Comments for Dateline>City of Angels

Comment on Time Warp: William Desmond Taylor’s Sensational Death Scene by Help solve Hollywood’s first murder mystery… Feb. 1st! | SoCal L.O.W.F.I

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:13:36 +0000

[...] http://mimlay.com/blog1/2010/07/25/time-warp-william-desmond-taylors-sensational-death-scene/ [...]

Comment on Tripout to Charles Lummis’ El Alisal Hideaway by L.A.’s Forgotten Lizard People

L.A.’s Forgotten Lizard People — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:56:30 +0000

[...] behavior. Either way, even prominent Angelenos have bought into the legend, including (allegedly) Charles Lummis, the famously eccentric writer-researcher of Native American [...]

Comment on Ghosts and GHOULA at Olvera Street’s Casa La Golondrina Mexican Cafe by Sandra Richardson

Sandra Richardson — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:47:19 +0000

Looking for haunted tours during April

Comment on Shaking Family Trees: Sanchez, Hossman, Lyon et. al. by Karin Schopp

Karin Schopp — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:52:44 +0000

Hello Michael- I was again cruising around the internet and saw this ongoing search. Maybe I can add more to what information you have. I gave up for awhile and am now back at it. We have moved to Carson City, NV . I have made some good contacts re: Cyrus Lyon and family. Let me know what you might need . I still have not found a connection to Petra Feliz Sanchez, but I still believe there is one somewhere. She died while some of her children were still rather young. I have been searching family connections to see if anyone of them ended up living with them. I know that when her last child (my relative Vincent Lyons)) died that he was living with his sister Mary Hossman. He met and married my grandmother in San Francisco and I know some of Marys children were living there also. Sometimes it crosses my mind that they might have been put in an orphanage. That is my next hunt…. I have alot of information on the families you mentioned. Let me know what you want – Karin

Comment on Harry Houdini’s Mythic Haunt by Ricky costas

Ricky costas — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:34:45 +0000

http://www.sandiegohaunted.com

also lots of haunts

Comment on Imlay Name Goes Hollywood in Battle:LA by Thom Imlay

Thom Imlay — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:59:20 +0000

I was also curious why they chose the name Imlay for this character. We do not have a very common surname.

Comment on Hanging With the Legendary Tiburcio Vasquez by amy

amy — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:21:34 +0000

Do you know why his headstone is on the diagonal and is under the sole palm tree. He is with all the still borns and babies.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=5334&PIpi=1273223
It is rumored that his body is face down in the casket- and the casket was turned so he is facing the bottom of it.

Comment on Imlay Name Goes Hollywood in Battle:LA by Dan Davies

Dan Davies — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:07:36 +0000

Lol naw he doesnt get blown up. Cpl Imlay was my favorite character by far he was like the calm, cool, skilled, reliable solider in the platoon

Comment on Imlay Name Goes Hollywood in Battle:LA by Connor Loadman

Connor Loadman — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 22:51:45 +0000

Imlay dosnt get blown to bits he is a loud mouth bad ass haha he makes it all the way through the movie by far my favorite character

Comment on Imlay Name Goes Hollywood in Battle:LA by Somer MacKillop

Somer MacKillop — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:51:05 +0000

This was the best movie ever made! Screw the critics!

Comment on The Feliz Curse: Ghosts, Greed and Griffith Park by dawn marschall PhD

dawn marschall PhD — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 21:49:38 +0000

Thank you all of your efforts in the research you have done and
conscientious writing pertaining to Griffith Park. I was very
touched by the fate of Don Antonio Feliz and wondered if there is
a placed where a visitor to Griffith Park where there is some history
of Don Antonio Feliz. For instance, after he died of smallpox in 1863
where was he buried? Since it was a very widespread epidemic did
the victims of smallpox not provided a traditional burial.
Is there part of the hacienda left on the property? The only reference to any structure existing is the adobe building.
Thank you for your consideration.

Comment on Pop Quiz: Where Was L.A.’s First Chinatown? by Jim

Jim — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 21:30:41 +0000

Great piece on Old Chinatown.

It’s not generally known that a few small blocks of the neighborhood persisted as late as the early 1950s, wedged in between Alameda and the Plaza. Unfortunately this is all gone now, having made way for more parking lots (of course), access roads, and rather pointless bits of landscaping that do nothing to further the preservation of the city’s history. This is also partly the work of Christine Sterling, “mother of Olvera Street”, who wanted the Chinese to clear out of the Plaza area. You can read this in William Estrada’s “The Los Angeles Plaza: Sacred And Contested Space”.

Comment on Caution: Never, Never Wake the Dead! by Chris

Chris — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:55:10 +0000

Good reporting, Mike! Very interesting stuff. I heard about the “headless monk” in Britain, but I didn’t know about the local news. Sounds like the “Poltergeist” script: “You only moved the headstones but you left the bodies!” It’s sad that there aren’t better records: I would think the reinterrment of remains would be important to keep track of, but it’s not surprising that some graves might have been missed. Maybe Frilot can pull some strings and get you access to old dusty diocesan archives??

Comment on Grave Controversy Continues at La Plaza by Caution: Never, Never Wake the Dead!

Caution: Never, Never Wake the Dead! — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:22:23 +0000

[...] to beat a dead horse, but having unearthed numerous pioneer skeletons at the abandoned Placita churchyard, LA Plaza officials might want to think twice before messing with the spot any further. Construction [...]

Comment on Harry Houdini’s Mythic Haunt by Steve R

Steve R — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:41:01 +0000

Mrs Houdini did invite Hereward Carrington to participate in the Final Houdini Seance in 1936 at the hotel.

Comment on Harry Houdini’s Mythic Haunt by Patrick Culliton

Patrick Culliton — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:57:42 +0000

I misstated something which will really confuse things and make matters worse. I wrote that when Houdini was in Hollywood, Ralf Walker considered 2398 Laurel Canyon Houdini’s.
WRONG!!!
I MEANT to say: when Houdini was in Hollywood, Ralf M. Walker considered 2435 Laurel Canyon Houdini’s.
This is what I get for saying that everything on this page other than my post was “a mess of wrong information.”
So, to reiterate, Houdini never lived at 2400 (2398) Laurel Canyon.
He did live on the estate, in the guesthouse, which was on the opposite side of Laurel Canyon.
Houdini lived at 2435 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
One last thing, at the time Houdini lived there, Laurel Canyon was considered part of Beverly Hills.

Comment on Harry Houdini’s Mythic Haunt by Patrick Culliton

Patrick Culliton — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:44:53 +0000

2398 Laurel Canyon Blvd. (or as it is now known 2400) was built and owned by Ralf M. Walker, the owner of Walker’s Fifth Street Store–a department store that eventually evolved into the Broadway Dept. stores. The guest house was directly across Laurel Canyon, up on a bluff that jutted into Laurel Canyon, creating one of its most dangerous hairpin curves. The address of Walker’s guesthouse was 2435 Laurel Canyon Blvd. The guesthouse was a big four bedroom with a separate garage and maid’s quarters. It had an elevator which was cut through solid granite to a tunnel which led to the gatehouse of 2398 (2400).
Houdini lived at 2435 Laurel Canyon for most of 1919, when he lived in Hollywood while starring in two feature films for Lasky Famous Players, one of Paramount’s production companies. The studio was located on Vine St. between Prospect–now Hollywood–Blvd. and Sunset. Walker named the guesthouse Houdini House.
After Houdini died in 1926, his widow referred several times to her “home in Hollywood” and finally returned to it in 1934. In 1935, Beatrice Houdini hosted a cocktail party for 500 magicians and their wives who were in Hollywood for a convention. This took place in the gardens of 2398 and that is when the confusion began.
Ralf M. Walker died in 1935 and the entire estate was sold. Beatrice Houdini lived at various addresses in Hollywood over the next few years and also spent time in Florida and New York. She was returning to New York when she died on the train near Needles, California in 1943.
Houdini never owned 2398 (or 2400) Laurel Canyon. A 1928 biography of Houdini, written “from the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini” states Houdini rented the guesthouse. One thing seems clear: from Ralf Walker’s standpoint, when Houdini was in Hollywood, 2398 Laurel Canyon was Houdini’s.
Houdini never owned 2435 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
1959, when the huge mansion at 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd. burned down in the disastrous Laurel Canyon fire, all three of L.A.’s daily papers reported that the “old Houdini mansion” had burned down. One of the papers even noted it had been called “Houdini House” by its owner.
2345 Laurel Canyon, the real “Houdini House,” had burned down at the same time. Even old-timers who had known Houdini when he’d lived in the house forty years before didn’t realize the newspapers were talking about the wrong house.
Did Houdini walk in the gardens and swim in the indoor pool at his friend Ralf Walker’s mansion? Of course.
Houdini stated in an interview that Hollywood, California was his favorite place on earth.
There is one building still standing on the estate at 2400 Laurel Canyon. That was a garage and maid’s quarters. It has been dressed up into an apartment, but, it was a servant’s quarters and the story that Mrs. Houdini and her manager, Dr. Edward Saint lived there is completely false.
In the 90s, the estate (2400) was owned for a time by a colorful antique dealer from Georgia who manufactured fake Houdini memorabilia and false historical facts at a relentless pace. This served to further cloud the already clouded true story as to where Houdini and later his widow lived in Hollywood.
For more on the true facts go to:
http://www.houdinisghost.com/laurelcanyon.html
and
http://www.houdinisghost.com/wrongruins.html
What I have stated in this post is the truth. Everything else on this web page is just a mess of completely wrong information.

Comment on Megastorm Watch 2011 and Beyond! by Linnea

Linnea — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:30:38 +0000

Here’s hoping the mega will help to fill Mono Lake, and all the other SoCal water sources.

Comment on Bearing Christmas Greetings by BlogoBuzz: Statuary With Style and Flair

BlogoBuzz: Statuary With Style and Flair — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:46:05 +0000

[...] by Griffith Park’s oddly dressed bear statue, the gang at Curbed LA have taken it upon themselves to outfit other local statuary in the latest [...]

Comment on The Rise and Decline of Historic Route 99 by Scott Piotrowski

Scott Piotrowski — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 03:21:05 +0000

66 and 99 even shared a portion of old San Fernando Road in Los Angeles (Glassell Park and Cypress Park , to be exact). The history of the two roads is most definitely inter-twined on so many levels.