declares a mistrial after jurors deadlock on verdicts against Dr. R. Bernard Finch and Carole Tregoff in the death of Barbara Jean Finch.

On the jump, more about the Finch trial … and stay tuned for Finch trial II.

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America’s Leading Actor Hit by Fish Wagon

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March 12, 1920, David Warfield

March 13, 1920, David Warfield 

March 13, 1920: You may recall David Warfield as one of last year’s mystery guests. Warfield was appearing in “The Auctioneer” at the Mason Operahouse on Broadway when he was hit by a fish market’s delivery wagon.

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Boy Prophet Calls U.S. the Chosen Land

 
March 13, 1910, Boy Prophet

March 13, 1910, Boy Prophet

March 13, 1910: The Times features Archie J. Inger, identified as the author of "Revealed Translation of John's Revelations.”  In 1914, The Times published a few stories about his opposition to the upcoming execution of Louis Bundy in the killing of Harold Ziesche, a messenger boy, in the theft of $20. At that time, Inger was involved in the Church of the Divine Influx, [The Times said. Bundy was hanged Nov. 5, 1915, and it took 15 minutes for his heart to stop beating. He was 20].

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Matt Weinstock, March 12, 1960

 
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Bookie Problem

Matt Weinstock     A character who goes by the name of Front End Freddy was sounding off the other day about a nasty situation which prevails among bookmakers.

    "For years around here," he said, "bookies have been arbitrarily limiting their payoff to 15, 6 and 3."

    Catching my puzzled expression he explained patiently, "This means that the most you can get is 15 to 1 to win, 6 to 1 to place and 3 to 1 to show.  Even if you have a $100 horse on the nose all you get is $62."

    THE WAY FREDDY
would like to see things, bookmaker should pay track odds.  "They wouldn't get hurt," he said, "because it's rare that a horse paying $60 wins.  But they've got this unwritten agreement."

    "About 10 years ago," he recalled, "a place on Spring St. which had room play as well as police protection, paid track odds and the players flocked there.  On Saturdays you couldn't get into the joint." 

   

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Paul V. Coates, Confidential File, March 12, 1960

 
March 12, 1960, Mirror Cover

Uh-oh.

Mash Notes and Comments

Paul Coates    "Dear Paul,

    "Ever ask yourself WHY so many women look worse after they return from the powder room than they did before they entered?

    "Ask Ed Cabrera, the lighting specialist whom architects and decorators call 'Mr. Lighting,' and he'll tell you straight out that it's the fault of — you guessed it — the lighting.

    "F'rinstance, overhead lighting casts shadows which make it tough to neatly apply lipstick or eye shadow and the next most common fault rests with the application of too much or too little rouge or powder because of hot spots from unbalanced lighting.

    "So what, you ask?
   
    "So this, wise guy:

    "It's bad for business because the gals are sensitive to this sort of thing and are ready to leave shortly after such mishaps.  And it's a black mark against the name of hospitality when the occasions are social.

  

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John Sayles, March 12, 1980

March 12, 1980, Mama Mia!

March 12, 1980: Alka-Seltzer’s “Spicy Meatballs” was voted the best commercial of the last 20 years. 

March 12, 1980, John Sayles

Kevin Thomas on John Sayles and “The Return of the Seacaucus Seven.”

On the jump, prize-winning commercials. Remember the Coke ad with Mean Joe Greene?

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Westbrook Pegler, March 12, 1926

March 12, 1926, Westbrook Pegler

March 12, 1926: Sportswriting as it was practiced in the 1920s. In this item, Westbrook Pegler covers the intrigue surrounding the Gene Tunney-Willie Stribling match. As tortured as the writing is, I have to admit that it sounds like it’s out of “The Front Page.”

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Movie Star Mystery Photo

  March 8, 2010, Mystery Photo
Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: This is Lillian Bond  in a 1925 photo.  She died in 1991. Please congratulate Mike Hawks and Mary Mallory for identifying her!

Dec. 20, 1930: Lillian Bond 

Dec. 20, 1930: MGM signs Lillian Bond.
 
Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday … or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day.

I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again).

If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights. 

The answer to last week's mystery stars: Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson!

On the jump, a new photo!

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | 23 Comments

Dinosaur Expert Roy Chapman Andrews Dies

March 12, 1960, Roy Chapman Andrews 

March 12, 1960: Roy Chapman Andrews is not an author I think about very often anymore, but he wrote one of the favorite books of my childhood, “All About Dinosaurs.” I suppose he’s one reason I took all those anthro courses in college.

More on the jump, plus a frustrated writer threatens suicide unless he talks to Charles Brackett … Robert Blake stars in “The Purple Gang” … and Don Page looks at sports rumors on the radio. Note: Chick Hearn is a “good and improving” sportscaster.

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Texas Politician Opposes the Automobile

 March 12, 1920, Automobiles

March 12, 1920: Former Texas Sen. Joe Bailey wants to abolish autos except for businesses, according to his opponents in the governor’s race. Bailey says, “I believe that next to the dog, the horse is man's best friend."

More on the jump, plus Clare Briggs.

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Posted in Animals, Comics, Politics, Transportation | 1 Comment

Robber Holds Up Streetcar


March 12, 1910. Holdup

March 12, 1910: This story reminds me of Walter Collins’ streetcar robberies, but those didn’t occur until 1923. In fact, a streetcar conductor killed a robber in 1908.

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Posted in Changeling, Robberies, Transportation | 1 Comment

Artist’s Notebook: Drawing Salon

Everything and Everybody by Marion Eisenmann 

“Everything and Everybody,” by Marion Eisenmann.

Marion Eisenmann sends two sketches from one of the recent “Late Nite Drawing Salons,” which are held Monday nights at the E3rd Steakhouse & Lounge. We thought the salon would offer some interesting subjects for her notebook and convey the atmosphere of the downtown art scene. The revival of downtown Los Angeles, in which blocks and blocks of gritty, run-down skid row buildings have been turned into living and working spaces, is one of the remarkable stories of the last 25 years.

Marion says: The event was called the Gallery Girls Late Nite Drawing Club. Besides the models were not too many females in there, maybe two, three including me. Everyone was into their own business, whether it was painting, drawing, collaging or drinking a glass of wine. Yeah, it was indeed an eclectic evening, besides the visual atmosphere I was carried away by the music, which was a fusion of Bollywood film music and Kamasutra. – Enjoy.

I asked about the image in the background and Marion explained that a man “actually came out and drew these charcoal images on the graphite wall behind the models, which provided a constantly changing backdrop.”

More artwork on the jump.

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