April 8, 1938

Posted on April 8, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Above, a mayor is murdered in Mexico and two settlers are ambushed in Israel. How Eliezer Krongold, formerly of Toronto, became an "American" in the headline is a question I can’t answer. Below, Austrian Jews fear reprisals after handbills reading "Hitler Will Not Return to Berlin Alive!" are found on the outskirts of Vienna … Two American Navy officers who survived when Japanese bombers sank their ship in the Yangtze River pay a visit to Los Angeles en route to San Francisco … The official newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Vienna urges all Catholics to support the union with Germany … And a chain of New York salons picks the most handsome men for 1938: Women select Anthony Eden, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire, the Duke of Windsor and Leopold Stokowski. Men select Eden, Cooper, Clark Gable, Lou Gehrig and Adolphe Menjou.

Quotes of the Day: "One Nation. One Reich. One Fuhrer" … "Hitler Means  Bread and Work for All" …  "Economic Reconstruction and Peace" –Slogans posted throughout Vienna.

 

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Body found

Posted on April 8, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 8, 1908
Santa Monica

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Wouldn’t Sherlock Holmes have fun with this case? I can even imagine him complaining about how anyone could get the name "John Maloney" when the victim’s address book indicates the man’s first name began with an "O."

"But my dear Holmes, what about the initials T.K. on the prescription blanks?"

"Watson, you’re a doctor, surely you can fathom that mystery!"

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 7, 1958

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Paul Coates

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 7, 1958

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I’ll post more on this story soon. Stay tuned….

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Mystery photo

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Photograph by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

OK, who are they?

  • From left to right: Joyce "Josh" LeRoy and Cheryl Crane, daughter of Lana Turner. (Jessell Ranilla) Absolutely right. Congratulations!   

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Know your Dodgers

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 7, 1958

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April 7, 1958

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Above, the quarrel between Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato that led to his death may have begun over whether he was going to accompany her to the Academy Awards! Below, some of the type is missing from the jump of the Lana Turner story, presumably because the layout changed between editions … Frank Bristow paints a telling portrait of Stompanato’s older brother, Carmine, a weary, grieving barber who is thrust into the limelight by the death of his flamboyant younger sibling.  A story like this adds all the humanity that’s usually missing from  the glitzy tale of the Hollywood mobster. Speaking of humanity, someone e-mailed me as to whether I would publish the photos of Johnny Stompanato’s autopsy. The answer is: I don’t have them, and even if I did, I certainly would not publish them. P.S.: Get a life.

Quote of the Day: "Don’t call him a hoodlum." –Carmine Stompanato, on his slain brother, Johnny

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April 7, 1938

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

1938_0407_synagogues

Above, the Nazis begin taxing synagogues retroactive to Jan. 1, 1938, and ship former Austrian officials to Dachau. The Rev. Martin Niemoeller, by the way, survived the war. Below, Police Capt. Earle Kynette hires former state Sen. George W. Rochester for his defense … A front-page editorial about ballot technicalities that bar voters from deciding where to stage an annual trade fair and 1942 Cabrillo World’s Fair …  "Elderly" private detective Pearl Antibus becomes hysterical on the witness stand while testifying about her expenses in investigating blond divorcee Jean McDonald.

Quote of the Day: "At first Dr. Sheley merely told me that he had a young patient who was regarded as a ‘wild onion’ by his folks, who were very much concerned about the young chap’s affair with a Hollywood divorcee. He said the girl was certainly a looker." — Pearl Antibus, on investigating Jean McDonald on behalf of Thomas W. Warner Jr. to determine whether McDonald loved Warner — or just his money.

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April 7-8, 1908

Posted on April 7, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Above, David Belasco’s play, which closed on Broadway in 1906 after 224 performances, is staged in Los Angeles. Sadly, leading lady Alice Treat Hunt will die of pneumonia June 8, 1908, in her apartment on 9th Street near Figueroa. Below, a couple of lynchings in Alabama and Mississippi. John Burr was lynched by 30 men for killing the 12-year-old son of a planter and Walter Clayton was lynched by 75 men for raping a woman while he was being held in a lumber company stockade on a manslaughter charge, The Times said. As late as 1938, The Times editorialized against a federal anti-lynching law, saying it wasn’t needed.

Quote of the Day: "He was quickly hanged from a tree and several shots were fired to hasten his death." –The Times, on the lynching of John Burr

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Charlton Heston, RIP

Posted on April 6, 2008 by lmharnisch


Oct. 28, 1956
Los Angeles

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Look at this! We had our religion writer Dan Thrapp interview Charlton Heston about his role as Moses in "The Ten Commandments." Fortunately, Thrapp was not from the "over a salad and mineral water at the Polo Lounge"  or "speaking by phone from Paris, where he is at work on his next picture" schools of celebrity interviewers but got something of substance.

Quote of the Day: It is interesting to note that once Moses climbs Mt. Sinai and talks to God there is never contentment for him again. That is the way it is with us. Once we talk to God, once we get his commission to us for our lives we cannot be again content. We are happier. We are busier. But we are not content because then we have a mission — a commission, rather." –Charlton Heston, on how his life was influenced by playing Moses in "The Ten Commandments."

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Cheryl Crane

Posted on April 5, 2008 by lmharnisch


Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Cheryl Crane in a heavily retouched photograph published April 6, 1958, while she was being held in the stabbing death of Johnny Stompanato. This is one of the most heavily repainted photographs I have ever come across.

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Johnny Stompanato, RIP

Posted on April 5, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, the Mirror brings out an extra on the Johnny Stompanato killing. Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 4, 1958

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Paul Coates

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 4, 1958

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Know your Dodgers

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 4, 1958

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Remembering Martin Luther King

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch


March 17-18, 1968
Anaheim, Los Angeles

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Above, The Times covers the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s news conference at the Disneyland Hotel and his sermon the next day at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

Quote of the Day: "We must end the war in Vietnam." –The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

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April 4, 1958

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Above, MGM is making an expensive gamble on "Ben-Hur." Below, The Times continues its daily news feature on Holy Week … and has a story about the beginning of Passover … Detectives are trying to find out why a family was told that a young woman’s suicide attempt was fatal — when she actually recovered … Erin O’Brien and her horse, Rusty, model Easter bonnets they will be wearing in the Beverly Hills Easter parade … And former champion boxer Tommy Harrison tells a judge he stole a ham "cause my wife and kids were hungry."

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April 4, 1938

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Above, the "Laugh Dictators." Who says politics doesn’t influence the arts? Below, what’s being said from the pulpit about the plight of Europe.

  • Episcopalian: "In Germany, Hitler has attempted to dominate even religion, which means not only the unfortunate suppression of the Jews but the persecution of Catholic and Protestant…. The hope of democracy  lies largely in the continuation of a free pulpit and a free press."
  • Memorial Christian: "America is marching down the road to dictatorship…. One by one the fundamental liberties of our people are being filched from us by a group of clever idealists who are willing to trade the people for a mess of pottage."
  • Methodist: "Once again Nazi ruthlessness has taken its toll from the brilliant leaders of a great city — this time Vienna….  To this race [Jews], in the spirit of him who was the greatest Jew of all, we extend our sympathy. To this race, America reaches out her arms in love and pity, offering refuge and sanctuary."
  • Unitarian: "Never were so many thoughtful persons working on international problems as today. This is a time for hope, not despair."

And check out the Southwest Museum’s woody!

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April 4, 1908

Posted on April 4, 2008 by lmharnisch

1908_0404_baseball

Above, Opening Day in the Pacific Coast League. Below, a bitter legal battle in which a woman is seeking a court order barring her husband and his adopted children from selling any of their real estate because she would receive a share of the property upon her husband’s death. Jennie E. Clopton charges that her stepchildren, Pearle and Hugh, have conspired to break up the family since she married their adoptive father, Col. Hoggatt Clopton, two years ago. What’s more, they are of mixed race! "Mrs. Clopton declares that the two adopted children,  whom she detested on account of the Negro blood,  started out to break up the family, and used many means to accomplish that end," The Times says … S. Ito is accused of killing a Japanese American named Higashi in a Guadalupe poolroom. "There does not seem to be much evidence to show that a murder took place or that the prisoner committed the crime, but he is being held while the district attorney’s office tries to gather some," The Times says … And lots of remedies for whatever is ailing men … Plus the great Fer-Don is giving away the Fer-Don family medicine chest. 

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on April 3, 2008 by lmharnisch


April 3, 1958

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