Movie Star Mystery Photo

Posted on November 20, 2009 by lmharnisch

Nov. 16, 2009, Mystery Photo
Los Angeles Times file photo
 

Update: As many readers realized, this is Milton Sills. Although there’s no caption information on the back, the photo is evidently from “The Sea Hawk.”

Sept. 16, 1930, Milton Sills 

Sept. 16, 1930: The Times reports the death of Milton Sills.

Sept. 16, 1930, Milton Sills

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 star: Jane Frazee!

Nov. 17, 2009, Mystery Photo Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: Milton Sills and Gertrude Olmstead in “Puppets,” Aug. 22, 1926.

Here’s another photo of our mystery star with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Eve Golden, Joan Myers, Mary Mallory, Mike Hawks (who says "this one is too easy") and Donna Hill for identifying him.

Nov. 18, 2009, Mystery Photo Los Angeles Times file photo
Update: Milton Sills and Mary Astor in “The Runaway Enchantress” or “The Sea Tiger,” April 3, 1927.

Here’s our mystery guest with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Don Danard, Rick Scott, Carmen and Suzy Q for identifying him. 

Nov. 19, 2009, Mystery Photo Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: Milton Sills and Corinne Griffith in “Single Wives.”

Here’s our mystery fellow with another mystery companion. Please congratulate Stacia, Laura Aikens and Christa for identifying him and Jeff Hanna, Michael Ryerson, Mike Hawks, Carmen and Don Danard for identifying yesterday's mystery companion.

Nov. 20, 1959, Mystery Photo Los Angeles Times file photo
Update: Milton Sills and Dorothy Mackaill in “The Barker,” Jan. 6, 1929.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | 46 Comments

Amelia Earhart – Airplane Babe

Posted on November 20, 2009 by lmharnisch
Amelia Earhart Amelia Earhart

Los Angeles Times file photos
After the release of “Amelia,” the film about Amelia Earhart, I thought it would be fun to get into The Times’ photo archives and see what we had. Here are two pictures dated March 25, 1937, in which an anonymous photographer evidently tried to get some glamour poses of her. In the left photo, she’s looking through the radio antenna from the aircraft. In the right photo, she’s sort of draped herself against the propeller of her airplane. Earhart was a good sport about these poses – but honestly.

Posted in Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Transportation | 1 Comment

Man Denies Daughter in Divorce Suit

Posted on November 20, 2009 by lmharnisch
Nov. 20, 1919, Comics
“Wonder What a Decoy Thinks About” by Clare Briggs

Nov. 20, 1919, Divorce

Nov. 20, 1919: A judge refuses to declare that a young girl is Eurasian simply because a man charges in a divorce suit that the father was a Japanese cook employed by his wife’s family.

Posted in #courts, Eurasians | Comments Off on Man Denies Daughter in Divorce Suit

Teacher Hospitalized After Undressing in Class

Posted on November 20, 2009 by lmharnisch
Nov. 20, 1909, Teacher 
Nov. 20, 1909: An unidentified woman, deranged over the death of her brother, is taken to a hospital after the school nurse finds her undressing in front of her class.

Posted in #courts, Education | Comments Off on Teacher Hospitalized After Undressing in Class

November 19, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 19, 2009 by lmharnisch

November 19, 1959: Mirror Cover

Saga of a Guy Who Flipped From Poky

Paul Coates, in coat and tie“I walk alone,” the voice on the phone told me, more as an apology than as a boast.  “With me, it’s habit.  I guess I never learned any other way.”

The voice was a man’s and a drawl.  It continued:  “Funny I should be calling somebody like you for help after all these years of going it alone.”

The time was about 3:45, yesterday afternoon.

“What do you need?” I asked.

“I need-” he started, and stopped.  “Is this phone tapped?”

“No.”
Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1959, Columnists, Front Pages, Paul Coates, Transportation | Comments Off on November 19, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Posted on November 19, 2009 by lmharnisch
Nov. 19, 1956, Hedda Hopper 
Nov. 19, 1956: "Jose Quintero, bright young director of the "Long Day's Journey Into Night," is a rage overnight. He's a Hollywood boy who couldn't make good in his hometown — tried as an actor there and came to a little theater project in Greenwich Village. Mrs. Eugene O'Neill saw his direction for "The Iceman Cometh" and insisted he direct the O'Neill autobiography."

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Stage | Comments Off on A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Found on EBay – Ann Toth Letters

Posted on November 19, 2009 by lmharnisch
Ann Toth letters 
A lot of letters written to Ann Toth, who was the roommate of Elizabeth Short – the Black Dahlia, were listed on EBay. The vendor carefully noted that the letters were from the 1950s to the 1970s, rather than from 1946, when Toth lived with Short at the home of Florentine Gardens executive Mark Hansen. The vendor also noted that none of the letters were written by Toth. Instead, there are letters from  a son, a bill for auto insurance, employment contracts, a receipt for the purchase of a television set and miscellaneous letters of transmittal, etc.

Even so, the final bid on the lot was $560.

Posted in Homicide, LAPD | Comments Off on Found on EBay – Ann Toth Letters

Opera Tenor Confined to Mental Ward

Posted on November 19, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Nov. 19, 1919, Briggs
Clare Briggs on “That Guiltiest Feeling.”

image
Pietro Buzzi in 1905.

Nov. 19, 1919, Tenor

Nov. 19, 1919: Pietro Buzzi, operatic tenor, is take to the psychiatric ward  of county hospital after being removed from a Hollywood studio. According to a 1916 story in The Times, he portrayed Kaiser Wilhelm in an unidentified Universal film.

Posted in art and artists, Comics, Film, Hollywood | Comments Off on Opera Tenor Confined to Mental Ward

Hopis Expel Mennonite Missionaries

Posted on November 19, 2009 by lmharnisch
Nov. 19, 1909, Hopis 
Nov. 19, 1909: The Moquis of Arizona, now known as the Hopis, throw some Mennonite missionaries out of Oraibi.  

Posted in Religion | Comments Off on Hopis Expel Mennonite Missionaries

November 18, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch

It’s  Still ‘Professor’

Matt WeinstockEveryone remembers certain of his teachers, particularly the ones who inspired or stirred him, even if he has lost touch with them and never sees them now.

Julius Sumner Miller, physics instructor at El Camino College and KNXT commentator, is more fortunate.  His old math prof, the revered Robert Ernest Bruce, of Boston University, lives in retirement in Redlands.  Miller occasionally visits him.

They recall the great men of the Boston U. faculty and how they literally radiated knowledge and instilled in their students a respect for learning.

On a recent visit, during such a discussion, Bruce, now in his late 80s said, “Julius, I think you are now entitled to call me Robert.” Continue reading →

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November 18, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch

November 18, 1959: Mirror Cover: Marlon Brando Tells of Spanking Ex-Wife

As Senators Write to Indignant Taxpayers

Paul Coates, in coat and tieWhile we’re all gathered here together, in this smoke-filled room, I’d like to say a few words in behalf of politicians.

They are our friends.  Behind that stodgy facade that they put up, they’ve all got hearts as big as Daddy Warbucks’.

And what they do, they do in our best interests.

I am prepared, I might add, to give you an example.

You remember, a couple of months ago, when Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois drafted a resolution calling for a government expenditure of $200,000 to permit himself and his 99 colleagues to fly to Waikiki to welcome Hawaii into our union of states? Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Downtown, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Parks and Recreation, Paul Coates | Comments Off on November 18, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch
 
Nov. 18, 1955, Hedda hopper 
Nov. 18, 1955: While on tour in Chicago with “The King and I,” Yul Brynner worked on a doctorate in philosophy at Northwestern and gave drama lessons to the rest of the cast, Hedda Hopper says. 

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Stage | Comments Off on A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Beauty Queen Seeks Divorce From Dockworker

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch

Nov. 18, 1959, Beauty Queen  

Nov. 18, 1959, Beauty Queen

Nov. 18, 1959: Shirlee Garner Witty seeks a divorce, saying that her husband was always making snide remarks. Witty competed for the title of Miss Universe in 1956 even though she was a wife and mother, because at that time married women weren't banned from the beauty contest.
Nov. 18, 1959, Sound of Music 
“The Sound of Music” opens with more than $2 million in advance ticket sales.

1959_1118_comics

 “You Know I Can’t Get Better.”

Nov. 18, 1959, Sports

Hey, Keith, will the Bruins smite USC in their tilt?
Posted in #courts, art and artists, Comics, Sports | 1 Comment

Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 19, 1938, Nuestro Pueblo 
Aug. 19, 1938: Joe Seewerker and Charles Owens find a windmill on a farm at Garfield Avenue just north of Gage Street. Below, the area today, via Google maps’ street view.  It’s interesting to note that Seewerker refers to Mayor Fred Eaton’s role in the aqueduct because he’s usually overshadowed by William Mulholland.

Note: The original run of Nuestro Pueblo concluded in 1939. I’m going back and picking up the entries that I missed the first time.

Posted in art and artists, books, Nuestro Pueblo | Comments Off on Nuestro Pueblo

Nuestro Pueblo – Chavez Ravine

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 24, 1938, Nuestro Pueblo 
Aug. 24, 1938: Joe Seewerker and Charles Owens find evidence of an old brickyard in Chavez Ravine and touch on the Chinese Massacre. 

Note: The original run of Nuestro Pueblo concluded in 1939. I’m going back and picking up the entries that I missed the first time.

Posted in art and artists, books, Nuestro Pueblo | Comments Off on Nuestro Pueblo – Chavez Ravine

Three Sought in Robbery, Killing

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Nov. 18, 1919, Ads

Dance tonight at the Roma, 616 S. Hill St.

 image 

 
Nov. 18, 1919: The housekeeper of a downtown rooming house is sought in the robbery and murder of the proprietor, W. Frank Sheets, and police are also looking for her husband and an associate in the killing.

Police say that the housekeeper, Margaret Evans, was secretly married to Philip Gargano and that witnesses identified photos of Gargano and Alfonso Bassano as the two men seen running from the Santa Anita rooming house after the killing. A pistol found near the rooming house was registered to Gargano, police say.

Posted in #courts, Homicide, LAPD | Comments Off on Three Sought in Robbery, Killing

Witness Describes Union Violence

Posted on November 18, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Nov. 18, 1909, Union Violence 

 
Nov. 18, 1909: In Chicago, Bruno Verra testifies against Vincent and Joseph Altman, brothers charged with several bombings and arson fires on behalf of the carpenters union. Verra says he was paid $5 each to hit non-union carpenters and later got a steady job "to commit lawless acts" for $25 a week.
 

Posted in #courts | Comments Off on Witness Describes Union Violence

November 19, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

Cross Your Fingers

Matt WeinstockWell, today’s the day.  If we get past it we’re in.  Of course, no one is sure for what or for how long.

Today, according to Kenneth D. Wilkins of Manhattan Beach, a momentous event in world history will occur.  He doesn’t know what.

Wilkins bases his theory on a careful study of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.  Pyramidologists, he told reporter James Hubbart, believe the mathematics of its construction are too profound and precise to be coincidence.

They contend that such things as the length of the solar year in days and weeks, the earth’s solar diameter and distance from the sun and the equinoxes are built into the famous stone monument in Giza.  They regard it as a “witness in stone” to man’s prophesied 6,000-year span on earth, ending, the way they figure it, Jan.28, 2001. Continue reading →

Posted in art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off on November 19, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Found on EBay – 1907 Shriners Convention

Posted on November 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

1907 Shriners Spoon

An Ostrich in a Fez!  

The 1907 Shriners convention in Los Angeles  inspired all sorts of commemorative trinkets. Most of the items were pins, badges, glassware and ceramics, which frequently turn up on EBay. Here’s something I’ve never seen before, a spoon that was evidently issued by the lodge in Wheeling, W.Va. Bidding starts at $9.95. 

Posted in Animals, art and artists, Food and Drink | Comments Off on Found on EBay – 1907 Shriners Convention

November 17, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 17, 2009 by lmharnisch

Farming Lesson

Matt WeinstockYoung schoolchildren who are found after tests to be retarded are placed in a Point 1 group, as it is called, and given special tasks to perform.

A little boy in such a group in a suburban school was instructed as part of his therapy to plant radish seeds in the school garden.  Soon he harvested a large, healthy crop.  As he proudly took his radishes into class the teacher discreetly asked why he had planted them in a circle instead of rows.

“That’s the way you get them in the market,” the boy explained innocently.

A commercial vegetable grower heard of the incident and now grows his radishes in circles.  The idea, he realized immediately, is a boon to stoop labor required for the job. Continue reading →

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