Tag Archives: Beverly Hills

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Norman Kerry, Preservationist

Posted on May 16, 2022 by lmharnisch

Norman Kerry in 1924. Note: This is an encore post from 2019. Long before billionaire investor Ron Burkle purchased and restored such historic architectural properties as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis-Brown House, Harold Lloyd’s Greenacres, and Bob Hope’s Palm Springs and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Beverly Hills Waterworks

Posted on January 10, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Southern California and Los Angeles have grown by leaps and bounds over the last 150 years, and the most urgent requirement during that time has been water.  Unable to provide enough water … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Spooky, Ooky Witch’s House Haunts Beverly Hills

Posted on October 19, 2020 by lmharnisch

A sketch of the “The Witch’s House” by Charles Owens from “Nuestro Pueblo,” courtesy of Mary Mallory Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Once upon a time, home design and architecture saluted fantasy and make-believe, and not just … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Spooky, Ooky Witch’s House Haunts Beverly Hills

Posted on October 30, 2019 by lmharnisch

A sketch of the “The Witch’s House” by Charles Owens from “Nuestro Pueblo,” courtesy of Mary Mallory Note: This is an encore post from 2013.   Once upon a time, home design and architecture saluted fantasy and make-believe, and not … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Norman Kerry, Preservationist

Posted on June 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

Norman Kerry in 1924. Long before billionaire investor Ron Burkle purchased and restored such historic architectural properties as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis-Brown House, Harold Lloyd’s Greenacres, and Bob Hope’s Palm Springs and Toluca Lake houses, silent film star Norman Kerry … Continue reading →

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Jan. 19, 1959: Matt Weinstock and Practical Jokes in Beverly Hills

Posted on January 19, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 19, 1959: Practical jokes in mid-century America. Matt Weinstock has the details.. The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished in 2009 on latimes.com. It is available via Archive.org.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Thomas Ince’s Dias Dorados Salutes California’s Past

Posted on September 24, 2018 by lmharnisch

  In the early 1920s, Hollywood was booming. The adolescent film business had blossomed from a small by-the-seat-of-the pants mom and pop operation into a major industry backed by Wall Street, which was turning the large companies into international conglomerates. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Enchanted Hill – Hollywood’s Ultimate Mansion

Posted on July 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Fred Thomson in an undated image. In the early days of the Hollywood film industry, moguls and movie stars lived simply, residing in comfortable but elegant homes. As the business evolved from small companies into large-scale moviemaking factories in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 11

Posted on October 21, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf, left, George F. Bauerdorf and Constance Ann “Connie” Bauerdorf Dillon in an undated photo, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. Although Georgette Bauerdorf, 20, was living by herself in the apartment at El Palacio, 8493 Fountain Ave., … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Architecture, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Greenacres Is the Place to Be

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

Harold Lloyd and Greenacres in New Movie Magazine. At the beginning of the fledgling motion picture industry, actors and other creative types earned adequate salaries, in line with middle-class jobs. They lived in modest bungalows, residential hotels, apartments or rented … Continue reading →

Posted in 1927, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Spooky, Ooky Witch’s House Haunts Beverly Hills

Posted on October 28, 2013 by lmharnisch

A sketch of the “The Witch’s House” by Charles Owens from “Nuestro Pueblo,” courtesy of Mary Mallory   Once upon a time, home design and architecture saluted fantasy and make-believe, and not just in fiction. Bilbo Baggins and lucky leprechauns … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Scr*w You, Steve Needleman

Posted on September 28, 2013 by lmharnisch

If Steve Needleman, owner of the Orpheum Theatre, wanted  “a  two-story, 10,400-square-foot Cape Cod Revival house” he could have purchased an entire block of 1950s Valley tract homes and leveled them. No one would have cared. But tearing down Ira … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadway, Downtown, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Theaters | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Millennial Moment: Iranian Exiles Find a Bit of Home in Santa Monica Park

Posted on October 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Oct. 25, 1982: Times staff writer Bill Overend profiles Iranian exiles who gather in Santa Monica’s Palisades Park on Sunday afternoons, hundreds of people — mostly Jews and some Muslims — who came to the U.S. because of the Iranian … Continue reading →

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‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 24

Posted on April 7, 2012 by lmharnisch

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge. This is interesting. The city of Beverly Hills has compiled a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 23

Posted on April 4, 2012 by lmharnisch

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge. I’m examining the history of 1110 Benedict Canyon Drive, where, as … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Libraries | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 18

Posted on March 21, 2012 by lmharnisch

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge. I have been examining what Scotty Bowers describes as his first … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 17

Posted on March 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge. Now this is interesting – at least to me. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

FBI Smashes Nazi Spy Ring in Beverly Hills: 3 Sent Coded Letters to Third Reich

Posted on January 29, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 29, 1942: The FBI accuses Dr. Hans Helmut Gros, his wife, Frances, and Albrecht Rudolf Curt Reuter of belonging to a Nazi spy ring. According to allegations, Gros, of 328 N. Maple Drive, sent letters to purported relatives that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, LAPD, Streetcars, Theaters, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A fifth of whiskey

Posted on October 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

Oct. 8, 1957 Los Angeles How can such smart crooks be so dumb? The short answer is: They just were. In the last few months, half a dozen seasoned pros had been involved in systematically burglarizing the homes of wealthy … Continue reading →

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He’s here!

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957Los Angeles Minda Lee Birnbaum, 15, and her mother, Blanche Lewie, 46, had spent most of the day with the divorce lawyer, Murray Chotiner. In the late afternoon, as Blanche made some phone calls from the law offices’ … Continue reading →

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