tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55386184144256937032024-03-13T08:26:34.043-07:00Hollywoodland ForeverJ'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-75885868611890344022015-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:002015-12-08T12:25:24.021-08:00Dorothy Millette Bern Photos Discovered on Ebay? Not Quite!! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje40hX82gno2JyPrBniVfakoH0nRZD52xk2iH3KkQb1fXekM5mA2LJdhceCZlmigWBK8MAPIZTTxsXGvJNHlqvkILUEq_9oCLvr8dYiag3Vtx6Sa4ZI1KRT_h5S_XZRhkbUpKXcjHGjTk/s1600/DorothyHill1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje40hX82gno2JyPrBniVfakoH0nRZD52xk2iH3KkQb1fXekM5mA2LJdhceCZlmigWBK8MAPIZTTxsXGvJNHlqvkILUEq_9oCLvr8dYiag3Vtx6Sa4ZI1KRT_h5S_XZRhkbUpKXcjHGjTk/s320/DorothyHill1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothy Virginia Millett Hill-- Not Dorothy Millette Bern!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Recently there were two photos that were posted for sale on Ebay, listed simply as "<b>Vintage 1929 MGM Film Director Paul Bern Wife DOROTHY MILLETTE Portrait Photo</b>"-- <br />
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As I have learned in my years of researching history that just because someone says so, doesn't necessarily mean it is. This is one of those times, and I will explain how I know it for certain.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyo26yX0uyEV1f452H1zUHd7cBHWCHaM5mUDG61idThswuBzVAthTI3-xU3IAmFynlCwUp618ooRA_wi03x7NPR40Ef1zsHGSxhr52Hn6ETAZjZCYbxSDMMKbCkpTxNwnfGZ7uA17hMA/s1600/DorothyHill2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyo26yX0uyEV1f452H1zUHd7cBHWCHaM5mUDG61idThswuBzVAthTI3-xU3IAmFynlCwUp618ooRA_wi03x7NPR40Ef1zsHGSxhr52Hn6ETAZjZCYbxSDMMKbCkpTxNwnfGZ7uA17hMA/s320/DorothyHill2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wedding Photo of Dorothy Millett Hill, 1929</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You see, if you take a look at the photos, the listing had a view of the front and back of each photograph. Both state in pencil that the woman in the photograph is Dorothy Millett (not Millette). Then on a piece of tape on top of her scribbled name, the name Mrs. L.W. Hill, Jr., is typed as well. The photo bears a copyright stamp from the studio, "The Wright Studio," of St. Paul, Minnesota (1929). At some point the photos must have been acquired by the "Rogers Photo Archive" as there is a sticker placed on the back of each photograph bearing a serial number for their collection.<br />
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Again, both photographs have a sticker on the back with the name Mrs. L.W. Hill, Jr. This was of great importance in reference during my research as it made my search fairly easy.<br />
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Records in Minnesota indicate that Louis Warren Hill, Jr., married Dorothy Millett on November 26, 1929.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9cv_ruMQXtII7cE1kZBaab2sr0EK_t1N_v83U2aAXRjC5pZwYxKf7SvY-S5zHtzirNdJaX9OCT6QuGGwgJ_qiDgTZvUqSwSdiBKahLe0mIaAZQbTjFJas_3Wc_i_9nVjmdJZEc3V6vwo/s1600/DorothyHill3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9cv_ruMQXtII7cE1kZBaab2sr0EK_t1N_v83U2aAXRjC5pZwYxKf7SvY-S5zHtzirNdJaX9OCT6QuGGwgJ_qiDgTZvUqSwSdiBKahLe0mIaAZQbTjFJas_3Wc_i_9nVjmdJZEc3V6vwo/s320/DorothyHill3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back of Photo: Mrs. L.W. Hill, Jr.--</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In fact, the <i><a href="http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%202/Auburn%20NY%20Citizen/Auburn%20NY%20Citizen%201929%20pdf/Newspaper%20Auburn%20NY%20Citizen%201929%20-%201761.PDF">Auburn Citizen</a></i> dated on the Tuesday, November 26th reads:<br />
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<i>"Louis W. Hill Weds.
-—Hastings, Minn., Nov. 26)—
Guardian Angels Church, built originally
79 years ago with the aid of
Sioux Indians, was the scene for the
wedding today of Louis W. Hill, Jr.,
of St. Paul, and Miss Dorothy Virginia
Millett, of Hastings.
Hill is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Louis Hill, of St. Paul, and a grandson
of the late James J. Hill, founder
of the Great Northern Railway. He
has been learning the railroad business
working in various departments
of the road. Miss Millett is the
daughter of a pioneer Minnesota
family."--- </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Dorothy Virginia Millett was born on December 26, 1908, in Hastings, Minnesota. By the time the Census was taken in 1920, Dorothy was listed as being 12 years old, and living with her then widowed mother, Elizabeth and her siblings, Lucille, James and Harriet. The same woman in the photograph, Dorothy Millett Hill, is found on the 1930 and 1940 Census records residing with her husband, Louis W. Hill, Jr.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiNybDObT65AwPP34nWl_710U7Z39EnkIGqctFJpJ5zlTTglFi30fIhnq6-eod4vZPS6HaQJGA5A62ycM1N4sxJX_IzYM_u7AKGlYpdx5ATjBUp_QhUKz1VE1bFylbI3Sqbx9XYM5pMM/s1600/DorothyHill4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiNybDObT65AwPP34nWl_710U7Z39EnkIGqctFJpJ5zlTTglFi30fIhnq6-eod4vZPS6HaQJGA5A62ycM1N4sxJX_IzYM_u7AKGlYpdx5ATjBUp_QhUKz1VE1bFylbI3Sqbx9XYM5pMM/s320/DorothyHill4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wright Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota 1929</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Louis W. Hill, Jr., happens to be the son of Louis Hill and Maude Van Courtlandt Taylor. Louis Sr., was a prominent and savvy businessman in St. Paul, and President of the Great Northern Railway Company. His <a href="http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00702.xml">family papers</a> are available at the Minnesota Historical Society.<br />
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You see, this proves that the photograph that was sold on Ebay is NOT the same Dorothy Millette that was married to Paul Bern. Not only are their ages off by many years, but their last name is misspelled and the woman in the photograph lived well on into her older years, whereas Dorothy Millette Bern died in September of 1932 and is buried at East Lawn Cemetery in Sacramento. Also, here is a link to another photo of Dorothy Millett Hill, which is on the Corbis website, where it details that Dorothy was a model and the soon to be wife of Louis W. Hill. (See additional photo here: <a href="http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U211245P-A/model-dorothy-millette">http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U211245P-A/model-dorothy-millette</a>)<br />
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One point that I would like to mention though, is that all of these photographs bear a striking resemblance to a certain photograph found on page 18 of E.J. Fleming's book about Paul Bern's life and death. This leads me to wonder where he obtained his "alleged" photo of Dorothy?<br />
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The photograph that has been going around for ages, which you can see below, is the real Dorothy Millette Bern. As you can tell the facial structure of the woman in the photo below is very different from the photos above as well as the photo E.J. Fleming claims in his book is Dorothy in her younger years. You cannot change the structure of one's face, nose or where it is positioned on the face, not back then anyway. I will go more in depth on Fleming's photograph and his theory of who he believed Dorothy was in his book, in another blog soon.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZj9xVglSFiARvWgUwZepCABdUJt_nKEI-c4VCcqtNi1C-zlbLvjEo-lpbTl7cvrPhRZZsQUEg-EvPJ2L13naUKFHsSshKzmqXbEOPBWc6XsqzusK0tR9wV1sO9mgzir8wNeVUj1jcsQ/s1600/Dorothy+Millette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZj9xVglSFiARvWgUwZepCABdUJt_nKEI-c4VCcqtNi1C-zlbLvjEo-lpbTl7cvrPhRZZsQUEg-EvPJ2L13naUKFHsSshKzmqXbEOPBWc6XsqzusK0tR9wV1sO9mgzir8wNeVUj1jcsQ/s320/Dorothy+Millette.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothy Millette Bern (Common-law Wife of Paul Bern)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In conclusion, please always fact check before believing everything you see in books, online or even in conversations. Yes, we are human and we make mistakes at times, but the objective of providing historical information is to provide the most accurate information one can based on thorough research. Perhaps there are more photographs of the real Dorothy Millette somewhere out there in someone's attic, a basket of old photographs in an antique shop or an old thrift store. Perhaps they are not marked with a name or information and will continue to elude us, or maybe one day one will pop up out of the blue. For now, it doesn't appear to be happening quite yet.<br />
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<b>Copyright- 2015- J'aime Rubio</b><br />
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Thank you to Laurie McCarron for emailing me the links to the photos!<br />
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Sources:<br />
Ebay Photos<br />
<a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/390995546998">http://www.ebay.com/itm/390995546998</a> & <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/390995546963">http://www.ebay.com/itm/390995546963</a> (Copyright of Wright Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1929)<br />
U.S. Census Records, Birth and Marriage Records, Minnesota.<br />
Louis Hill Papers, Minnesota Historical Society<br />
(<a href="http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00702.xml">http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00702.xml</a>)<br />
Auburn Citizen, November 26, 1929<br />
( <a href="http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%202/Auburn%20NY%20Citizen/Auburn%20NY%20Citizen%201929%20pdf/Newspaper%20Auburn%20NY%20Citizen%201929%20-%201761.PDF">http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%202/Auburn%20NY%20Citizen/Auburn%20NY%20Citizen%201929%20pdf/Newspaper%20Auburn%20NY%20Citizen%201929%20-%201761.PDF</a> )<br />
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<br />J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-60174086982019741952014-05-07T22:56:00.000-07:002015-01-30T23:40:50.140-08:00First Female BandleadersI have been finding more and more posts online that make the claim that Ina Ray Hutton was the first female bandleader in history to lead an all-girl or all-male band, and that she was the first to record with those said bands. This is not correct. Although Ina Ray Hutton was one of the earlier female bandleaders, she definitely was not the first in history. And let me remind you, although there were records of all-female orchestras in the past, they were also a novelty and not quite as popular nor as many in number as their counterpart, the all-male bands.<br />
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The oldest record I could find so far was that of Babe Egan and her Hollywood Red Heads in 1924, although again that doesn't mean she was the first either, just the first I could find. In history there are plenty of records of all-girl bands or all-female ensembles. The Los Angeles Women's Philharmonic was established in 1893, and records show that all-female bands were performing from the late 1800s well into the turn of the century. As far as an orchestra led by a female, to my knowledge the first I could find was Babe Egan in 1924. Then, there was also Jean Rankin and her Bluebelles, which was an all-girl band way back in 1929. <a href="http://outsidelands.org/private/index.php?page=15">The Ingenues</a> were also an all-girl band that traveled the vaudeville circuit during the 1920s. Then there was Peggy Gilbert and her all-girl band that I can date back to the early 1930s.<br />
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So without further adieu, here is just some of the information I have gathered on these lovely ladies and their amazing all-girl (and some all-male) orchestras. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBe_lbwDa26aYv62tf4KU4nk4zgJ45VX2K27Xpm_YoLTX6IXISAwzTAL7jVA1c4MgrCVI4ZBXOCtXBtWc9XA7Fz4VZotA3e0SVYRUbwf9MCFAljwCMTLHuyKoQjsjHVhSLABaQwXwNrM/s1600/BeFunky_BabeEganandherHollywoodRedheads.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBe_lbwDa26aYv62tf4KU4nk4zgJ45VX2K27Xpm_YoLTX6IXISAwzTAL7jVA1c4MgrCVI4ZBXOCtXBtWc9XA7Fz4VZotA3e0SVYRUbwf9MCFAljwCMTLHuyKoQjsjHVhSLABaQwXwNrM/s1600/BeFunky_BabeEganandherHollywoodRedheads.jpg.jpg" height="406" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babe Egan & Her Hollywood Redheads</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u><b>Babe Egan & Her Hollywood Redheads </b></u><br />
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Bandleader/Musician<br />
<b>Babe Egan</b><br />
Birth Name: Mary Florence Egan<br />
Born: May 1, 1897<br />
Died: February 7, 1966<br />
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Known to many as "Babe," Egan was not only one of the first female bandleaders but also a great violinist. She started her all-girl band the "Hollywood Redheads" in 1924 until around 1933. Babe and her Redheads toured not only the United States and Canada, but also all over Europe during the vaudeville days. It was said by many female musicians in later years, that Babe and her all-girl band inspired them to get into music as professionals. Other groups of the time period I found were Jean Rankin and her Bluebelles, as well as the Ingenues who toured during the vaudeville days as an all-girl band.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2ZaxFzBUh03d-ugYHZCgtyciky21b19ZdXvFv7neLtxeltRU55cqRgRan8LWRc5Kud2WN0cuv0x4c_N8gJ01DiBEPjkUmjjZGP-ampsyxsszhm2YPc5azOhbdjXgTrrJJ-ynfoThCE8/s1600/BeFunky_peggygilbert.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2ZaxFzBUh03d-ugYHZCgtyciky21b19ZdXvFv7neLtxeltRU55cqRgRan8LWRc5Kud2WN0cuv0x4c_N8gJ01DiBEPjkUmjjZGP-ampsyxsszhm2YPc5azOhbdjXgTrrJJ-ynfoThCE8/s1600/BeFunky_peggygilbert.jpg.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peggy Gilbert</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u><b></b></u><br />
<u><b></b></u><br />
<u><b></b></u>
<u><b>Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band</b></u><br />
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Bandleader/Musician<br />
<b>Peggy Gilbert</b><br />
Birth Name: Margaret Fern Knechtges<br />
Born: January 17, 1905<br />
Died: February 12, 2007<br />
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Margaret was raised by her mother, an opera singer and father, an orchestra leader and violinist in Iowa. By the age of 7, she was touring with dance troupes and performing with her father's groups on the piano and the violin. By the time she graduated high school it was obvious that she had her heart set out to follow in her father's footsteps, becoming a bandleader. Known for her tremendous skill as a saxophone player, Peggy not only led but performed with her first all-girl band "The Melody Girls," and received rave reviews, even being broadcast nightly over a local radio station in Sioux City. Peggy led a career that spanned 8 decades, not only as an advocate for female musicians, but as a sensational saxophone player and yes, bandleader.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAZlJP6jfjLcbOSbSnRpJ378XFF4BMV9wFJ0VpsD4Ps1aKnzksKSYXoGOgqcRYaphBpkAR5BBFDppUSeSTNaQ39lb7kgfSPGS0_PyAWkZX54khaJM-hYxYeA5itzKSAHAvQduCA4D_o4/s1600/inarayhutton3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAZlJP6jfjLcbOSbSnRpJ378XFF4BMV9wFJ0VpsD4Ps1aKnzksKSYXoGOgqcRYaphBpkAR5BBFDppUSeSTNaQ39lb7kgfSPGS0_PyAWkZX54khaJM-hYxYeA5itzKSAHAvQduCA4D_o4/s1600/inarayhutton3.jpg" height="328" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ina Ray Hutton & her Melodears</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_JKyGVmVTyJYmV7PkNXs-1dpmp4Sqpw53fxSVIPckxp8o7te2HthMh9dhQEdm9v7nFRHLC3T4xb5-Eih5Qygwy7H-x6pF77H5IQGy_k0TvAo7BcXeezR6nZrxB3f5Lg5w8MDj7RY7lE/s1600/BeFunky_inaray13.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_JKyGVmVTyJYmV7PkNXs-1dpmp4Sqpw53fxSVIPckxp8o7te2HthMh9dhQEdm9v7nFRHLC3T4xb5-Eih5Qygwy7H-x6pF77H5IQGy_k0TvAo7BcXeezR6nZrxB3f5Lg5w8MDj7RY7lE/s1600/BeFunky_inaray13.jpg.jpg" height="272" width="320" /></a><u><b>Ina Ray Hutton & Her Melodears</b></u><br />
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Bandleader/Singer/Dancer<br />
<b>Ina Ray Hutton </b><br />
Birth Name: Odessa Cowan<br />
Born: March 13, 1916<br />
Died: February 19, 1984<br />
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If you read my earlier article about <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2014/04/sisters-secrets-ina-ray-and-june.html">Ina Ray Hutton's life</a>, you will gain insight on her past and her entire career in music. Ina was a skilled dancer and performer at a young age, and she appeared in many shows before she turned 18. By 1934, she fronted the all-girl orchestra, set up by Irving Mills and Alex Hyde, known as "The Melodears." Although she was called the "Bandleader," this was again just a front, a means of entertaining the crowd as her skimpy dresses, amazingly talented dancing and baton whirling was all part of the show. It wasn't until later on in her career, around the time she dropped the all-girl band and started her all-male orchestra, that she had become trained in music enough to feel confident in leading her band. Ina drew even greater success with her all-male orchestra, although later down the line when the opportunity arose to have her own television show, she seized the chance to revive the all-girl band, once again.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnK_GXdSshhGfF-u_dJDYMnK5662EVajlAd38okQbO-uLtogIL8oAp9FM50sjjhpOEKejhys2WFbJZ34QX-03qL-Ytt2wFQFOONTPxPqAIhh832Sc07mPZ3SElrxnultihyphenhyphen5_UalASbM/s1600/ritario2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnK_GXdSshhGfF-u_dJDYMnK5662EVajlAd38okQbO-uLtogIL8oAp9FM50sjjhpOEKejhys2WFbJZ34QX-03qL-Ytt2wFQFOONTPxPqAIhh832Sc07mPZ3SElrxnultihyphenhyphen5_UalASbM/s1600/ritario2.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rita Rio and her Rhythm Girls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u><b>Rita Rio & her Rhythm Girls</b></u><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQenoNYboFsWKLfGF1nPhN5EwQE4eHKVWbADa4NACFkXML75WD434LQujhPkJcmXd5DEMr1XFoFE_G7l5txG8tpkFa0mrkpJs-e1YLU-Um0P0G2AbLKcThoBi-rmoOVNZi_wsWS1KbAc/s1600/donna+drake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQenoNYboFsWKLfGF1nPhN5EwQE4eHKVWbADa4NACFkXML75WD434LQujhPkJcmXd5DEMr1XFoFE_G7l5txG8tpkFa0mrkpJs-e1YLU-Um0P0G2AbLKcThoBi-rmoOVNZi_wsWS1KbAc/s1600/donna+drake.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Bandleader/Singer/Dancer,</span></span><br />
<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption"><b>Rita Rio (aka Donna Drake)</b> </span></span><br />
<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Born: November 15, 1914</span></span><br />
<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Died: June 20, 1989 <br /> Birth name: Eunice Westmoreland <br /> Birth place: Miami, Florida <br /> Place of death: Los Angeles, California (at 74 years old)<br /> <br />
</span></span><br />
During a time when Ina Ray Hutton and her Melodears were making the
female bandleader and all-girl orchestra popular, she was not alone, there was also Rita Rio & her Rhythm Girls.
In fact as you can see above there were other females who got the ball
rolling first. Rita Rio (aka Donna Drake) was also a very popular name
back then and she also had her all-girl orchestra from the 1930s into
the 1940s. <span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">As with Ina
Ray Hutton, she was the focal point of the outfit being shapely,
energetic, & good looking, always keeping the attention on her and drawing in the crowds. She married American costume designer,
William Travilla, in 1944. The couple remained married until her death
in 1989.</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpEm2pvNEgMXNHo5LKIPFrn6A_22DLat1JTFvKD1Gg3f6VE7Hv8Byxy6_SAvaYBcB4_zRKykU6G53qtLFgtUJAHDBVEQepWVsMY92kaUKja_1QZL4Bhz7PwXowTsCyjhnfEJMq38vLIMw/s1600/chickwebbsmilingatellafitzgerald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpEm2pvNEgMXNHo5LKIPFrn6A_22DLat1JTFvKD1Gg3f6VE7Hv8Byxy6_SAvaYBcB4_zRKykU6G53qtLFgtUJAHDBVEQepWVsMY92kaUKja_1QZL4Bhz7PwXowTsCyjhnfEJMq38vLIMw/s1600/chickwebbsmilingatellafitzgerald.jpg" height="409" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ella w/ Chick Webb's Band</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><b>Ella Fitzgerald & Chick Webb's Orchestra</b></u><br />
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Another of the females who led an all-male orchestra was Ella Fitzgerald, although the circumstances surrounding her sudden role did not come about happily. You see, she was a singer for Chick Webb and his Orchestra for several years. She was very close to him and so when he passed away, Ella didn't think twice about taking over the band and keeping it going for Chick. Ella maintained her role as a singer but also "fronted" the orchestra as the bandleader, even recording many records with them from 1939-1942 when the group disbanded and she went solo. Ella's method was not to prance around and dance like Ina Ray or even Rita Rio, instead she stood in front of the microphone and sang for the crowds. This worked for her, as she was always able to captivate her audience with her voice.<br />
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<u><b>Bandleaders or "Fronting" the band? Which is it?</b></u><br />
<br />
<br />
When it came to the subject of whether or not these women "fronted" their bands or actually led them, it was questionable. Many of the women such as Ina Ray Hutton, Rita Rio and even Ella Fitzgerald were not real bandleaders at the start. They waved their baton around, danced, put on a show or in Ella's case, sang her heart out. But no, they were not really conducting the band, it was all show.<br />
<br />
Although as the years went by, Ina Ray Hutton studied music and wanted to be taken seriously as a band leader, she did later conduct her all-male orchestra, but it took her years to master it. The earlier women such as Babe Egan and Peggy Gilbert, without a doubt were conducting their bands and even performing with them as veteran musicians and managers. Thus the title to the first famous female bandleaders in history, I would say goes to Babe Egan and Peggy Gilbert!!<br />
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<b>(Copyright-2014) - J. Rubio </b><br />
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<br />J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-5529889218126108542014-04-25T18:41:00.005-07:002023-03-18T08:45:11.770-07:00Sisters, Secrets?- Ina Ray and June Hutton's Real History<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuW5NcT2e_8WFjpZ8mqU-w6fNWbDsNJnjEjyZcaojZSOfmyvK5UUYyPLtuc2CAX-CnolOeBH0nUuHu3Zfi6KFixYLJKiTrX0V1LhJIAYrP-oxZzPLvWQAK1CTSU05bcEjB9UgPa4sHPvk/s1600/inaray2.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuW5NcT2e_8WFjpZ8mqU-w6fNWbDsNJnjEjyZcaojZSOfmyvK5UUYyPLtuc2CAX-CnolOeBH0nUuHu3Zfi6KFixYLJKiTrX0V1LhJIAYrP-oxZzPLvWQAK1CTSU05bcEjB9UgPa4sHPvk/s1600/inaray2.jpg.jpg" width="315" /></a>In the past several years, a story has been brought to light. The story of Ina Ray Hutton's alleged family "secret," that she and her sister were actually black and "passing as white" during the 1930s and throughout their lifetimes.<br />
<br />
The problem I have with these sudden "allegations" or rumors isn't the fact that there maybe some hidden ancestry in the Hutton family bloodlines, it is the fact that the person or persons claiming to have "discovered" this story, claim that Ina Ray was hiding it from the world and as they say, "passing as white" to make it in the entertainment world.<br />
<br />
To me, that seems to be very presumptuous, being that Ina Ray and June are no longer alive for them to make that statement as a fact and also the fact their family was never made privy to this information by Ina Ray or June prior to this "coming out" article posted on a certain website a few years ago. <br />
<br />
Of course these articles that you can basically find all over the internet now (mostly all lazily copied and pasted from one site to the next), go completely over the top with ideas and opinions also going on and on that this secret explains why Ina had certain physical features or characteristics, all the way down to the fact she could dance or that she was musically inclined as a reasoning that it was all because of her "black" ancestry, as if she hadn't had any African-American blood in her that she would be less talented? Again, that comes off a bit racist to me if you really think about it.<br />
<br />
Some of the things on these sites are quoted basically saying that Ina Ray was playing the part of a white person, getting one over on them. Even going so far as to make mention of her physical traits as being "black."<br />
<br />
And what about the article online literally titled "Regarding the Perceived Whiteness of Singer Ina Ray Hutton<i>", </i>where the writer literally has the caption "Ina Ray Hutton—not exactly who everyone thought she was," under a photo of a young Ina Ray.<i> </i><br />
<br />
I have news for everyone, there are a lot of women out there who can "cut a rug" that are not black. Also, there are many beautiful ladies out there with curves, big foreheads, wide faces and plump lips that are not black. I have a wide face, full lips, a big forehead, and guess what....I can dance, too. What exactly does that prove? A lot of people have these same characteristics and belong to a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.<br />
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Ina Ray Hutton was a beautiful, blue-eyed, petite and very thin lady, but she did not have a big shape on top or in the rear as many are making her out to have. Yes, she had a nice frame, but compared to Marilyn Monroe or a Pin-up Dolls Betty Grable or Betty Brosmer, she really wasn't what you would call "stacked" in front or behind.<br />
<br />
The point is, there are plenty of women in the world that fit into all those physical characteristics and none of which necessarily mean that you are of "African-American" descent. Are we to suddenly attribute every person with any talent or certain physical characteristic as being from one set race or culture? That would be a very narrow minded assumption. There are plenty of people from all races and all cultures who are beautiful, curvy, intelligent and talented. <i> </i><br />
<br />
After reading some of these articles that seem to be more interested in slamming Ina Ray Hutton for being some sort of "poser," instead of honoring her legacy and life, I decided that it was time that if people are going to dive into her "ancestry," why not do it COMPLETELY, from all angles not just picking and choosing one side. That way the reader will get a full scope at Ina's ancestry, not just a narrow minded viewpoint.<br />
<br />
And so that is where I come into the picture. I am a truth seeker, and if people make claims, I like to see evidence to support these claims, not just go by what they say they found or what they think. This should not have ever been about race, but it instead it should be about accuracy and respecting those who are no longer here to speak for themselves (Ina Ray and June Hutton).<br />
<br />
So for the last few years, a friend of mine and myself have both been researching June and Ina Ray Hutton's lives to give you a proper and more educated (or informed) look at these two lovely ladies...and to remind you of their talents and legacy, and definitely not basing things on color although I feel it is only right that you get a full scope of her "background", not just the history that other sites want you to believe.<br />
<br />
You will find in this blog post, that I show you the facts backed up by evidence that you can go back and verify on your own. I will also include many more bits of information that have never been published online (to my knowledge) which is very important in order for you to form your own opinion about this entire subject. <br />
<br />
First things first... in order for us to go back into their ancestry, I must first give you a rundown on who these two lovely ladies were....then I will take you back farther and farther into the past to see what we can find about the Hutton sisters.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Ina Ray or Odessa Cowan?</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EyUepbulZMz_PW9_9Df-7YiM35FGmLKfo-L7HEuZF3VCoS7GvUdHwuyKZeEoGoAgFuDXrrh0c5_EYCyXAmBMUXOJM8VvOcsCKeboy5SU6C5-Esf5Kb7GdVsnCvVmUfZTFZNYoBEqQgk/s1600/InaRay.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Ina Ray Hutton was actually born, Odessa Cowan on March 13, 1916, to her parents Marvel Svea (meaning "Swede") Williams and Odie Daniel Cowan. Odie Cowan and Marvel had married on October 15, 1915 in Indiana, while Marvel was four months pregnant with Odessa, having conceived her sometime in mid-June. Perhaps this was a rushed marriage, given the fact she was already pregnant and at the time it was frowned upon to have a child out of wedlock. <br />
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<br />
<u><b>On Her Way To Stardom</b></u><br />
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By 1918, Marvel and her husband Odie, along with their daughter Odessa, lived at 440 E. 40th Street located north of the Hyde Park area where Odessa and June would later go to High School. At the same time in 1918, Marvel's mother, Minnie Williams McFall, and her husband, (Marvel's step-father) Bailey McFall were living at 1728 Fulton Street near Lake Street about 7 miles to the north of Marvel and Odie.<br />
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I could not find any more records showing how long Marvel and Odie were together, and by the 1920 and 1930 Census, it shows Marvel, Odessa and June living with the McFall's. It is unknown as to when Odie and Marvel's marriage ended as I also did not find a divorce decree, however that doesn't mean there isn't one on file. By 1942, Odie was living at 4634 Drexel Blvd, and there is no listing of a wife being with him. <br />
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While growing up in Chicago, Odessa followed in her mother's footsteps. At some point the McFall's moved south to the Ward 3 District of Chicago, which was south of 39th Street and just north 49th street (with western borders along State and Princeton, while eastern border went all the way up to the Lake Michigan line). Perhaps they moved to the area in order to secure a spot for Odessa and June at the better schools.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66rPDVUghyRmKC8RhdRCeYfuZaduS11BmTILKVm0Fov2gXCvcO1u7sAIa-6TtJrz5BUfCn7RMw9wcqMtxZ1sxBYTmDXGdtvT-P5KdONINWVo0rgUqa_G31XQgcs8VFk4xkGQMHtNbKxw/s1600/nedwayburn.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66rPDVUghyRmKC8RhdRCeYfuZaduS11BmTILKVm0Fov2gXCvcO1u7sAIa-6TtJrz5BUfCn7RMw9wcqMtxZ1sxBYTmDXGdtvT-P5KdONINWVo0rgUqa_G31XQgcs8VFk4xkGQMHtNbKxw/s1600/nedwayburn.jpg.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ned Wayburn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Marvel was a pianist and played professionally in Chicago ballrooms and clubs as "Marvel Ray." Odessa was taught some piano by her mother, however Marvel chose to teach her to dance and sing instead. Odessa went to study dance under Hazel Thompson-Davis, a renowned dance instructor and choreographer in Chicago. I have found many newspapers showing that Hazel was not only in Chicago teaching tap and stage dancing at the Coleridge-Taylor Music School when it opened in 1913, but she also assisted dance icon and legendary instructor Ned Wayburn in his studios later in Chicago and in New York as well in the 1920s around the time Odessa would have been learning her dancing skills.<br />
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Ned Wayburn's schools were considered the country's leading dance studios. Fred Astaire and Adele (his sister) studied at the Ned Wayburn studio in New York. You see, anyone who was anyone wanted to study with theses experienced and revered dance instructors. Mrs. Thompson-Davis was literally quoted as one of the "better teachers of dancing in New York." I found countless newspapers showing her many students as winners of several competitions. <br />
<br />
One of the articles constantly mentioned online that mentions Odessa being a student of Hazel Thompson-Davis, was not from a 1923 news clipping as many sites claim, but was an article mentioned in 1924. The caption under the mentioned photo in the newspaper was pertaining to a fundraiser benefit special showing of "In Bamville" at the Illinois Theater, in which Odessa and her fellow dancing peers were performing a "added feature" for the show. The special matinee showing was raising funds towards the widows and children of the fireman who died in the April 18, 1924 fire at Curran Hall in Chicago, which was a headline making disaster. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhRqs5ZiLv6bK_Tra3yXfQlIJ4_8UyAuyATE4yXOZ5pCMxIK9oskqQU3mU4WLkFFWSVruKrxDX3WHSmePPj8R8faldnXbO972RLEsiSfFzCRTFaqO9sA2lhl-TDxYwjpykMF7JLA1gt0/s1600/Inarayfunfacts.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Mrs. Thompson-Davis had been a<span class="st"> protégé</span> of African-American performer Aida Overton Walker, the famous Vaudeville choreographer and leading lady for the Williams & Walker Company. She had her connections to people in the business. Being that Mrs. Thompson-Davis was also affiliated with Ned Wayburn didn't surprise me that Odessa was soon discovered. You see, Ned Wayburn, long before becoming the top notch name for dancing schools and performing arts in the country, had been a stage man for Ziegfeld in his early years as well. I believe that had a lot to do with why Marvel brought her daughter to Mrs. Thompson-Davis for her tap and stage dancing lessons, because she knew that it would send her on her way to stardom.<br />
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<u><b>Getting Discovered</b></u><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZtVgUhMpbI-2LK1nWkdEZhM2dunQTRyoQtx8tJKEBmVg_GwIq6aQUN7LCTwqzCn7hjHPXko1_CkLMe7pasU-5422s0NypppErULOPUr3RbnjSBAKQqkyohtVHj_WPLf2KzqnZnar9V4/s1600/BeFunky_20140410_003513.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZtVgUhMpbI-2LK1nWkdEZhM2dunQTRyoQtx8tJKEBmVg_GwIq6aQUN7LCTwqzCn7hjHPXko1_CkLMe7pasU-5422s0NypppErULOPUr3RbnjSBAKQqkyohtVHj_WPLf2KzqnZnar9V4/s1600/BeFunky_20140410_003513.jpg.jpg" width="258" /></a>While perfecting her dancing skills, Odessa was also excelling in her studies at school. In fact, Odessa, who by that time was using the stage name "Ina Ray", was so intelligent that while in middle school she was advanced to high school at Hyde Park High, skipping the 8th grade all together. At the time that Odessa was attending High School there, the community of Hyde Park, was still an exclusively white area. In fact, it wasn't until the late 1940s (around 1948) that the neighborhood, community and its schools became more diverse after a Supreme Court ruling banned the "racially restrictive covenants" that had been in place before, and at one point had even been supported by the University of Chicago. In earlier times, after it hosted the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition, Hyde Park was even considered a resort area for visiting tourists and at an earlier point in time there had been many hotels there until the start of the Great Depression, when those businesses were forced to close.<br />
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During her younger years on stage performing, Odessa was scooped up first by Gus Edwards who brought her to star in his revue "Future Stars Troupe" at the Palace Theater. She later performed in Lew Leslie's "Clowns in Clover" and sang the song "Full of the Devil." On Broadway, she performed in George White's revues: "Melody", "Never Had An Education," "Scandals", and then onto The Ziegfeld Follies all by the time she was 18 years old.<br />
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While performing in The Ziegfeld Follies, Ina Ray dazzled Irving Mills, the man who discovered the likes of Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. Along with Alex Hyde, Mills convinced Ina Ray to come work for them in a new venture they had in mind, an all-girl orchestra.<br />
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<i>"How did I get started as a bandleader? Believe me, I didn't want to do it. I was doing alright on my own as a singer and dancer. When the William Morris Agency asked me to do this I wondered why I should take on more headaches...but I did it and I loved it, because I love music!"</i>--(Ina Ray was quoted in an interview published in the <i>Pittsburgh Press</i>, Sept. 30, 1959)<br />
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<u><b>Filling a Need</b></u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXUFpwOVwn85lNhWWy6wf0oCLGW3LTod0Z2_OSdAXzF93CvqGn34oJFQ19-aZ9MqkS-LAVZmYYffrRvkbsK_VgoYlijDRUlcrz7yiLpZwr1Qh_-_XvC0mPKDzds_Ne9WCsbG2pxyFZFQ/s1600/inarayhutton3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXUFpwOVwn85lNhWWy6wf0oCLGW3LTod0Z2_OSdAXzF93CvqGn34oJFQ19-aZ9MqkS-LAVZmYYffrRvkbsK_VgoYlijDRUlcrz7yiLpZwr1Qh_-_XvC0mPKDzds_Ne9WCsbG2pxyFZFQ/s1600/inarayhutton3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ina Ray Hutton & her Melodears</td></tr>
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Hyde and Mills knew that in order to get this particular band into the entertainment world and make them into full blown stars, they first needed a gimmick. They needed someone at the head of the band with a great personality, talent and sexy appeal. At the time they chose Ina, she was using the name Ina Ray. It wasn't until she jumped on board with Hyde and Mills in their all-girl band venture that she added the name Hutton, adopted by heiress to the Woolworth fortune, Barbara Hutton who made all the headlines back then.<br />
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They then molded Ina into the sexy "Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm" that later would be her signature.<br />
She was coached carefully because at that point in time, although she was a great dancer and performer, she was not a musician let alone a bandleader. She played the piano only partially, but her personality and entertainment value was what they wanted, so that is what they played on. It was quoted that the girl band members never followed her waving arms. At that point in time, she was an "artificial" bandleader, meaning it was all "show." In many articles including this one, it stated that Ina's "<i>personality has much if not more to do with her success than any other single factor.</i>"-<i> Schenectady Gazzette</i> (3/11/1937). Even Jeannie Pool's book, "<i>Peggy Gilbert and her All-Girl Band"</i> mentions Ina's role back then, <i>"her movements are in tempo, but she is definitely not conducting the band. Rather, she "fronted" her band, being neither music director or bandleader."</i><br />
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She was able to pull the crowds in with her spunk and charisma, which made her band "The Melodears" start to really pick up success. Variety printed, "<i>A near Cab Calloway in mannerisms, a near Jean Harlow physically"</i>, and as an after thought, <i>"an excellent hoofer.</i>" She went from being a $50 a week dancer, to making $3,500 a week with her band. After some time though, Ina started studying music because she knew she couldn't carry on the charade forever, it took her years but eventually she gained the confidence to feel that she knew what she was doing now as far as conducting the band as a real "bandleader."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYRQG-t_w6itt8K1lCiQdG2sdnm8tD5UNoU_srlx9YWidRJ5WvyBc3fl0Fg5KKi8rMAH7lEB174pmlTrKmPfCdrW_OCl_LQepD0OdSIRV7GOWyWf9ESHrMUfVIr3viot-yjHmp049pSk/s1600/BeFunky_donnadrake.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYRQG-t_w6itt8K1lCiQdG2sdnm8tD5UNoU_srlx9YWidRJ5WvyBc3fl0Fg5KKi8rMAH7lEB174pmlTrKmPfCdrW_OCl_LQepD0OdSIRV7GOWyWf9ESHrMUfVIr3viot-yjHmp049pSk/s1600/BeFunky_donnadrake.jpg.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Ina Ray Hutton as well as "Rita Rio" and her all-girl orchestra, were really the only two female "bandleaders" for all-girl orchestras to make it big at the time although they were not the first of their kind. In fact, the first female band leaders I could find were Babe Egan, Jean Rankin and Peggy Gilbert.<br />
<br />
As far as rumors of ethnicity, Rita Rio (aka Donna Drake) could not avoid her share either. Rita's was another one of those misidentified stories, being that she was marketed through her studio as being born in Mexico and of Mexican heritage when in fact, her real name was Eunice Westmoreland, born in Miami, Florida. Her parents were both Caucasian, and were from Arkansas and Alabama. <br />
<br />
<u><b>Ina Goes For The Boys</b></u><br />
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Eventually, Ina felt that an all-male orchestra was better and more lucrative than the girls, so she dropped her original band and started an new band comprised of only male band members, which were revered as superior in talent. "<i>Although an all girl band was easier to look at, the all male band is easier to listen to."</i>--Ina's own words quoted in and article published in The Evening Independent, March 27, 1944.<br />
<br />
Numerous articles and reviews in magazines and newspapers at the time always mentioned that given the choice between the all-girl band and the all-male, they would choose the latter. Of course it was entertaining to watch these lovely ladies play, and many of them were talented, however it was the all-male orchestra's that seemed to be easier on the ears and it showed. Even Ina herself admitted that!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZtVgUhMpbI-2LK1nWkdEZhM2dunQTRyoQtx8tJKEBmVg_GwIq6aQUN7LCTwqzCn7hjHPXko1_CkLMe7pasU-5422s0NypppErULOPUr3RbnjSBAKQqkyohtVHj_WPLf2KzqnZnar9V4/s1600/BeFunky_20140410_003513.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhRqs5ZiLv6bK_Tra3yXfQlIJ4_8UyAuyATE4yXOZ5pCMxIK9oskqQU3mU4WLkFFWSVruKrxDX3WHSmePPj8R8faldnXbO972RLEsiSfFzCRTFaqO9sA2lhl-TDxYwjpykMF7JLA1gt0/s1600/Inarayfunfacts.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhRqs5ZiLv6bK_Tra3yXfQlIJ4_8UyAuyATE4yXOZ5pCMxIK9oskqQU3mU4WLkFFWSVruKrxDX3WHSmePPj8R8faldnXbO972RLEsiSfFzCRTFaqO9sA2lhl-TDxYwjpykMF7JLA1gt0/s1600/Inarayfunfacts.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a>She also decided to drop all the sexy, lacy get-ups and the blonde hair, for more appropriate attire and her darker chestnut tresses. You see, she was finally in control and wanted to be taken seriously, not as a sex kitten parading around a band. No, she wanted to be recognized as "Ina Ray Hutton, Bandleader."<br />
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She went on to continue performing with her all-male band, but later on in the 1950s after being approached about having her very own television program, "The Ina Ray Hutton Show", she jumped at the chance which revived her original act that made her famous, bringing back an all-girl band. The show first aired only in California, with the theme, "No Men Allowed" on KTLA Paramount Network and later airing nationwide via NBC-TV. It allowed the women audience to feel there was a show on television giving them some importance, while the men always enjoyed a show with pretty ladies. It seemed to be a win-win for everyone watching. It lasted from 1951-1955, and having a brief stint on national television in 1956.<br />
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When talking on the subject of her show, Ina was quoted saying, "<i>It's hard to find girl musicians. But when they're good, they're terrific. There are no in betweens either somehow- either very good or awful. It's especially hard to find brass- trumpets, trombones,-because these instruments take a lot of stamina and a strong lip."</i>- (Times Daily, July 5, 1956)<br />
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<u><b>The Crash That Almost Ended A Career</b></u><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7rn-e13WFs5SpZt60ILPhPPB3KHLJpiUlOxZU1OLtv3ATXqSnK6I_r0uKO5zgr5i62ryb56xhGl_yEs4qYLX5jXKs4teUv5ffx9WAAuF1V1pn93gxPijJdhd0KvM0qjGfZ7aTgB5IAw/s1600/inaray_pilot.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7rn-e13WFs5SpZt60ILPhPPB3KHLJpiUlOxZU1OLtv3ATXqSnK6I_r0uKO5zgr5i62ryb56xhGl_yEs4qYLX5jXKs4teUv5ffx9WAAuF1V1pn93gxPijJdhd0KvM0qjGfZ7aTgB5IAw/s1600/inaray_pilot.jpg.jpg" /></a><br />
On New Years Eve '52, Ina Ray had just flown to Los Angeles from San Diego when while leaving, she collided her car with that of Henry Biggs' vehicle near the Los Angeles International Airport. Unfortunately, the passenger in Biggs' vehicle, Betty Blackman died from her injuries. Ina was given a sobriety test which she passed, after having admitted that she had two glasses of champagne before returning to Los Angeles. During a Coroner's Inquest, the nine person jury exonerated Ina Ray for the accident, although it was a close call. Five of the jurors stated that they felt she was "probably criminally responsible" for Blackman's death, although the other four felt she was innocent.<br />
In the end all charges were dismissed and Ina was able to get back to her career in show business.<br />
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Besides her Big Band career and her own television show, Ina appeared in a few films:<br />
<ul>
<li> "The Big Broadcast of 1936" (1935)</li>
<li> "Ever Since Venus" (1944)</li>
</ul>
Film Shorts:<br />
<ul>
<li> "Feminine Rhythm" (1935)</li>
<li> "Accent on Girls" (1936)</li>
<li>"Swing, Hutton, Swing" (1937)</li>
<li>"Thrills of Music: Ina Ray Hutton and Orchestra" (1950)</li>
<li>Ina Ray also appeared in a movie short with the Yacht Club Boys.</li>
</ul>
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In 1961, when asked who she would pick to portray her in a movie about her life and career, Ina Ray Hutton said she would want Doris Day to play her. In later years, Ina was interviewed about the past, and she reminisced of the days of "Benny Goodman, Harry James, Woody Herman, The Dorsey's and Glenn Miller." She went on to state, "I don't know what happened to music after that, but I think it got lost in between be-bop and rock'n'roll."-- She went on to state that those types of music were her pet peeves, and she even remarked, "You can print that, too."<br />
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In Ina's personal life, she had married four times. First to Louis Parisotto (who was a former member of her all-male orchestra), Randolph Everett Brooks (Band Leader), Michael Anter (a Salon Operator) and finally known Businessman, Jack Curtis. It seems that Ina was unlucky in love, having been married several times. Sadly, Ina Ray never had any children and died fairly young at the age of 67, from complications of diabetes on February 19, 1984. She is buried at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, in Ventura, California.<br />
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Five O'Clock Whistle- Ina Ray Hutton with her All-Male Orchestra (1940)<br />
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<b>CHECK OUT HER TAP DANCING SKILLS IN THIS ONE!</b><br />
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Ina Ray Hutton & Her Melodears ~ "Truckin'" (1936)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW61eE8lk4VfMjHcpIrAqo2G7e4H5RChfhpUrgwzY_4O_b7lloz_H9QpnCHthH-xgGZXtFoCEBYT_v52nCCjmtHMhENOoLmVGL8saB5ejITNLJeAacqCveLGNuLRNUpB9b7lvmLx6YMlA/s1600/junehutton4.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW61eE8lk4VfMjHcpIrAqo2G7e4H5RChfhpUrgwzY_4O_b7lloz_H9QpnCHthH-xgGZXtFoCEBYT_v52nCCjmtHMhENOoLmVGL8saB5ejITNLJeAacqCveLGNuLRNUpB9b7lvmLx6YMlA/s1600/junehutton4.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June Hutton (Last.fm)</td></tr>
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<u><b>June Hutton</b></u><br />
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Well, so far you have learned about Ina Ray, but what about her baby sister June? Personally, she was my favorite of the two Hutton sisters, and I will tell you why....her voice. She had the most beautiful voice that could literally soothe you into dreams. If you go online, there are a lot of websites devoted to articles about Ina Ray but not too many about her very talented sister. So let this be the first, because I have a lot of stuff to say about this talented lady.<br />
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June Marvel Cowan (birth certificate is misspelled Cowen), was born August 11, 1919 to Marvel Svea Williams and Odie Daniel Cowan in Bloomington, Illinois. June was the youngest of the two sisters.<br />
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I have heard and read that June and Ina were half-sisters. I even believed it for awhile myself, but it is interesting because according to the birth certificates, they both have the same mother and father. So until someone can show me proof in a document showing they had different fathers then we will have to go based on the record that they had the same parents. June grew up in the same household as her older sister Ina. She also attended Hyde Park High School in Chicago, as did Ina. While attending high school, June worked in the dress department at Marshall Fields department store. Upon graduation, June decided to quit her job and attempt her singing career. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3saeIKL4kcG1P95WsOXrF21GxXqbuyq04H8C35tzVZz8zRO88Nssde1osoq381i9Fz0B4NC4pfgYFwBhK3-dqvNY1-HWFYfkL1nHUO3rppLMYVYR7rBre6Gy6iMJUvYw6XoSVrUdyfUY/s1600/JuneHutton.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3saeIKL4kcG1P95WsOXrF21GxXqbuyq04H8C35tzVZz8zRO88Nssde1osoq381i9Fz0B4NC4pfgYFwBhK3-dqvNY1-HWFYfkL1nHUO3rppLMYVYR7rBre6Gy6iMJUvYw6XoSVrUdyfUY/s1600/JuneHutton.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via Long Ago & Far Away</td></tr>
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The 1940 Census has June living in Manhattan<br />
as a "Single, White, Female" who was occupied as a "Singer" in the "Theater". She performed on the "Astor Roof" and had a brief part on Max Baer's "Hi'ya Gentlemen." She joined the Winston Trio, the Quintones and then a four month stint with the Sande Williams Band. She eventually became the female vocalist for the Stardusters, who played for Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra. The group was comprised of June, Glen Gaylon, Curt Purnell and Dick Wylder. One of my favorites of June's recordings of this time period is the song "At Last", which by the way was written and recorded long before the Etta James' version! (If you haven't heard it, I suggest you do, it's great!) They also appeared as themselves in the film, "Pin-up Girl" starring Betty Grable in 1943.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JcP5GWH7zvLKoRwxZmpy-705XwrWstfIH8kbVkUvmlEW72-qVj-ILw4w1u2ZC_awsJryOvxVRydyYlwebc70HcFnBfm1uONFj-fNIrLZMbeWl8nwy3g4N4uGFTl-68UGhh2FXpO_ftY/s1600/pied+pipers.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JcP5GWH7zvLKoRwxZmpy-705XwrWstfIH8kbVkUvmlEW72-qVj-ILw4w1u2ZC_awsJryOvxVRydyYlwebc70HcFnBfm1uONFj-fNIrLZMbeWl8nwy3g4N4uGFTl-68UGhh2FXpO_ftY/s1600/pied+pipers.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Capitol Records</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKzv0pmoSZAu8hu98wJQ7b51BaRVx0s7rGNKpg1oqVdY8AUsyPbckvoX2hQdkvTAAXtF7gtnbq8KDO0au1DyxIA6s9y5tJyiqIp1upqMpkn6XKIRqbOVWjniqfc5ddHvOXctw2wW_TBU/s1600/metadc11432_m_sk_0532_01.med_res.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKzv0pmoSZAu8hu98wJQ7b51BaRVx0s7rGNKpg1oqVdY8AUsyPbckvoX2hQdkvTAAXtF7gtnbq8KDO0au1DyxIA6s9y5tJyiqIp1upqMpkn6XKIRqbOVWjniqfc5ddHvOXctw2wW_TBU/s1600/metadc11432_m_sk_0532_01.med_res.jpg" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UNT -Digital Library</td></tr>
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When Jo Stafford of the vocal group The Pied Pipers (who sang for Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra) quit the group and went on to become the first solo artist signed on the Capitol Records label in 1944, June was welcomed as her replacement. The Pied Pipers went on to record such hits as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMiounEnKVw">"Dream," </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjRkddcBX0">"Mam'selle"</a> and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzBHGSeVRik">My Happiness,"</a> all together 12 hit singles. By 1950, June left the Pied Pipers going solo on Capitol Records backed by an orchestra led by Axel Stordahl. She recorded several albums, achieving three hit records, "Say You're Mine Again," "No Stone Unturned," and "For the First Time," although my favorite of June's that didn't become a hit, was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C3tLJ_c180">"You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me." (click on links to listen to videos)</a><br />
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In 1951, June married Axel Stordahl, a famous musical arranger for Tommy Dorsey. He also did a lot of work with Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Dinah Shore and Eddie Fisher. The couple had two children and stayed happily married to one another until the passing of Axel Stordahl in 1963. She later married her second husband, Kenneth Tobey in 1968 until their divorce in 1972. When June passed away in 1973, at the age of 52, she was buried beside her first husband at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Los Angeles (although the marker only shows her husband's name).<br />
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"Dream"- The Pied Pipers (w/June Hutton)<br />
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<b><u>Back To The Family Tree- </u></b><br />
<b><u>Who Was Marvel Ray?</u></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnMMRYXZ_O8CSUIw9i4binPUS44Q47afKpx9x-bcRBr3HrkW2HwvevLU_rxXy8hazwdB3w0n_6jafCJE116LRVPpAB29OicF_XGc0b6S1muCpunazcd73-WBN8em2PmvgExx2d10js1k/s1600/marvelray3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnMMRYXZ_O8CSUIw9i4binPUS44Q47afKpx9x-bcRBr3HrkW2HwvevLU_rxXy8hazwdB3w0n_6jafCJE116LRVPpAB29OicF_XGc0b6S1muCpunazcd73-WBN8em2PmvgExx2d10js1k/s1600/marvelray3.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wrong Marvel</td></tr>
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At one point a friend of mine had sent me a photo from an old magazine that literally had the name "Marvel Ray" on it, who was one of Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties from 1915. Looking at the photo, I almost thought it could be the same Marvel Ray who was Ina and June's mother, but unfortunately that was a dead lead. The woman in the photo in the magazine was actually named Marvel Rea (sometimes spelled Rae) but was not in fact the same Marvel we were looking for. Her story is also one worth reading about...perhaps another time I may write her story.<br />
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Ina and June's mother's name was: Marvel Svea (meaning "Swede") Williams, although
on Ina Ray Hutton's marriage certificate she listed her mother's name as
Marvel Svea Pickett. That is another interesting twist as well, being that
several newspapers during the late 1930s claim that Ina Ray and her
mother Marvel stated that Ina's great grand uncle was General George Pickett,
the Confederate General known for "Pickett's Charge" in the battle at
Gettysburg. Now according to historical record, George Pickett had 7
brothers and sisters, but only one sister and one brother survived
childhood to have children of their own. I have been trying to find a link to the Pickett name for Ina
Ray and haven't got there yet, but I am still looking. <br />
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<u><b>Minnie's Mysterious Past</b></u><br />
<br />
The 1900 census shows that Minnie Williams (age 18) and Marvel Williams (only 2 years old) were boarding with a family, the Taylors in Chicago. Minnie stated that she was married and had been for 3 years, meaning that Williams was her married name and not her maiden name. On that record it states that Minnie's father was from New Hampshire and her mother was from Virginia (the same place General Pickett was from).<br />
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It is not until later on that you see that Minnie is now married to Bailey McFall. It looks as though she wasn't with McFall until around 1909, but just as her previous Census records stated her parent's birthplace, the Census records while she was married to McFall show Minnie listing her father again, being from New Hampshire and her mother from Virginia.<br />
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Why did Marvel use the name Ray when she was a pianist? As of right now, I still haven't found that information. As I continue my search for Ina Ray and June's complete family genealogy, I will keep my blog updated with what I find. I will continue to keep searching for the Ray and Pickett family information.<br />
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When we dive into Minnie and her past, this is where all the "ethnic" questions come into play. But, as I will explain to you, there are several errors I have found in the Census records for this story, as well as other stories, so this will be proof that errors could have been made in the Census'.<br />
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1st Example: 1900 Census states Minnie and Marvel as (B)= "Black". However, they are boarding in a house whose family was also listed as "Black", therefore it could have been assumed on the part of the Census taker that all in the household were African-American. Errors happened a lot in the Census records in history. Many times the Census takers would label the entire family based on the race of the Head of Household.<br />
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2nd Example: One of the little girls who were featured in the newspaper with Ina Ray when she was seven, actually had an Asian last name, however she and her entire family were listed as "Negro", not "Mulatto" as she should have been if she was in fact mixed. This goes to show you that depending on the Census takers discretion, they could list you any way they wanted and you wouldn't know it, because the Census records are not released for 70 years. Who knows how many other families were erroneously listed?<br />
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<u><b>Ina Ray and June Hutton's Father </b></u><br />
<br /><b>
FACT: Marvel married Odie Daniel Cowan, who is listed as "White" on his WWI Registration records as seen in the photo here: (click on photo to enlarge and see the arrows I added to point out the facts.) So no matter what ethnic background Marvel came from, Ina Ray and June's father was Caucasian, this we have proof of.</b><div><b><br /></b>
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<u><b>Cherokee Blood?</b></u><br />
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In an recorded interview, June Hutton's daughter claimed her grandmother Marvel stated to her that she was part Cherokee Indian, and that was why she had such black hair. Upon looking into old Census information, during the 1800s up until the mid 1900s it was unlawful to claim any Native American ancestry. In fact, it wasn't until the Civil Rights Act that many were able to make their ancestry official at all. I know this because one of my great grandmother's was full blooded Cherokee, and yet she was listed as white on her Census records, because back then it could have gone either way. It really depended on the person taking the Census and whether they chose to classify someone one way or the other when in fact, there wasn't a clear classification system to list every ethnicity or background back then. I know from my genealogy records and photos that although my great grandma was listed as "White" she was Cherokee and you could see it clearly in her photos. <br />
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What I am saying is that it is more than possible that Minnie and Marvel were actually Native American and White, as Marvel told her own granddaughter. During that time period, being part White and part Native-American could have caused a lot of confusion. You see, the Census up until 1910 only allowed "White", "Black" or "Mulatto" on the list. I looked into the history of the Census and their profiling system and it also showed that it was up to the Census taker whether they chose to use "Mulatto" or "Black" at their own discretion. Other records I found stated that many Native Americans were labeled "Mulatto" or even "Black" because they were Non-White according to the Census' standards. It also said that if the parent was a minority, they would automatically list the child as the minority race, regardless of whether they were part Caucasian.<br />
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With that being said, if Minnie was half Native-American and half Caucasian, she could have been misidentified as "Black" or "Mulatto" on the Census. Marvel was listed as Mulatto on her Census' lists as an adult, meaning that she appeared to be at least part Caucasian. Even the 1910 Census records showed Minnie's husband Bailey McFall as being listed as "Mulatto" one time, and listed as "Negro" for the 1920 Census. Again, it was up to the Census' takers discretion.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 1920 Census shows that Marvel had moved back with her mother and her step-father with the girls, Odessa (Ina) and June. They were living in his household in a mixed race neighborhood, with white, black and mulatto listed on the Census records. The entire household is listed as "Mulatto" at this time. Fast forward to the 1930 Census, where Marvel is again still living with her mother and step-father, and now the girls are 10 & 14 years old, they are living in a predominately black neighborhood at this moment in time, and the head of household was listed as "Negro" as was every single person on the Census, which leads me to believe the Census taker didn't actually ask everyone, or check every household, but instead made an assumption that everyone in the household was black. (Yes, these sorts of things happened, it was up to the Census recorders discretion, which led to a lot of errors on Census's in the past). </div><div><br />
Let's just stop here and analyze this. So if Minnie was part Native-American or African-American and Caucasian, and Marvel's father was more than likely Caucasian, given the fact that Marvel was also considered "Mulatto," then when Marvel met Odie (who was Caucasian) and they had Ina Ray and June, their children would have had light complexions because the percentage of African American or Native American would have been very low by that time, perhaps less than a 1/4 or even as low as 1/8.<br />
<br />
One thing you must also remember, the term "Mulatto" didn't always mean half African-American, actually it was used back in time for a person who was mixed with anything besides Caucasian, more commonly half Caucasian/ half Native American or half Caucasian/ half African American. It also was used if a person was half Caucasian/ half Hispanic, or even at times half Caucasian/ half Asian, too. Basically, it meant half & half of anything. It didn't necessarily mean half African American. The word comes from the Spanish or Portuguese word "mulato" or "mula" meaning mule, or hybrid. Basically anyone with a mixed ethnicity. Later on it became more of derogatory term for a person who was half Caucasian and half African-American.<br />
<br />
What difference does it make anyways? White, Black, Native American? Ina Ray and June did not "pretend" they were white while secretly hiding their true selves, they were being themselves. So what if they might have had a small percentage of African-American or Native American in them, they obviously identified with the Caucasian side of their bloodlines, and there is nothing wrong with that.<br />
<br />
I have a friend that I grew up with, whose mother was Caucasian and her father was African-American, she married an African-American guy and their children are 3/4 African-American and 1/4 Caucasian, but they identify themselves as black. Would it be right for anyone later on down the line to make remarks about my friends kids and say they were "passing as black" although they were white? That is ludicrous. The same could be said for Ina Ray and June, they may have just identified more with their Caucasian genes rather than their other ethnic background.<br />
<br />
My great-grandfather was 100% Armenian, my grandmother was 1/2, my mother 1/4 and I am 1/8.<br />
I knew of my Armenian heritage, and I am proud of my various ancestry from all the branches of my family tree, but no one can say later on down the line that I was "Armenian" passing as "White", nor can they say that I was "White" passing as "Hispanic" due to the fact I lived in a Mexican-American household with my step-father and mother during my youth and more than likely the Census records for those years will show our "household" to be "Mexican" or "Hispanic."<br />
<br />
I was who I was, I am who I am. I am a mix of many ethnicities and I am proud of them all, I do not let one take precedent over the other. I am Norwegian, Cherokee, German, French, Spanish, Irish, Armenian but I
won't put one above the other, I am just me, and that is who I want to
be remembered as. My children are a mix of myself and their father's ancestry, and so they also have added Mexican heritage as well as added Spanish and German heritage, but they will not just claim to be solely "Mexican" just because their father identifies himself as that. <br />
<br />
With Ina Ray and June Hutton, there were many people in their genetic line and we cannot ignore that. Odie Daniel Cowan was either of Irish or Scottish ancestry, given the surname. Marvel may have had Swedish ancestry, given the middle name "Svea" which could have been a surname of a relative. If Marvel and Ina were correct about being closely related to General George Pickett, then they would have English bloodlines, too. The Pickett family of Virginia were of the "Old English" families, some of the first settlers in Virginia to come across from England. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>According to the Ancestry.com forums, several posts of relatives who claimed to be cousins of Ina Ray and June via the Williams family line also claimed that side of the family were Caucasian, too. The Williams' side of the family would have been Marvel's paternal ancestry. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>If you are going to point out their ancestry, why not point out ALL of their heritage?<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglP2HkNX1_KY0KUz1zidS0m3NEefiwzT68ugJsltAOhaEwG4PvERXWhIbWOEQW4Xludv-gRtXrvSlzoWVCpb_R_nGVNYcTqZpd3pVVcFGr2DL0GgJULU5E9-SwNIc_4dVGLLUbivJW2b8/s1600/inaraymarriage.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglP2HkNX1_KY0KUz1zidS0m3NEefiwzT68ugJsltAOhaEwG4PvERXWhIbWOEQW4Xludv-gRtXrvSlzoWVCpb_R_nGVNYcTqZpd3pVVcFGr2DL0GgJULU5E9-SwNIc_4dVGLLUbivJW2b8/s1600/inaraymarriage.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ina's Marriage Certificate to Randy Brooks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
According to Marvel, they had Cherokee blood, as was told to June's daughter. Perhaps they did have some African-American in them, but we may never know the truth to that without DNA evidence or further proof beyond "Census" records. We cannot always take Census records as proof, given the high rate of error found regularly on Census records. And trust me, I am a historian and I am a genealogy fanatic, the Census records always have errors. <br />
<br />
In the end, when looking at Ina Ray and June Hutton's lives, you can see by the way they lived as adults it shows they obviously identified with their Caucasian heritage. They listed themselves as "White" or Caucasian their entire lives, and there is nothing wrong with that. Just as if they had identified themselves as "Black" or any other ethnicity it would have been okay, too.<br />
<br /><b>
The issue I have had with this story going around from the beginning isn't the fact they may have African-American bloodlines, it is the fact that people are literally slandering Ina Ray by making accusations that she was "not who everyone thought she was", that she was "passing" as white while secretly she was hiding that she was really black.</b></div><div><br /></div><div><u> There is nothing whatsoever in these women's (Ina Ray or June) lives that points to them as "pretending" or "passing" as white, as if they were leading some sort of double lives, yet people continue to post articles stating such things as fact. </u><br />
<br />
Ina Ray and June may have lived in a household as children where their step-grandfather was black, but we do not know if Marvel was Native American or African American because Marvel isn't here anymore to tell us. If she told her granddaughter she was Cherokee, why would she lie to her own granddaughter? Think about it. I think it is a dishonor to go against what Ina's own mother said about her background, because that is calling her a liar. Why would anyone want to call Ina Ray, June or their mother a liar? How are you showing any honor or respect to them by going against their own "word" and all these years later, based on Census records that could have very well been made in error, complete strangers who never knew them or their families, have gone and completely changed their history?<br />
<br />
<u><b>What About Other Rumored Celebrities? </b></u><br />
<br />
Ina Ray and June Hutton were famous during a time when other famous singers who happened to be African-American were making it big. Billie Holiday was part Caucasian, does anyone ever mention that? Not usually. Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitgerald, Sarah Vaughn, they were all African-American and made names for themselves, so why would Ina and June, if they identified as "black", not want to "come out" and be that?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuFxljbHXkGW0k6ntqzfP-8Jkiex4uanwsu5lfPK7PRHX3OVlw6c6G0FSXvtavFOr47CWBuAQrIkGXhWTQMKIJjqt_R-0eLw99FXmDX52YhBZ9gWQ6o28dVBL_7_CzsT1lRzTbHIoqUA/s1600/dinah+shore.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjuFxljbHXkGW0k6ntqzfP-8Jkiex4uanwsu5lfPK7PRHX3OVlw6c6G0FSXvtavFOr47CWBuAQrIkGXhWTQMKIJjqt_R-0eLw99FXmDX52YhBZ9gWQ6o28dVBL_7_CzsT1lRzTbHIoqUA/s1600/dinah+shore.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinah Shore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Need I remind you of other famous people of the past that were being rumored or misidentified as being "African-American"? Babe Ruth, Dinah Shore and Herb Jeffries, to name just a few.<br />
Babe Ruth was born to German-American parents, there is no proof whatsoever that he had any African-American ancestry.<br />
<br />
Dinah Shore was later proven to be of Russian Jewish lineage, while Herb Jeffries admitted that he was actually mostly Irish, Native American, Hispanic, and part African-American. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_2eK26kq-s2bVmvDzdjYMIaZ-dnk9YKWJR_dYC8wmbCktPrp7PwnYxqBRV-TeMm6YmKoL8O436pp4oU67zHHIngxjUl-IdbeqvRbA7dmOPSaQ2lBbnvtkqGrz_djr68Bl2eIQtWpxDE/s1600/herbjeffries.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_2eK26kq-s2bVmvDzdjYMIaZ-dnk9YKWJR_dYC8wmbCktPrp7PwnYxqBRV-TeMm6YmKoL8O436pp4oU67zHHIngxjUl-IdbeqvRbA7dmOPSaQ2lBbnvtkqGrz_djr68Bl2eIQtWpxDE/s1600/herbjeffries.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herb Jeffries</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
During his career, Herb Jeffries played along with the fact that everyone believed him to be "black", at one point even using makeup to make his skin appear darker, (and obviously getting a perm to make his naturally straight hair wavy). He created his image this way in order to make it into the jazz scene, despite the fact he only had a small fraction of African-American blood in him. He was raised by an Irish mother, admitted that he didn't know his father, and only went on what he assumed from what his mother could tell him. Later in life he was quoted in a magazine article about why he listed his race as "White" when he applied for a marriage license to his girlfriend Tempest Storm. He claimed that he listed himself as "White" because he identified himself as Caucasian. Jet Magazine reported:<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiaK-63hkGnWnDUmO5W8XQ_8fq-5s_LW-7n1MZnyqdrruQb1Gdacop-lCYKt5lGN-dDn14N38ZghMAzO2QcVGkLP1I1DRZ0YfNGyUPsDCtJS9EwbFn1wYedN3feAeUfAwhoGNobsCk1s/s1600/Herb+Jeffries+TCM+Classic+Film+Festival+Opening+-DxukgU3bBcl.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiaK-63hkGnWnDUmO5W8XQ_8fq-5s_LW-7n1MZnyqdrruQb1Gdacop-lCYKt5lGN-dDn14N38ZghMAzO2QcVGkLP1I1DRZ0YfNGyUPsDCtJS9EwbFn1wYedN3feAeUfAwhoGNobsCk1s/s1600/Herb+Jeffries+TCM+Classic+Film+Festival+Opening+-DxukgU3bBcl.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herb Jeffries, (recent)</td></tr>
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<i>"... I'm not passing, I never have, I never will. For all these years
I've been wavering about the color question on the blanks. Suddenly I
decided to fill in the blank the way I look and feel.....
Look at my blue eyes, look at my brown hair, look at my color. What
color do you see? My mother was 100 per cent
white, my
father is Portuguese, Spanish, American Indian, and Negro. How in the
hell can I identify myself as one race or another?"-- Herb Jeffries.</i><br />
<br />
On the subject of Ina Ray and her alleged "secret life", the writer who started making all these claims is grasping at straws and honestly I feel it is a disgrace. Does no one have any respect for Ina and June? If they were really part African-American, as claimed, why did they not tell their own family? Why did they not come out over the years when more and more acceptance of mixed race ethnicity was mainstream?<br />
<br />
Another question I must ask, if this were true, why are there newspaper accounts of Ina Ray and her mother Marvel attending dinners and benefits together and not one mention of the "race" factor in any tabloid or gossip column was ever published? There were many critics out there at the time that would have mentioned it, do you really think that if they were so ashamed of their heritage or hiding from it, that they would be seen in public with a bi-racial parent? If they were so afraid of the detrimental affect it could have on their careers, then why did Ina Ray attend events with her mother?<br />
<br />
If they were, and chose to hide it, for whatever reasons that may be, that would have been their choice. No one gave anyone the right to go and "air out" their alleged family secrets after they were dead. If they were part Native-American then there was no hiding, especially since Marvel told her own granddaughter to begin with. To me, that makes a lot more sense. But regardless, that would have been Ina Ray and June's choice whether they wanted to make it known or not, if that was truly the case.<br />
<br />
The problem we have here is that there is not enough information to state that they were "black" as a fact. Could they have been part black? Yes. Could they have been part Native American? Yes. It was one or the other, or maybe even both. But it doesn't really matter, that would have been only a fraction of their background. By these sites claiming that Ina Ray and June were "African-American" pretending to be "White," it is as if they are X'ing out the fact that their father was Caucasian, as if his genetics didn't matter or didn't exist. That is not right either. Both parent's genes do matter when creating a child.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8xJBImplgM3oelY95oydHMjHYCnjHzy9tfnboOiZ06qLmtcgXTXiXDmNZKpuDMKNPWIRwKAbwfVcrCGpCRF89Yn8dWz8xziJifM0j6hPDTUSGyJCyig1AUauLTafWxVspFScZk5XKYk/s1600/BeFunky_InaRayHutton.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8xJBImplgM3oelY95oydHMjHYCnjHzy9tfnboOiZ06qLmtcgXTXiXDmNZKpuDMKNPWIRwKAbwfVcrCGpCRF89Yn8dWz8xziJifM0j6hPDTUSGyJCyig1AUauLTafWxVspFScZk5XKYk/s1600/BeFunky_InaRayHutton.jpg.jpg" width="278" /></a><b>June and Ina Ray were beautiful, talented, amazing women, regardless of what their heritage was, and they should not be labeled by their race or races, but remembered for their talents!!</b> Just because they may or may not have some black in them doesn't change anything. They were who they were. They lived their lives the way they felt comfortable and how it made them happy. They did not "pass as white" as if they were some sort of phoney or fake, pretending to be something they weren't. They were themselves and they shined like the stars they were! <br />
<br />
In the end, these women should be remembered for their talents, their beauty, their accomplishments and the things they loved. They should not be labeled in one group or the other. They were who they wanted to be. Out of respect for Ina and June, I really wish people would just let this "race" issue go and move on now. Let their memories live on for what they did, not rumors of who they might or might not have been.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTs6WYqV-eE8U0hKPFhs2QvP7wotaBw6IJnrHUyEjAdsy0Sd49wBGgLiYD62x3Dp-p5E3W4xUbARwhh3FpHdCjmvFFOLEIedXNLSQTLWHO8Rz4KsWCp3qvgALW-ZptWteAjuQPED4kTY/s1600/BeFunky_20140422_205217.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTs6WYqV-eE8U0hKPFhs2QvP7wotaBw6IJnrHUyEjAdsy0Sd49wBGgLiYD62x3Dp-p5E3W4xUbARwhh3FpHdCjmvFFOLEIedXNLSQTLWHO8Rz4KsWCp3qvgALW-ZptWteAjuQPED4kTY/s1600/BeFunky_20140422_205217.jpg.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
Let them rest in peace.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>(Copyright 2014)- J.Rubio for</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Hollywoodland</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Forever</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7rn-e13WFs5SpZt60ILPhPPB3KHLJpiUlOxZU1OLtv3ATXqSnK6I_r0uKO5zgr5i62ryb56xhGl_yEs4qYLX5jXKs4teUv5ffx9WAAuF1V1pn93gxPijJdhd0KvM0qjGfZ7aTgB5IAw/s1600/inaray_pilot.jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisItzPrspeRDnyjv7XuAVc7BdYtEspT44lEZlCV7WF-2Nf0D5kAN0MpM44bwo4ZRJGZvwr-kL5hBlx2ok1ym6gAwnLIxkwcNeAhaPX1_1cdj2sYPykxYqU4JUOVFV_x8IsJc9gh5KoghU/s1600/James_Dean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisItzPrspeRDnyjv7XuAVc7BdYtEspT44lEZlCV7WF-2Nf0D5kAN0MpM44bwo4ZRJGZvwr-kL5hBlx2ok1ym6gAwnLIxkwcNeAhaPX1_1cdj2sYPykxYqU4JUOVFV_x8IsJc9gh5KoghU/s320/James_Dean.jpg" height="320" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Byron Dean</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JIJIwRPhXMjOezGTxNiBb_lbvO-Bo-EGxPazo7ImVlb8DZKNQejbBqWayGlZ-3d-8c88Ntq7f_Vr0o1E5lj95-YRUEDTBmOym_6eYQRZubpbhz5TBTEbJa-NRFSf7SZDMBqN-gE8J7E/s1600/WINSLOWFARM_DEAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JIJIwRPhXMjOezGTxNiBb_lbvO-Bo-EGxPazo7ImVlb8DZKNQejbBqWayGlZ-3d-8c88Ntq7f_Vr0o1E5lj95-YRUEDTBmOym_6eYQRZubpbhz5TBTEbJa-NRFSf7SZDMBqN-gE8J7E/s320/WINSLOWFARM_DEAN.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life Magazine, 1955 (Dennis Stock)</td></tr>
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With the 58th anniversary of James Dean's death coming up, I am here to share with you a story. This story is a recollection of a man who many years ago experienced the dream of a lifetime, to visit the home of James Dean. Not only did this person get to visit the home as a young man, but he also shared time visiting with Dean's family, resting inside Dean's home and exploring the Winslow Farm itself. The experience I am about to tell you is his and his alone, and the photographs of his visit have never been seen before. Therefore, I ask you with respect, DO NOT to copy them in anyway because these are the property of my friend, Roland Boulware. The other photos I posted are the famous shots published in 1955 by LIFE Magazine, by photographer Dennis Stock.<br />
<br />
This article is not to recycle the same old story that's been told over and over a million times. Nor is it some long biography of Dean's life from start to finish. No, instead this blog will be solely about my friend's experience at Dean's childhood home and cherished accounts shared by Dean's own family.<br />
<br />
"It was June of 1984, as I recall," Roland started. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AAN-r4KB_Dn94TxgtksFKL5rKdP3zp4MBMyPwpNIIrRIWLEc6Ys8GXE6ncEj8NhzLpN12ePIqQOyAwQRE6F123MwJKQn3iMVCFdUci8uS1nC_xjYYO9OQsJhjn-05o-K-kTlDDhCgPk/s1600/_winslowfarm8.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AAN-r4KB_Dn94TxgtksFKL5rKdP3zp4MBMyPwpNIIrRIWLEc6Ys8GXE6ncEj8NhzLpN12ePIqQOyAwQRE6F123MwJKQn3iMVCFdUci8uS1nC_xjYYO9OQsJhjn-05o-K-kTlDDhCgPk/s320/_winslowfarm8.jpg.jpg" height="209" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FAIRMOUNT, INDIANA</td></tr>
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"We had been on our family road trip that we would take every Summer. I was about fifteen at the time, and on this trip we were headed down to South Carolina to visit some family. As always, we like to enjoy our trips across country and so we stop along the way to see the sights. This time we wanted to stop in Fairmount, Indiana to visit the James Dean Museum. Unfortunately, when we got there the place was closed. There was a note on the door with a phone number written on it. We decided to walk over to the pharmacy in town to see if they had a payphone, so that my mother could call the number. While inside the pharmacy, I just looked around, killing time. After getting no answer from the phone number she called, my mother got in line at the counter and waited her turn to ask the clerk about the Museum's hours of business. The woman standing in front of my mother, who was being helped by the clerk, kept looking over her right shoulder and smiling at me. I didn't quite get it at the time, but I just recall her continuing to look over and smile. Finally when she was finished, as she was walking out the door, again she looked over at me and smiled."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaumalJ6-Bl2ctyGEOdadQAspc1w0AlXIVjA7MGd0fsr8VivEaQ4IM6Fl9Ybk_doNQALIlsMNXnzd7byFUkflPIMFceKYIJxSLukybnAeXRyZRF80nxI6OZZBPTOUaJMN7lFFjIA7eQFk/s1600/_winslowfarm3.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaumalJ6-Bl2ctyGEOdadQAspc1w0AlXIVjA7MGd0fsr8VivEaQ4IM6Fl9Ybk_doNQALIlsMNXnzd7byFUkflPIMFceKYIJxSLukybnAeXRyZRF80nxI6OZZBPTOUaJMN7lFFjIA7eQFk/s320/_winslowfarm3.jpg.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winslow Farm (James Dean's Home)</td></tr>
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As Roland recalled, his mother then reached the front of the line at the pharmacy and asked the clerk if they knew who to get in contact with to be able to get into the James Dean Museum. The clerk laughed and remarked, "The woman that just left out the door a second ago is married to Jimmy's cousin, Markie. You might want to go out there and catch her before she leaves."<br />
<br />
Quickly they went outside and walked up to talk to the woman with shorter platinum blonde hair. She immediately took a liking to Roland's mother Patricia, and of course Roland. She stated that the way he was dressed, it reminded her of Jimmy and that was why she was looking at him.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmLMwUN8akOvg1PcvIumw36YA6YgNntaRzJmPY49HrLSLuu99ioGt3Q8tcE-UlKDXGole4yIi4iw8kjo9_3LXAlosSbIgjjJ-pT3_uVEqK6t6QtO3eWmmriXNVznJlp9bYcdgssidxzM/s1600/_winslowfarm6.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmLMwUN8akOvg1PcvIumw36YA6YgNntaRzJmPY49HrLSLuu99ioGt3Q8tcE-UlKDXGole4yIi4iw8kjo9_3LXAlosSbIgjjJ-pT3_uVEqK6t6QtO3eWmmriXNVznJlp9bYcdgssidxzM/s320/_winslowfarm6.jpg.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winslow Farm (James Dean's Home)</td></tr>
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Then the most unexpected thing in the world happened, this nice lady invited their family over to their home. "I'm going to take you to the farm. Now, this isn't a tourist attraction, its our home. We don't just let people come over here regularly." She went on to state that she took a liking to Roland's family and that she wanted to make the trip to Fairmount enjoyable, so she would bring them to the farm, then show them the cemetery and then to the Museum. The family was ecstatic as they jumped in their family station wagon and followed Mrs. Winslow up to the farm.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiCCAGXQNkfivheRBY8_dqBIQKEAl6Qye5H3MN5vbBiK3fF-XkU4oZsxg1lDCUiIBF0moL09zCQqXC8_yixGylKtvdTT1gVh1XygT7DE-0oRABjD96Pp3CSsjzTXhPurwOAH5nOtvBt8/s1600/JamesDean.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiCCAGXQNkfivheRBY8_dqBIQKEAl6Qye5H3MN5vbBiK3fF-XkU4oZsxg1lDCUiIBF0moL09zCQqXC8_yixGylKtvdTT1gVh1XygT7DE-0oRABjD96Pp3CSsjzTXhPurwOAH5nOtvBt8/s320/JamesDean.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dean playing with "Markie" (Life Mag. 1955, Dennis Stock)</td></tr>
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"I remember my dad pulling up into that driveway," Roland recalls."It was long and as we made that turn, I completely recognized it from the photos I had seen in books and magazines growing up. It was amazing. There I was, in James Dean's driveway! I remember going inside the farm house, and seeing all the mementos on shelves. This was not like a museum setting, but a lived-in, family home. The photos and decorations, the humble furniture and the absence of a television made it feel like I had just stepped into a time warp. It was like the 1950's all over again."<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeINgOD4r_KBlcnohAdu1bwRjL3KaNvI7bntDcbXHUOGjFDnsfF0dCLDfJ5jhJ30JATUglC1d_zp55t1UOB8aNYGEoChOAFBDzVdLaQtPKJWuZ5q9MeSIiTow9BvEV8RGEkNy3bqbsQpg/s320/winslowfarm20.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spot look familiar? (Dennis Stock, Life Magazine, 1955)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"I remember standing there in the living room area and recalling the photographs I had seen of James Dean playing on the floor with his cousin Marcus. There I was in the same room, of the same house, with my nephew Dusty."<br />
<br />
Roland continued to remember sitting in a chair next to the window, just like this photo seen to the right. He said that the whole experience, being able to relax and visit with Dean's family, in their home was surreal and dream like for him at the age he was. His mother had a long lengthy conversation with Marcus' wife, while Marcus said a quick hello and went upstairs. Roland and his dad continued to take photos of the home and just take in the surroundings of where they were.<br />
<br />
"My dad wasn't really all into James Dean, but my mother and I were. This stop in Fairmount was basically for my mother and I." As he continued to look at the photos on display, the lady came back in the room and told him, "Follow me, I have something to show you."<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgjgRkV-v4u7YnDyc5lnK4gKMTKbDlGlcygm-dcnRAK_A5fNWbVTz-U7OEDE2hJ03lAGijVbYEeytvFCnEhyqYf22ID_1eFu2XKMQA13jwkRVZBdPSEsZ8me2j8kQ2lFPSvG6-c29NGY/s1600/_winslowfarm9.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgjgRkV-v4u7YnDyc5lnK4gKMTKbDlGlcygm-dcnRAK_A5fNWbVTz-U7OEDE2hJ03lAGijVbYEeytvFCnEhyqYf22ID_1eFu2XKMQA13jwkRVZBdPSEsZ8me2j8kQ2lFPSvG6-c29NGY/s320/_winslowfarm9.jpg.jpg" height="219" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roland sitting on a chair in James Dean's home</td></tr>
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"We went out there and I followed her across the yard and to the back where the two barns were. We stopped at the smaller storage barn and she said, "Go ahead and slide it open (the doors), under the cardboard, you might find something that will interest you." So I went and pulled open the doors to the barn and pulled back the cardboard to reveal a slab of cement with the name Jimmy Dean carved in it, with his hand prints dried in the cement."<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6Jk5LIG7G94E2wYZoocNYC-8PkUXlas04DT-ezJnCifNgz8A9cW2_l9UOFLBJaEojUGlj2oqGLPX3B-f9DcKmX6rv8PiYINBPC7jRP7qnOWose6Nck4jZ5AcxnZBSMlOf97WMcwD82o/s1600/_winslowfarm4.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6Jk5LIG7G94E2wYZoocNYC-8PkUXlas04DT-ezJnCifNgz8A9cW2_l9UOFLBJaEojUGlj2oqGLPX3B-f9DcKmX6rv8PiYINBPC7jRP7qnOWose6Nck4jZ5AcxnZBSMlOf97WMcwD82o/s320/_winslowfarm4.jpg.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Dean's 1949 Ford (given to him by his uncle for graduation)</td></tr>
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Then Roland got one of the biggest thrills of all, he was allowed to go in the garage to view the 1949 four-door Ford Sedan that was James Dean's graduation present from his uncle Marcus in May of 1949.<br />
<br />
What is interesting is the fact that so many claim that this was a car he "borrowed" to go to Prom. When in fact, the car was bought brand new by his uncle as a gift to James Dean for graduation, so this theory of him "borrowing" it for Prom doesn't make any sense. As you can see by the photo, the car's original paint was green. To my knowledge this is the only photo posted online, that actually shows the car in it's original state (before they repainted it red and put white-wall tires on it). <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_2uHLHgGDD6Fr6ClmqWQK_EB88RuXa6cNjBw50nTwOfCoSw8gBi8ck9D5uLzNNPBhFGZlxJUn-YK1gZQ_W-iSLD3dTK_xlRr0Afv8H0Z9TQbKeVrkW74W9mCAHimFUJWjibXLmVDuvw/s1600/_winslowfarm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCIQrs1m-aG09n6ptQZwpMQVwZi7NRFPVnNEDWkQQU4SAXA9G-_K1Z5CK5CRyBHiHjyRSxEkgdRLlf9z1SGDMoAWnOJ5lyAOzwQM2F1esOPKvhTvbFD7O8eADJyUGfSNIUiz40p9ljU0/s1600/_winslowfarm12.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_2uHLHgGDD6Fr6ClmqWQK_EB88RuXa6cNjBw50nTwOfCoSw8gBi8ck9D5uLzNNPBhFGZlxJUn-YK1gZQ_W-iSLD3dTK_xlRr0Afv8H0Z9TQbKeVrkW74W9mCAHimFUJWjibXLmVDuvw/s1600/_winslowfarm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDDx9e8qXjQArf5VcA52vCk1I1hVN2ZGqrVi8T7SBQqIqDcv2tmeJo1QL988pylLGf_Bxn8W9uWSbp91FeWk9vP8_h_VwseZiPLLbkVYJQ4kGfUr2tQeO_T5rL3dYGgQsXFDATJQtj1Q/s1600/_winslowfarm5.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDDx9e8qXjQArf5VcA52vCk1I1hVN2ZGqrVi8T7SBQqIqDcv2tmeJo1QL988pylLGf_Bxn8W9uWSbp91FeWk9vP8_h_VwseZiPLLbkVYJQ4kGfUr2tQeO_T5rL3dYGgQsXFDATJQtj1Q/s200/_winslowfarm5.jpg.jpg" height="142" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'49 Ford (James Dean's)</td></tr>
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<br />
While on the farm, Roland wandered around alone, just trying to put himself in Dean's place for a moment. He wondered how it felt for Dean when he came here for the first time at the age of 9. How it felt to grow up there, to learn to live without his mother, and where he might have spent his free time there on the farm. He walked on the grass, or on the dirt or bricks, wondering if that was a spot at one point in time that Dean had walked. A spot under a tree or on the porch where Dean once had sat and daydreamed. The experience was ethereal and unbelievable for him at such a young and influential age. Especially, being that James Dean was Roland's idol at the time, one can only imagine how this visit impacted him.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVMpoPiEEalCqlPSGYL5oDxpMMWJ4qSprLYJXFS6Ym35KmC3BVTEzG9rIVZlOz68sJIWk89qiGTJveA51d1nOKnUAHfSX1WuGkONw4m-djXtuAlJ4jlRss1FM2gtDgK7HTgJt_HI_EMA/s1600/_winslowfarm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVMpoPiEEalCqlPSGYL5oDxpMMWJ4qSprLYJXFS6Ym35KmC3BVTEzG9rIVZlOz68sJIWk89qiGTJveA51d1nOKnUAHfSX1WuGkONw4m-djXtuAlJ4jlRss1FM2gtDgK7HTgJt_HI_EMA/s320/_winslowfarm1.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusty with Mrs. Winslow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Roland went on to recall being outside with Marcus' wife and his family, just having a good time out in the yard. Roland's nephew "Dusty" (Dustin) was allowed to get up on the little red tractor in the yard, while Mrs. Winslow stood behind him, in a caring and motherly way watching over him. They ran around the yard and played, all the while Roland, calmly strutted in his smooth, James Dean-like manner down the dusty driveway, wearing his blue jeans (rolled at the cuffs), his white t-shirt and red jacket just taking it all in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHxqvnDjeOOTfdOl9SlvrTKzp_20Kl1W8sdWEOQhh6h5-yj4Y3FfjDLcIPzQH4tLi-tFRXcuTn859w9JeQIq4IlzSwQDzclkO4uEBZQZSp6ldd0LiwhO6gFfczQZ6hLrKHncscspZM_Y/s1600/_winslowfarm2.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHxqvnDjeOOTfdOl9SlvrTKzp_20Kl1W8sdWEOQhh6h5-yj4Y3FfjDLcIPzQH4tLi-tFRXcuTn859w9JeQIq4IlzSwQDzclkO4uEBZQZSp6ldd0LiwhO6gFfczQZ6hLrKHncscspZM_Y/s320/_winslowfarm2.jpg.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mrs. Winslow, Dusty and Roland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"I was looking for places I saw in the photos, I was looking for landmarks. I went back to the big barn to see if the old basketball hoop was there. I had seen James Dean shooting hoops with someone in a photo and wanted to see if it was still there." Unfortunately, with time and the elements at work, all that was left of that basketball hoop was the old framework, rusty and dilapidated, and a mere fragment of what once was. <br />
<br />
After they had spent a significant time at the Winslow Farm, Mrs. Winslow decided it was time to show the family where Dean was buried. So they all followed her in their station wagon up to the cemetery, but not before giving the family a few mementos, including a red Honda motorcycle helmet that she gave Roland's little nephew Dusty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZo62tIa7qqdQIMukq3WjGJ9yIv4JDjvsOLs8fnOZ6fetnS5BBMXqwN6gih6812WwmJvtgvfakvSI4dnU6RsX3VCuli_gq3zLqlaMF1ouMUr_Gm0JHz3N6ScWWXinQ6l2BJMNaIGKMiBE/s1600/_winslowfarm13.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZo62tIa7qqdQIMukq3WjGJ9yIv4JDjvsOLs8fnOZ6fetnS5BBMXqwN6gih6812WwmJvtgvfakvSI4dnU6RsX3VCuli_gq3zLqlaMF1ouMUr_Gm0JHz3N6ScWWXinQ6l2BJMNaIGKMiBE/s320/_winslowfarm13.jpg.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roland at the grave of James Dean</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Upon reaching the cemetery and going up to Dean's final resting place, it was obvious that something was wrong. "His headstone is gone! This is a regular occurrence, unfortunately," Mrs. Winslow remarked upon seeing that his headstone was stolen. <br />
<br />
Standing there, above the grave of his idol, Roland paid his respects and took it all in. The surroundings, the sounds, everything. He saw where other relatives of James Dean were buried, including his uncle Marcus Winslow, Sr. After his trip to the cemetery, Mrs. Winslow then took them out to the place they had intended on visiting from the very beginning, the James Dean Museum.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVwC9xZRhSwMwHFc6UchXyFcSKpJSLdfXEIjymDkNc-UDbY9tVDfmkvNU38WzPEV3pV0YYm11SuQr4F5ouFI_GYNEPcjFP-eoQinAwqiLUZicHTB0AqQtAlf2rp4rCeKGdJNm0FY0j-8/s1600/_winslowfarm16.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVwC9xZRhSwMwHFc6UchXyFcSKpJSLdfXEIjymDkNc-UDbY9tVDfmkvNU38WzPEV3pV0YYm11SuQr4F5ouFI_GYNEPcjFP-eoQinAwqiLUZicHTB0AqQtAlf2rp4rCeKGdJNm0FY0j-8/s320/_winslowfarm16.jpg.jpg" height="184" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paying his respects, vandals had stolen Dean's headstone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While at the museum he met Adeline Nall, Dean's Drama Teacher from Fairmount High School. She was introduced to Roland and his family by Mrs. Winslow. As Patricia (Roland's mother) continued talking to Mrs. Winslow, Roland and his father walked around with Adeline, while she spoke of her memories of Jim (as she called him) and the story of when he gave her a painting of an orchid. She said that Dean had asked to borrow an orchid that he had given her as a gift, and that he later returned with a painting of the orchid he made for her. He had told her that he took the flower back so he could paint it. He then told her,"now you can keep it forever." She spoke with such admiration and affection for Dean, as she walked along showing Roland and his father the museum. She mentioned to Roland towards the end of the visit that he reminded her of a young Marlon Brando, and that Dean had idolized Brando when he was younger.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEg61Vf99oS2rcCPc_X1WpmfTpUE0XcI_jHaTPTrIHoCcLgfA59F7W5cdRs-OL1vqzxMMrC6D7Vnn5dGa3so0zYW2-P3AbrFfUgjBSn8lr2XnqLMht3JvFU1tgnw9MYc0Sj3X9A_nnxeg/s1600/_winslowfarm19.jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEg61Vf99oS2rcCPc_X1WpmfTpUE0XcI_jHaTPTrIHoCcLgfA59F7W5cdRs-OL1vqzxMMrC6D7Vnn5dGa3so0zYW2-P3AbrFfUgjBSn8lr2XnqLMht3JvFU1tgnw9MYc0Sj3X9A_nnxeg/s320/_winslowfarm19.jpg.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fairmount High School</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When the trip to the Museum was over, they said their goodbyes to the Winslows and Mrs. Nall. They took some more photos around town, including this one of the front of Fairmount High School, where Dean attended. As they drove away from the small, quiet town of Fairmount, Indiana the Boulware family was left with a wonderful memory. The memory of stepping into Dean's old life, if only for a day. They walked where he walked, sat where he sat, spoke with the family he cared for so much and even chit-chatted with his teacher. They experienced something that millions of people across the world only wish they could do. And yet, the Boulwares did it, they took a trip down memory lane at the Winslow Farm, a trip they will never forget.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0bCpu3zf0Vwv1yCi5IIww1c7XOdsZz61M8FN_XDvFOXXvR-oYUSql0jHJEJlSlMdR5R8UkQYQg3L63Kx95amvb9WHq8rtocjPfAOmKm89uCm4Imx4gCpQK2HBM8vKG0Bx0Fx3kT0DRM/s1600/winslowfarm22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0bCpu3zf0Vwv1yCi5IIww1c7XOdsZz61M8FN_XDvFOXXvR-oYUSql0jHJEJlSlMdR5R8UkQYQg3L63Kx95amvb9WHq8rtocjPfAOmKm89uCm4Imx4gCpQK2HBM8vKG0Bx0Fx3kT0DRM/s400/winslowfarm22.jpg" height="271" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life Magazine, 1955 (Dennis Stock)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>(Copyright- J'aime Rubio, September 29th, 2013)</b><br />
<b><br />Thank you Roland Boulware for the wonderful interview, sharing your special memories and for allowing me to use your family photographs. </b><br />
<br />
<b>(Photos are copyright protected and are the property of Roland Boulware)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>All other photos are from Public Domain or LIFE Magazine, 1955 (Dennis Stock)</b>J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-84664311850166110002013-09-05T20:37:00.002-07:002013-09-05T21:16:31.140-07:00On The Anniversary Of Paul Bern's Death<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqVqDokwfNEc6Tp5ctbqZTl6GdrFeVkYNcYruwejJcWCmE3qCZ1wHe8v3ICnwpx99NvrFXyy9pxc6xiUVNexnEd54nYo15YGIgI-BxIBSf295G7ZYnyLVso9pJFXIHR8WNGtTHBSXhJg/s1600/paul+bern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqVqDokwfNEc6Tp5ctbqZTl6GdrFeVkYNcYruwejJcWCmE3qCZ1wHe8v3ICnwpx99NvrFXyy9pxc6xiUVNexnEd54nYo15YGIgI-BxIBSf295G7ZYnyLVso9pJFXIHR8WNGtTHBSXhJg/s1600/paul+bern.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Bern</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Okay, so yesterday was the day Paul Bern died...well late last night anyways. Well, if you read my blogs "Dreaming Casually" or this one, "Hollywoodland Forever" you would know I am a mystery and history fanatic. So when I first read of Paul Bern's death many years ago, I was drawn to the enigma surrounding it. So many possibilities, so many suspects.....<br />
<br />
A lot of times people want to just go and blame Dorothy Millette, the "estranged" wife or as many often refer to her as the "mental" or "crazy" ex-wife of Paul Bern. Honestly, I have yet to find one book or blog that can state as much information on Dorothy as I have in the past 3 years. What I always find so amazing is how NO ONE ever wants to even think for a second that Harlow could have committed the murder. Come on, "Baby" wasn't as innocent as she appeared. So why blame Dorothy? No one knows much about her and yet they are so quick to label her the murderer? We know Harlow's background, and it wasn't all that great.<br />
<br />
Anyways, if you are really interested in knowing about Paul, Dorothy and both of their deaths, then I suggest you read both articles, <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-forgotten-wife-hollywood-homicide.html">"A Forgotten Wife, A Hollywood Homicide & An Unsolved Mystery,"</a> and also <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/04/who-was-dorothy-millette.html">"Who Was Dorothy Millette."</a><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNRXIs-qQakLv26d25EQEetBE92eWan-xFCSocSFY1zygDUfDVDvOxLAPtOIkwI7scIlXAHlPYyhx-arsRluDvfvx7B3oYm9EEyHxpWX2BuhNZQOYhBw0ZFzYxp1o9kjFGlwWP_gHyzk/s1600/eastondrive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNRXIs-qQakLv26d25EQEetBE92eWan-xFCSocSFY1zygDUfDVDvOxLAPtOIkwI7scIlXAHlPYyhx-arsRluDvfvx7B3oYm9EEyHxpWX2BuhNZQOYhBw0ZFzYxp1o9kjFGlwWP_gHyzk/s1600/eastondrive.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easton Drive Home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Being that it is the 81st anniversary of both Paul and Dorothy's deaths (her death being sometime between the 6th and 7th of September, his being September 4th), I thought I would throw out a scenario that has been running through my head for quite some time. After re-reading all the research and my own articles, going over and over the details, I noticed something no one else has mentioned before.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Just think about it... </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><b>A SUMMARIZED VERSION OF WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED THAT NIGHT ON EASTON DRIVE.</b></u></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQTePcapHeiQARbIMNRv3BDapUun1k5CO0b4e49UTi8kBpw1Pr543-BIsFCrzugGFbPYzHUHVVLCCXcMiq-EvfkUfmOCBIlNp8QYfpCJy8yew39hFT1nM_txmKcRLRT5XIiK5tLVwNWs/s1600/jean+harlow+paul+bern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQTePcapHeiQARbIMNRv3BDapUun1k5CO0b4e49UTi8kBpw1Pr543-BIsFCrzugGFbPYzHUHVVLCCXcMiq-EvfkUfmOCBIlNp8QYfpCJy8yew39hFT1nM_txmKcRLRT5XIiK5tLVwNWs/s1600/jean+harlow+paul+bern.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul and Jean</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Paul Bern's body was found dead in his home on September 5, 1932. Some
speculate he committed suicide, while others say he was murdered. Always
they blame his first wife Dorothy for the murder, but let me ask you
this.....If Paul was found naked with a bullet hole in his head, and the
servants accounts stated that there were two empty wine glasses and a wet bathingsuit
near the pool and a pool of blood behind the back of Paul's favorite
lawn chair, (his body was so obviously moved after MGM's people got
there)....that would mean he and another woman (which facts prove the
bathing suit belonged to Dorothy) were naked, together. </span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Is it possible
that Jean Harlow found the two of them together, having sex and in a fit
of rage due to the fact of her complaining of never "consummating" her
marriage to Paul, then went to his coat, where she knew he kept his gun
and shot him in the head?</span></span></h5>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpl9Y1wGnaY5nl2cArJPiJa-iv-7w8aIKR0ZbiRfjww19zhMLnqOceCoUOuOrObzlCfdlV8OfyQ1k_K5uU3fb29pJ6IRcz2YOoFsXM2zZXyX677NMjYSyatZSooNDyCf65uMV5m8GZ6u8/s1600/BeFunky_dorothygrave1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpl9Y1wGnaY5nl2cArJPiJa-iv-7w8aIKR0ZbiRfjww19zhMLnqOceCoUOuOrObzlCfdlV8OfyQ1k_K5uU3fb29pJ6IRcz2YOoFsXM2zZXyX677NMjYSyatZSooNDyCf65uMV5m8GZ6u8/s320/BeFunky_dorothygrave1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me @ Dorothy's grave</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Dorothy, in shock, screams alerting the staff.
Perhaps she grabs a robe or coat and runs to the limo that had been
waiting outside. The servants said they saw her running and was in such a
scared state that she left one of her shoes in the driveway......
Scared and not sure of what to do, Harlow runs over to Howard Hughes
home and confesses and begs for his help. Whether he helps her or she ends up calling her step-father Marino Bello, someone was brought in to finish the job.</span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Somehow, someway....Dorothy
ended up dead 2 days later. Drowned from falling off the Delta King
riverboat in the Sacramento River....her death, written off as a
suicide....but really, was it?'</span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">Again, this is just a thought..... has anyone else contemplated this theory? </span></span></h5>
<h5 class="uiStreamMessage userContentWrapper" data-ft="{"type":1,"tn":"K"}">
( <span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="userContent">J'aime Rubio - Copyright 2013) </span></span></h5>
J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-76489810687745533742013-04-28T20:43:00.003-07:002017-11-19T17:18:20.928-08:00A Shroud of Mystery Behind Thomas Ince's Death- Part 2<!--[if !mso]>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzenGgi4dbIx0A1G1j18LjuVQyE_5eavsvPvaTRNBn255YSUQe400WN5enEaK_XxOP3TqfQNnepJLmS9LuGwJLqkEc76T6DCm6AIMzF0oc0wsIgnRrdvl-cThyyvVbGokw6PCD8CIlx5o/s1600/elinore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzenGgi4dbIx0A1G1j18LjuVQyE_5eavsvPvaTRNBn255YSUQe400WN5enEaK_XxOP3TqfQNnepJLmS9LuGwJLqkEc76T6DCm6AIMzF0oc0wsIgnRrdvl-cThyyvVbGokw6PCD8CIlx5o/s320/elinore.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ince and his wife w/ kids</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> </b>As previously mentioned in <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-shroud-of-mystery-behind-thomas.html">Part 1 of "A Shroud of Mystery Behind Thomas Ince's Death,"</a> I wrote about the possible scenarios that may have transpired the night that Ince fell "ill" aboard W.R. Hearst's yacht on November 16, 1924. Could it have been that Ince was shot by Hearst himself, while in a jealous rage after seeing Chaplin and Davies together? Could it have been that Hearst mistook Ince for Chaplin when he pulled the trigger?<br />
<br />
What about a possible fight between Chaplin and Hearst? Could the gun have went off accidentally and the innocent bystander in the middle, Ince, was shot fatally? Or what about the whole theory that included Abigail Kinsolving and her illigitimate child that she claimed was the product of rape by none other than Ince, that very night? So many possible scenarios, so many possible motives.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, most people believe Ince was shot that night, and that he did not die from heart failure brought on by indigestion from eating salted almonds and alcohol. But if Ince was shot, and the guests aboard the yacht were aware of this, how did Hearst manage to keep everyone quiet after all these years?<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b> "Give Her An Ince, She'll Take A Whole Column"- Louella Parsons</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EjBAR6WeiuBC-2Z6G2xORl5O5aEmJxvuxHibKX-L87WU_tzEXJZyQQ3y5LbTyvWP8sZWAge6-bh_QkI_16kDaVupFqg5UiNXTjjEaznU-CBRfsYaS4hkoW3JcmKjyxELyJ-FHJTVBRE/s1600/parsons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EjBAR6WeiuBC-2Z6G2xORl5O5aEmJxvuxHibKX-L87WU_tzEXJZyQQ3y5LbTyvWP8sZWAge6-bh_QkI_16kDaVupFqg5UiNXTjjEaznU-CBRfsYaS4hkoW3JcmKjyxELyJ-FHJTVBRE/s1600/parsons.jpg" /></a>The First Lady of Hollywood, or so some writers say, Louella Parsons claimed to have invented "celebrity gossip" from the very beginning. Personally after looking into this woman, you can thank Louella Parsons for all the terrible tabloid writers out there today (ex; TMZ, National Enquirer, etc) for I am sure she is their God (or Goddess). Louella started working for Essenay Studios in Chicago as a"scenario editor," and later she went on to write about stars and their movies at the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>. When W.R. Hearst bought the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, Louella was out of a job. So she moved to New York and began writing a small column in the <i>New York Morning Telegraph,</i> writing about celebrities and movies once again. She caught Hearst's eye when she wrote a very flattering piece about Marion Davies (then Hearst's mistress). There is no doubt in my mind that Louella knew what she was doing. It's obvious she knew about Marion being Hearst's mistress, and perhaps due to the fact the media did not seem to pick up on Davies talent in the press, Louella seized the opportunity of a lifetime, giving Davies publicity that she knew one person in particular would notice, Hearst!<br />
<br />
Once Hearst saw that Parsons was overly gracious about building up the talent and beauty of Miss Davies, Hearst called her out to work for him. She first started a small article for one of Hearst's papers, <i>The New York American</i> in 1923. The weekend of Ince's death she had been invited to Hollywood on her very first trip to California. Isn't it interesting that upon her return to New York, after Ince's death, Louella Parsons had signed a lifetime contract with Hearst writing for the <i>Los Angeles Examiner</i> and basically had his backing on any and everything the wrote from that point on?<br />
<br />
Knowing the "Chief" had her back, Louella started her infamous writing career as a "Celebrity Gossip Journalist"- becoming one of the most hated people in all of Hollywood, although it was said that her talent was lacking as a true journalist. In fact, her tenacity and drive to out scoop other writers with scandalous gossip seemed to be the force she used to stay ahead of the curve, because she was not an eloquent writer at all. It was obvious that Louella was certainly more about quantity (of readers) and less about the quality of her work. Well known to over embellish stories to fit her needs, Louella could make a story much worse than it was by adding more fuel to the fire to ruin a reputation or two if she chose to.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, if she liked someone, she would build them up in the public eye, making them owe her a favor. In turn she would later use them as informants to retrieve secret inside Hollywood gossip that no one else knew about. She could basically make or break someone's career in Hollywood at her own disposal which made crossing Parsons a very dangerous thing to do in Hollywood. After signing the lifetime contract with Hearst, Louella's articles went from appearing in a few newspapers to over six hundred newspapers the world over, with a readership of more than twenty-million people.<br />
<br />
Anyone with any common sense can see that there was a dramatic change in Parsons' career after Ince's death. I find it also interesting that Davies denied that Parsons was aboard, although there were witnesses at the studio who stated they saw both Davies and Parsons together just before leaving to board the Oneida that weekend. Also, why did Parsons' deny having been to California at all, when she knew very well that people saw her in California? It's obvious that as long as Davies and Parsons obeyed whatever W.R. Hearst told them to say, he protected them and took care of them, financially of course.<br />
<br />
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<b>The Grieving Widow- Elinor Ince </b><br />
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And what about "Nell" or Elinor Ince, Thomas' wife? According to the many books and articles online, it states that Elinor was given a "trust fund" from Hearst soon after the death of her husband. Many also claim that Nell and her sons rushed to Europe right after the death of her husband to avoid the scandal or gossip that followed his death. They go on to say she never remarried and lived out her life in poverty after the Depression hit and all her money was gone. Other writers go on to add that Elinor ended up a taxi driver and died penniless. I have yet to see any proof of this, only writer after writer copying and pasting the same pathetic sentences. I mean, come on! Doesn't anyone actually do research anymore or what?!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dias Dorados Estate</td></tr>
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Soon after Ince's death, Elinor Ince DID NOT board a steam liner to Europe as many claim. Instead, Nell went immediately back to work at her husbands studio to make sure that contracts were kept and that everything remained on schedule all the way up until the Spring of 1925. It was then that she and her sons traveled to Europe for a much needed trip.<br />
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Hearst did help Nell financially, how much in the amount of money, it is unsure to say. In 1927, Nell sold her "Dias Dorados" home in Benedict Canyon (where Ince died) to Carl Laemmle for the amount of $650,000. (** Interesting note: Upon selling the home they discovered that Ince had secret passageways in the attic where he could peep into each guest room from the ceiling to spy on his guests). Nell then began the construction of the celebrity residential apartments known as The Villa Carlotta Apartments, that sat just across the street from her other home on Franklin Avenue.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villa Carlotta Apartments</td></tr>
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It was speculated that Hearst funded Nell for both the Villa Carlotta and the Chateau Elysee, an even more upscale luxury long-term residential hotel and apartment house for movie stars, that she built on top of the land where her home previously sat on Franklin Avenue. It is no secret that once the Villa Carlotta opened its doors that none other than Louella Parsons' moved right in and stayed one of the longest residents at the building. It was even said that Parsons got married in the lobby of the building. In it's heyday, the Chateau Elysee was famously known for housing stars like George Burns, Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Bette Davis and Clark Gable.<br />
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Around 1930 Elinor ignored the will of her late husband when she married English actor, Holmes Herbert, forfeiting her share of her husbands estate. Instead, she was only subject to receive a share in the "interest" of the estate, while the remainder of the estate was divided between her three sons. It could have been at this time that Hearst stepped in and financially helped her, or perhaps she had so much money already from Hearst's help years prior that forfeiting her share in her late husband's estate was of no concern to her. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? By 1934, Nell had divorced, leaving her single once again, but she maintained busy running both the Chateau Elysee and Villa Carlotta.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXQXk-OSV4e0JMNqs4PpPj2cqluBsYx7huZgH3g5CC7cPGtvPpNuAFQb5I7kU4WELkTKxky3y-lb9KEyPCBCwdy0TmyiLjyY4NmTTiN6VnEET7ao5rGCEaKvq0YmiXWF018lJGAhy42w/s1600/chateau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXQXk-OSV4e0JMNqs4PpPj2cqluBsYx7huZgH3g5CC7cPGtvPpNuAFQb5I7kU4WELkTKxky3y-lb9KEyPCBCwdy0TmyiLjyY4NmTTiN6VnEET7ao5rGCEaKvq0YmiXWF018lJGAhy42w/s320/chateau.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chateau Elysee</td></tr>
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Elinor later sold the Chateau Elysee in 1942 and the Villa Carlotta in 1953 to Glen Wallich, co-founder of Capitol Records. By that time Elinor was 69 years of age. I am sure she was not in any position to work, nor did she really need to work if she had sold both properties. Elinor died at the age of 86 in her sleep after a series of minor strokes. She had lived a good life, she DID NOT die penniless like many writers claim.<br />
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The book, <i>"Thomas Ince: Hollywood's Independent Pioneer"</i> by Brian Taves writes that in Elinor's last years that Elinor was "active in preventive medicine, following an athletic regimen of swimming, horseback riding, and tennis that helped keep her healthy to almost the end of her life." Now I don't know about you, but do you really think a penniless taxi driver could afford to play tennis, go horseback riding or use preventive medicine to elongate her life?<br />
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The book goes on to mention that she was a very generous charitable contributor, although she always wished to remain anonymous in which charities she donated to. Towards the end, Elinor suffered from back deterioration but remained mentally active by reading regularly and keeping up with current events. And as noted above, Elinor died in her sleep on September 12, 1971.<br />
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<b>Hearst As White As A Ghost! </b><br />
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So will we ever know what transpired the night of November 16th, 1924? Probably not. We are only left to speculate based on the information that has been circulating all these years. It was said by D.W. Griffith years after Thomas Ince's death,<b> “<i>All you have to do
to make Hearst turn white as a ghost is mention Ince’s name. There’s plenty
wrong there, but Hearst is too big to touch.</i>”</b><br />
Hollywood knew that Hearst was the "Chief" with all the control of the media, so if he wanted something covered up, it would happen. The movie Citizen Kane by Orson Welles seemed to be about the life of W.R. Hearst and some believe that it could possibly be a clue about many hidden things in the real life of Hearst himself. As most of us know, some of the biggest secrets are hidden in plain sight. And if you look into it, Hearst threatened the studio when he learned of the film, while his press henchman (or woman) Louella Parsons attacked Welles even worse after she realized that she had been tricked by Welles, after he assured her that the story was about a rich dead man<b>. </b>Believing Welles, Parsons praised Welles' directorial efforts and the movie itself prior to the movie coming out. But soon after learning the truth about the storyline of the film, Parsons realized the movie was too similar to her boss' life, she went on the war path after Orson Welles to the point the studio <span style="font-family: "futura bk bt";">had
to fight to even get the picture released. Could there have been a hidden clue in the movie that could tell us something about Ince's death? Or maybe other hidden secrets that Hearst would stop at nothing to keep hidden?</span><br />
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<b>The Mystery Remains- Where Are Ince's Remains?</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhtdsCjfXdoo0HCsiNzPvfG5nkddPu3AoFXRJsSa-ghyphenhyphentcWIl7b-gsTncDDKfXmwgjPp4oJK87p6xvkP059CL4LzmHEbagiyNNryVkYAZwA0gL1QBwE8yInNQ-GxfMlNLHMT-gbsAjU8/s1600/Thomas_H._Ince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhtdsCjfXdoo0HCsiNzPvfG5nkddPu3AoFXRJsSa-ghyphenhyphentcWIl7b-gsTncDDKfXmwgjPp4oJK87p6xvkP059CL4LzmHEbagiyNNryVkYAZwA0gL1QBwE8yInNQ-GxfMlNLHMT-gbsAjU8/s1600/Thomas_H._Ince.jpg" /></a>Thomas Ince will forever be remembered for the odd and mysterious way that he died, and sadly not remembered for the contributions he made to Hollywood. He was a Director, Screenwriter, Producer and even an silent film actor. He was the "Father of the Western," and pioneered in creating over 100 films, making him a movie studio mogul. He established the very first modern film studio naming it "Inceville."<br />
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The studio was the first
of its kind, featuring offices, stages, labs, dressing rooms, commissaries,
prop houses, and elaborate sets all in one convenient location. He also established Triangle Studios based out of Culver City, wherein he set forth the precedent to combine production, distribution, and theater operations under one roof.<br />
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He died quite wealthy, with newspapers reporting that his fortune was worth somewhere between $1,600,000.00- $4,000,000.00 in 1924.<br />
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Ince's funeral was held there at the Chapel at Hollywood Memorial
Cemetery on November 21st, 1924 and that soon after his body was
cremated. For years people have wondered where Ince's remains are, whether family kept them or if he was interred somewhere secretly.<br />
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There were rumors that Hollywood Memorial Cemetery had stored his remains in their vaults, keeping them forever hidden, but there is really no way to know for sure. Hollywood Memorial is now known as Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I had contacted Hollywood Forever Cemetery and spoke to Karie Bible (who works there.) Kare stated that Ince's remains were received by his family and remains in their possession. She also mentioned that not only was the funeral held for Ince at Hollywood Memorial but that the Egyptian Theater had a huge memorial service as well.<br />
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<b>J'aime Rubio (copyright) 2013- Dreaming Casually via Hollywoodland Forever </b><br />
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J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-69328411496298076112013-04-26T01:43:00.000-07:002013-10-06T21:49:28.274-07:00The Shroud Of Mystery Behind Thomas Ince's Death- Part One<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVt6UipQM-1V6PKhyphenhyphen9z-kg_ph-QhPMqpCMnCSV9UrGkj2BGOfd1xlti5d-ia9dzTvDwvZVB4VdG_KojiNbVw5IxSEYReAAbOLIeG1-F3OkxgQCQE_Lm4mdrsIk-VEZ-K_nBLu-ABgnG54/s1600/thomas_ince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVt6UipQM-1V6PKhyphenhyphen9z-kg_ph-QhPMqpCMnCSV9UrGkj2BGOfd1xlti5d-ia9dzTvDwvZVB4VdG_KojiNbVw5IxSEYReAAbOLIeG1-F3OkxgQCQE_Lm4mdrsIk-VEZ-K_nBLu-ABgnG54/s320/thomas_ince.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Ince</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Not too many people know who Thomas Ince is, or was. Tragically his death overshadowed his legacy of being a true pioneer in the silent film industry. The few who are familiar with his story are usually at odds deciding on whether or not his death was from "natural causes" or worse, if he was murdered. This story is one that is complex and filled with twists and turns at every corner. But for the truth seekers such as myself, it only added more fuel to the fire. The more I dug,the more I uncovered clues in regards to what really happened that night on the <i>Oneida</i>. After reading this story, I hope that you will put two and two together to see the story unravel right before your eyes. In the end, you will draw your own conclusions to this mystery and hopefully you will leave this page, satisfied with your opinions.<br />
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<b>Birthday Invite Aboard W.R.'s Yacht!</b><br />
<br />
Thomas Ince's name went down in history not for being a mogul the film industry, not for being the "Father of the Western" but rather for the fatal demise that has been shrouded in mystery ever since he stepped foot on William Randolph Hearst's yacht, the <i>Oneida,</i> the weekend of November 15th, 1924. In fact, when the yacht left bound for San Diego from San Pedro that very day, Ince himself missed the initial departure and had to take a train to San Diego that following day, Sunday morning (the 16th) in order to board the yacht and enjoy the last day of the weekend with Hearst and his other companions on board.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Davies greeting Ince aboard the Oneida</td></tr>
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"W.R." had invited Ince to share in the festivities of the weekend, even going so far as to plan a celebratory birthday dinner in honor of Ince on Sunday evening. Little is known about who actually was on board that evening. The guest list has changed a bit off an on over the years, but always the common denominators of the story remain: William Randolph Hearst, Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, Louella Parsons, Thomas Ince, Margaret Livingston and of course Dr. Goodman always seem to be among those listed in every story.<br />
<br />
According to the "official" records and reports, it states that the evening of Sunday, November 16th, that Thomas Ince grew ill from a bout of indigestion and had to be removed from the yacht in the night. According to Dr. Daniel Carson Goodman (a licensed though non-practicing physician) who was employed by Hearst as film production head, he claimed that he escorted Ince to San Diego where they boarded the train. By the time they hit Del Mar, Ince's condition had worsened so they got off the train and went to a hotel. Goodman contacted Ince's wife, Nell and told her to join them at the hotel where they called a doctor. He eventually was moved to his Benedict Canyon home, (1051 Benedict Canyon Rd.) known as "Dias Dorados" where he eventually passed away on his wife's birthday, November 19th (which was a Wednesday, not a Tuesday as many claim). It is quite possible he died towards the early morning hours of November 19th, having had taken a turn for the worst Tuesday evening. The idea that Thomas Ince fell ill to indigestion and later died from heart failure has always been scrutinized over the years. In fact, there are just too many conflicting reports in regards to that scenario, that it raises suspicion even more.<br />
<br />
<b>Other Theories: </b><br />
<br /></div>
<b>
</b><br />
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<b><b>Secret Affair & A Case Of Mistaken Identity</b></b><br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swanson, Chaplin & Davies</td></tr>
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The most popular of rumors was that Hearst invited Charlie Chaplin as one of his guests that weekend to observe Chaplin with Hearst's mistress, actress Marion Davies. The rival newspapers of Hearst's empire had published accounts just a week prior to the trip, stating that Davies and Chaplin were seen together in an inappropriate manner. Perhaps Hearst, wanting to see for himself, had invited Chaplin to find out if the rumors were true. He had to know if his beloved mistress Marion was being unfaithful or not.<br />
<br />
As the rumor goes, Chaplin and Davies had been seen by Hearst below deck conversing, eventually Chaplin left his hat and retreated back to his stateroom for the night. In a jealous rage, Hearst went back to his stateroom and retrieved his diamond studded revolver (that he was most famously known for shooting down seagulls with) and went back to where Davies and Chaplin had been seated.<br />
<br />
Somewhere during W.R.'s stroll to retrieve his gun, Ince had got up and found Davies alone. What they were talking about is unknown to this day, but the outcome proved to be fatal. Some rumors state Ince picked up Chaplin's hat and put it on as a joke to Davies as they sat there chatting. Mistaken for Chaplin, Hearst shot Ince in the back of the head. Feeling so overcome by guilt for shooting the wrong person, Hearst swore everyone on the yacht to secrecy (probably "buying them off") and covered the whole story over.<br />
<br />
Another theory in regards to the whole Chaplin-Davies-Hearst love triangle was that there was a fight and that Hearst flat out shot at Chaplin and missed, while the bullet some say exited out of a porthole and struck Ince in the forehead while he was strolling on deck. Another says Ince was trying to break up the fight between Chaplin and Hearst while the gun went off, striking him in the head. No matter which theory you choose out of this category, Hearst remains the shooter in these scenarios.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Incidence of Rape and Self Defense</b><br />
<br />
Another quite messy scenario is that of an unknown character, Abigail Kinsolving. Miss Kinsolving happened to be Miss Davies Secretary, and from most stories she is not among those listed as being aboard the <i>Oneida </i>that night. However, apparently through the Hollywood gossip circuit, the story claims that Abigail was raped by Ince aboard Hearst's yacht and that she shot him in self defense or even quite possibly stabbed him in the head. Another report states that she only admitted to being raped by Ince, but never mentioned anything about how he died, or even if the death was related to her rape.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Margaret Livingston, Ince's mistress</td></tr>
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Stories go on to state that Abigail became pregnant from that incident and gave birth to a daughter, Louise just months later. As you know, a pregnancy takes an entire nine months. So for her to give birth just a "few months" later sounds fishy to me. Also, the reports claim that Ince raped her on Saturday night, the 15th of November. <br />
<br />
That is impossible, Ince didn't even board the <i>Oneida</i> until Sunday morning (the 16th) in San Diego because he had been busy at the premiere of "<i>The Mirage"</i> and an ongoing production deal he was negotiating with Hearst's International Film Corporation. So if Abigail claimed to have been raped by Ince on the 15th aboard the Oneida, then that was a lie.<br />
<br />
Now, if she wanted to claim that Ince was the father of her baby, whom I am now assuming that she was already "expecting" long before stepping foot on the <i>Oneida</i> that evening, perhaps she was enraged with jealousy when she saw that Hearst had invited Ince's mistress, Margaret Livingston. Was Abigail also one of Ince's mistresses? Given the circumstances, and her "delicate condition" I could imagine that she was beyond livid at that point.<br />
<br />
As we all know the saying: <br />
<b></b><b></b><br />
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<b><i>Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd </i></b><br />
<b><i> Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd.-</i></b> </div>
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(act III of William Congreve's <i>The Mourning Bride</i>, 1697)</div>
<br />
There are so many possibilities to the scenarios behind the Abigail Kinsolving theory. If she was in fact having a sexual relationship with Ince prior to this yacht trip, she could have confided in him that she was pregnant with his child and he could have said it wasn't his, or that he wouldn't leave his wife for her. Perhaps she was just a "fling" to Ince, although it might have meant much more to her. Again, there really is no way to know if Ince was secretly seeing Abigail or not, but had she really been pregnant with his child and became so enraged at the sight of Ince with Livingston, or upset that Ince refused to acknowledge her pregnancy, perhaps she lost it that night and she shot him herself.<br />
<br />
It would be very easy for her to claim rape to Hearst, given the fact he was quite the conservative and would have swept that whole thing under the rug for an innocent victim, and even more so for a woman. Also, think about this, Marion Davies was everything to Hearst. Abigail was Davies Secretary, she spent a lot of time with Davies, so she probably spent a lot of time with Hearst. He would have been well aware that a scandal of that magnitude would have ruined Davies' career and brought a never ending rainstorm of unflattering publicity to Hearst as well if it made the papers. <br />
<br />
Hearst would do anything for Davies, he created Cosmopolitan Pictures just for her, so that she could star in all the films. If he would do that for her, he would cover over anything if it meant protecting her image.<br />
I also find it interesting that Abigail died shortly after giving birth to Louise. Her body was found among the wreckage of an auto accident near <i>"La Cuesta Encantada</i>"-- Hearst's Ranch in San Simeon. Allegedly, Hearst's bodyguards discovered her body, where they also found a suicide note.<br />
<br />
Many speculated that the note was written by two different people, given the two distinct sets of handwriting on the note. Upon looking into this further, I have read that some people with "variable personalities" have been known to write with two distinct sets of handwriting. Some go from cursive to print, which is actually quite normal. While others can change styles completely which could mean something a little more complex. Could this have been a clue that Abigail had a split personality? Could she have been mentally ill? Did she really kill herself? Or was her death another unsolved mystery forever lurking in the shadows of W.R. Hearst? Unfortunately, we have no idea what the note said or what it looked like, as I am sure it was destroyed long ago. So there is no way to determine whether both sets of writing were from Abigail, or someone else. As the story goes, after Abigail died, Marion Davies quickly took Louise and placed her in an orphanage that Davies financially supported, making sure Louise would be taken care of.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10FaawjjbJWj1rp_ZCjwf806YjVUDjXj6GSuN6XW46HpPLe-zAMb7pT4AG-noyS0aq6F_XEgLLUyXF1qemVLTO3PXsxvhp5S4MU3C3sVMOK40UJmpwZh5bdOwnJ20hAZvGZQD_Q9XSHY/s1600/patriciavanclevelake.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10FaawjjbJWj1rp_ZCjwf806YjVUDjXj6GSuN6XW46HpPLe-zAMb7pT4AG-noyS0aq6F_XEgLLUyXF1qemVLTO3PXsxvhp5S4MU3C3sVMOK40UJmpwZh5bdOwnJ20hAZvGZQD_Q9XSHY/s320/patriciavanclevelake.jpg.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia Van Cleve (Hearst's daughter)</td></tr>
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More proof of Hearst's capability to cover over or conceal secrets was one he held on to the grave. For many years Marion Davies claimed that the young blonde that would occasionally visit the Ranch in San Simeon was her "niece." However, as the years went on and secrets were whispered, this girl claimed to be the "love child" of Davies and Hearst. It is unknown when she was born, sometime between 1920-1923 but according to the Lake family, Marion gave the child to her sister Rose to raise after the loss of her own baby, while Hearst saw to it that she was financially cared for. On her death bed, Patricia Van Cleve Lake claimed that Marion Davies confided to her when she was 11 years old, and was told to keep her mouth shut about it. Even on her wedding day, six years after Davies had told her, Hearst himself took her aside and told her that he was her real father and embraced her. <br />
<br />
Patricia claimed that she had to pretend as if she didn't know, in order to make sure Hearst thought the secret had never been spoken prior to that day. Even after he admitted it to her, she knew that the charade was not over, in her entire life neither one of her biological parents could ever publicly acknowledge that she was their daughter, even if she knew they were her parents. Upon her deathbed, Patricia made sure that the world knew the real truth, she wanted to leave this world with the secret revealed. It makes you wonder, that if Hearst could hide a love child, what else could he hide?<br />
<br />
Several historians have claimed to have dis-proven this
theory by divorce records of Rose and George, showing the constant
animosity and fighting for custody of Patricia but there really is no way
to know for sure who the girls parents were without DNA testing. Adoptive parents fight over their children all the time, plus the fact they had lost a child in death once, they may have been holding on to Patricia with all their might, regardless of whether she was biologically theirs or not. Whether
it was George Van Cleeve and Rosemary Douras who parented her or Marion
Davies and Hearst, the mystery will always remain.<br />
<br />
<b>No Autopsy</b><br />
<br />
According to the papers, Wednesday morning's edition of the Los Angeles Times revealed a headline,<br />
"<i>MOVIE PRODUCER SHOT ON HEARST'S YACHT!"</i>- but by the afternoon edition, that headline had been pulled, with any other information in regards to Ince's injuries. One of Hearst's own papers published a headline reading <i>"SPECIAL CAR RUSHES STRICKEN MAN HOME FROM RANCH."</i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGFG-QEhuGijLtIB2DH_rEXuLOUMbbzSRKmHqxLTRRz6GkTDc9dYA0Us8slZ6fzvgKy8RkIkiuvpbuDQ8qRGZm80iTEnABFwDTDPHaXJL-d41UtIyAOtUY184DMmoKF0nuHqxqQvbcXY/s1600/Timeline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGFG-QEhuGijLtIB2DH_rEXuLOUMbbzSRKmHqxLTRRz6GkTDc9dYA0Us8slZ6fzvgKy8RkIkiuvpbuDQ8qRGZm80iTEnABFwDTDPHaXJL-d41UtIyAOtUY184DMmoKF0nuHqxqQvbcXY/s320/Timeline.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timeline of Events</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In fact, at first Hearst wanted the public to think that Ince was actually at his Ranch in San Simeon, and that he was rushed home when he fell ill. When the rumors got out that people knew he had boarded the Oneida that Sunday morning, the papers had to backpedal there story and change it quickly. Then the story claimed that Ince fell ill due to ulcers and indigestion and later caused him a heart attack.<br />
<br />
When Ince died at his home in Benedict Canyon, his personal Physician Dr. Glasgow signed the death certificate stating the cause of death was "heart failure." Ince was shot or became "ill" on Sunday evening (16th) and departed from the yacht early Monday the 17th. He died on the 19th and his funeral took place just two days later on Friday the 21st. Upon those present were Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin, Ince's brothers Ralph and John, accompanied by Elinor Ince and her three sons William, Thomas and Richard. Several other celebrities and family friends attended while services were done in the Chapel at the Hollywood Cemetery. Hearst himself was not present, which calls to mind that if Ince really had become ill on board of Hearst's yacht, why not pay Ince the respect of attending his funeral...that is, if it really wasn't any fault of W.R.'s in the first place. Right?<br />
<br />
Ince's remains were cremated immediately after the ceremony, but records state that it was an open casket ceremony at the funeral. It is interesting to note that according to the book, "<i>Thomas Ince- Hollywood's Independent Pioneer"</i> written by Brian Taves, he states that the Chief of Homicide in Los Angeles dispatched two officers (J.B. Fox and William Bright) to Strother and Dayton's Mortuary in Hollywood, where Ince's body was being prepared for his funeral. According to the book, both officers along with the studio manager Reeve Houck witnessed as he states "Dr. Day" (whose name in actuality was Dr. Dayton not Day) turned the body of Thomas Ince over to reveal nothing. No mark, no wounds, nothing to indicate death occurred from anything besides natural causes. Could it be? It is always likely that cops were paid off but it does make you stop and wonder, is it possible that Ince did die from natural causes after all? But then again, we are talking about Hollywood here, and Hollywood is very capable of making people forget what they saw. Hollywood is also very good at using makeup, so it is possible that they cosmetically altered Ince's body or head to make the wound not visible.<br />
<br />
<b>What About The Witnesses?</b><br />
<br />
Although many records state that Thomas Ince died Tuesday night, it was actually the early morning hours of Wednesday, as the
records state he died on November 19th, which was in fact, a Wednesday. What is interesting about the witness accounts is that most on board of the <i>Oneida</i> either had no accounts or seemed to come down with a sudden bout of forgetfulness.<br />
<br />
Marion Davies claimed that Nell Ince called her from the studio on Monday, letting her know Thomas had died. Well history shows this is impossible, being that Ince didn't die till the early hours of Wednesday. Charlie Chaplin stated that he was never on board of the <i>Oneida </i>that weekend and that he, Hearst and Davies came to see Ince at his home a week after he became "ill". He also went on to state that Ince didn't die until two weeks after. Funny, because Chaplin was present at Ince's funeral that same week, so he knew very well that Ince died days, not weeks later.<br />
<br />
Louella Parsons (who we will discuss in great detail in Part 2), claimed that she wasn't even in California at the time, and that she was all the way in New York when Ince became ill and died. Interestingly enough, Vera Burnett, a stand-in for Marion Davies at the studio, recalled seeing Louella with Marion at the studio the day of their planned weekend trip aboard Hearst's yacht, proving that Louella was in fact on the <i>Oneida </i>at the time.<br />
<br />
Another witness that many have ignored over the years is the account of Chaplin's driver, Toraichi Kono, who claimed he actually saw Ince being transported by ambulance off the yacht. Kono confided the strange account to his wife that it appeared as if
Ince's head was "bleeding from a bullet wound." Among the domestic workers in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, this rumor spread quickly. In a matter of days there were several calls to Los Angeles authorities as well as the authorities in San Diego, asking for them to investigate Ince's death, if not for murder, then for the illegal alcohol consumption which could have also led to his illness. Because the public had doubts about the truth to Ince's death and many believed Hearst used his influence and control to cover it up, within three weeks San Diego District Attorney Chester C. Kempley was forced to look into the matter.<br />
<br />
The odd part about the whole thing is that Kempley only questioned one person, Dr. Goodman, the man who accompanied Ince from the yacht, to the hotel and then onto Ince's Benedict Canyon home. The D.A. never questioned the guests who were on board the <i>Oneida</i>, nor did he even dare question Hearst. That to me, also sounds a little fishy. Of course the D.A. concluded that the matter was closed, being that Ince's death did not appear to be anything other than natural causes.<br />
<br />
<i>"I am satisfied that the death of Thomas H. Ince was caused by heart failure as a result of an attack of indigestion....as there is every reason to believe that the death of Ince was due to natural causes, there is no reason why an investigation should be made."- </i>Chester C. Kempley, San Diego District Attorney.<br />
<br />
As usual, the story was covered over and smoothed out by the Hearst papers, but there was far more to the story than just this. We are just scratching the surface. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-shroud-of-mystery-behind-thomas-inces.html">CLICK HERE TO READ-- PART TWO- THE SHROUD OF MYSTERY BEHIND THOMAS INCE'S DEATH!</a></b></span><br />
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<b>J'aime Rubio- Dreaming Casually Publications/Hollywoodland Forever </b></div>
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<b>Copyright- 2013 </b></div>
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J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-58204345640195861752013-04-08T00:47:00.001-07:002022-07-18T23:08:29.522-07:00Who Was Dorothy Millette?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdONQ2sKU4Nr2yTCeNNHwCYem3fomZAjc_2EX2qHSkzHCRjyDfbjHbUKGMUX3b8c6yxxM2tpnxF9GVh5d01vyzfTSR17tffOz-YohGYA2lN7KoaVnoV2Y0YSWDmUttyYt4INrj8jD5Xg/s1600/dorothymillette-.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdONQ2sKU4Nr2yTCeNNHwCYem3fomZAjc_2EX2qHSkzHCRjyDfbjHbUKGMUX3b8c6yxxM2tpnxF9GVh5d01vyzfTSR17tffOz-YohGYA2lN7KoaVnoV2Y0YSWDmUttyYt4INrj8jD5Xg/s320/dorothymillette-.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothy Millette Bern</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My main squeeze took me down to a place called Walnut Grove
about six months ago. We traveled a little road along the Delta into this
picturesque little town with a drawbridge and everything. We casually cruised
through an adjoining old ghost town known as Locke, with its old abandoned and
condemned buildings from the 1800s. Later we went down to a place known as the
Ryde Hotel. This place is still a hotel, but once back in its heyday it was a
very popping joint! Probably more popular in the 1920s and 1930s, the Ryde
Hotel became a Northern California Hollywood hot spot during prohibition times. </div>
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<br /></div>
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As we were there, breathing the crisp fresh air and watching
the waters from the Delta rush by, I thought of someone, Dorothy Millette Bern.
I had written about her life and death a few years back and knew her body had
been found in a Slough near the Sacramento River. The exact location, I had
never really investigated. I told Roland, “wouldn’t it be weird if they had
found Dorothy right around here?”</div>
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<br /></div>
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I just had this feeling, a thought of her when I was there,
out of the blue. I didn’t know why I thought of her, but again, she is never
too far from my thoughts anyways. In all the stories I have written there are
only two that stay close in my mind and heart at all times. One being the
murder of <a href="http://dreamingcasuallypoetry.blogspot.com/2011/06/who-was-anna-corbin.html">Anna Corbin</a> at the <a href="http://dreamingcasuallypoetry.blogspot.com/2012/03/true-history-behind-preston-school-of.html">Preston School of Industry</a> in 1950 and the death
of <a href="http://www.hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-forgotten-wife-hollywood-homicide.html">Dorothy Millette Bern</a> in 1932.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In fact, Roland and I would have never met if not
for the likes of Dorothy. It was during my continual research on her that I
stumbled across a photograph of Dorothy on a website known as
Find-a-grave. I emailed this person who posted her photo on her memorial page, and
the rest is history. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Back to the story…..</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQzCVSons6015l8VaPJNrSd7Y_G_BwGek-TporWZHXOqDbM7Q-0_aVVNuNdgHWWNiHL-hj_Ig3ZW3jqiE8blLpnRN4n8KijEEZax_TpkQIid-8-AVIRbFq4_4dfiGYTtwMSp80FsgAto/s1600/walnutgrove.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQzCVSons6015l8VaPJNrSd7Y_G_BwGek-TporWZHXOqDbM7Q-0_aVVNuNdgHWWNiHL-hj_Ig3ZW3jqiE8blLpnRN4n8KijEEZax_TpkQIid-8-AVIRbFq4_4dfiGYTtwMSp80FsgAto/s320/walnutgrove.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walnut Grove </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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If you have read my earlier article <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-forgotten-wife-hollywood-homicide.html">A FORGOTTEN WIFE, A HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE & AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY</a>, then you would know that I have
been doing some serious digging into Dorothy’s background. As I state in my
previous posts, Dorothy was actually born in 1895 in France. In fact I have a
copy of the 1920 U.S. Census record that shows this and also places her and
Paul Bern as “husband and wife,” residing at the Algonquin Hotel in New
York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, when she died, there
were no living relatives to confirm her date of birth so they had to make an
educated guess. Also, as I note in my previous article about Dorothy, Jean Harlow and MGM DID NOT pay for
Dorothy’s funeral or headstone, they merely paid for her body to be put in the
ground, that is all. There is a big difference!</div>
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Dorothy and Paul, I believe were married. I have yet to find
a legal document proving this but I am starting to think they may have married
in Canada when they met. For that time period it was very uncommon to claim to
be married if you were not. Regardless, Paul Bern’s marriage to Harlow was not
valid being that the marriage to Harlow took place in California. California
did not acknowledge common law marriage within the state at that time, but they
acknowledged common law marriages from other states, which meant either way
Paul and Dorothy’s marriage was valid in California, therefore when Paul died
it was Dorothy who stood to inherit Paul’s estate regardless of what the Wills
stated. Interesting isn’t it? Dorothy had no reason to kill herself, but
someone else had reason to get rid of Dorothy……</div>
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Now remember I said that I was in Walnut Grove with a friend
when I thought of Dorothy? Well, I decided to once again start digging, and I learned
that the Georgiana Slough (where her body was discovered) literally starts at
the south end of Walnut Grove! Unbelievable, right? Believe it!</div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmyi2Z5r-Q8cLbFIAMwCXq9OlIcaY5s16MEU8VhxSsL6vKMMD4Ixma2wDvWktQsSPhzQmG872cvff9mOaabDLyqIW1avPGmX-E9A9GYgRuSv6p03XVbYU6Def8Z8BrBYFxpCu7AZDbHFk/s1600/delta+king.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmyi2Z5r-Q8cLbFIAMwCXq9OlIcaY5s16MEU8VhxSsL6vKMMD4Ixma2wDvWktQsSPhzQmG872cvff9mOaabDLyqIW1avPGmX-E9A9GYgRuSv6p03XVbYU6Def8Z8BrBYFxpCu7AZDbHFk/s1600/delta+king.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delta King Steamboat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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A member of the staff on board of the Delta King Steamboat claimed
that upon arriving near Courtland they discovered a piece of Dorothy’s clothing
on the deck of the ship. They realized that something was wrong and went to
check to see if she was in her stateroom. Once they realized she had gone
missing, they started the search for her and on September 14,
nearly one week from the date she went missing, her body was found.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Some Japanese fishermen who were in the Georgiana Slough
(just south of Walnut Grove) discovered her lifeless and badly decomposing
body. They could not determine the color of her eyes and her hair and scalp was
missing. I am guessing she hit the propellers of the steamboat or other small
boats going by in the river may have clipped her as she was floating in the water. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Eventually the Coroner had to get Ed Sullivan, the clerk from the hotel in San
Francisco where Dorothy had been staying, to identify her body. From the information I have obtained over the years, I have
learned that Dorothy was a short lady, and had wavy, auburn hair. She had very
good taste and enjoyed expensive things. The Schenectady Gazette dated
9/15/1932 stated that when her body was found that Dorothy was wearing a black
dress, made of expensive material. She had silk undergarments and silk
stockings on under her clothing. It also mentioned her petite frame and that
her wrists and ankles were very small. Another paper reported Dorothy as being "known for her culture, vivacity and beauty."</div>
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<u><b>Was Dorothy Crazy?</b></u></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
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As many websites, books and blogs will often claim that
Dorothy was the crazy wife of Paul Bern, I have never agreed with any of that.
In fact, I hope that by the time you finish reading this article (and hopefully
you read my first one too <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-forgotten-wife-hollywood-homicide.html">“A Forgotten Wife, Hollywood Homicide & An Unsolved Mystery”)</a> that your outlook on Dorothy will have changed.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I have information that will change the whole scenario on
the “Crazy” wife ideas people have been throwing around for nearly 81 years.
Guess what?! She was not “institutionalized” and she was not locked away in an
asylum for 10 years or in a coma as some state. Dorothy, I believe, wasn’t
suffering from mental problems either. </div>
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<br /></div>
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You see, I have found evidence that places Dorothy as living
at the Algonquin hotel from 1917 when she and Paul Bern moved there, when she
was only 22 years old. This evidence shows that they stayed there for over 5
years living as man and wife. Then around 1922, they moved out. That is when I
believe she checked into the Blythewood Sanitarium and Paul moved out to
California. Only about one year later, Dorothy moved back into the Algonquin
Hotel alone, and remained there for nearly 10 years. Staff at the hotel
confirmed this in several reports and newspaper articles at the time period in
1932 when they learned of her death.</div>
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<u><b>Blythewood Sanitorium- More Like A Rich People’s Rehab</b></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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Blythewood Sanitarium was located in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Many people think that Blythewood was a mental institution, however that was
not the case. In fact, this place was a sort of “Wealthy Rehab” for the elite
and rich during that time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to say
they didn’t treat mentally ill patients, because they did. But that was not
their only purpose. Blythewood catered to the wealthy who were dealing with
various issues such as health problems, mental issues, depression and
alcoholism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I encourage you to read a
little more about this “upscale institution” in a blog I found titled <a href="http://pointsadhsblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/glimpses-of-blythewood/">“Glimpses of Blythewood.”</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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In the blog mentioned above, the writer quotes an edition of the New York Times dated November 8, 1936, where it states:</div>
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<br /></div>
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"<i>Blythewood has no locked doors. The patients are encouraged to
follow their natural bents, and the sanitarium has become well known for
its art school, studios, pottery work, a button factory and many
similar project."</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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In fact, Blythewood Sanitarium was more like a retreat for the rich who needed therapy. The blog "Glimpses of Blythewood" even mentions "some patients even brought their “valets and chefs” along with them to the facility." </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2BRk2McoXVXDkoo_FpXQ25uHVqZl07Ij3Dfpcr2ck_OSn8gbGyUTEIrbt6x-ZmtFdyv2IQNQ8R18K_U7uQkzGCw3hcNpZ8cKavF0EMPJ09yr_OLwuqmnzGreo08xoC_TL4fiu08YyFU/s1600/blythewood.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2BRk2McoXVXDkoo_FpXQ25uHVqZl07Ij3Dfpcr2ck_OSn8gbGyUTEIrbt6x-ZmtFdyv2IQNQ8R18K_U7uQkzGCw3hcNpZ8cKavF0EMPJ09yr_OLwuqmnzGreo08xoC_TL4fiu08YyFU/s1600/blythewood.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside of Blythewood-Historical Society Photo, Greenwich, Ct.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are numerous newspaper accounts where Judges, Attorney's and other upper class individuals traveled to Blythewood for recovery for alcoholism, some for nervous breakdowns and some just to recover from a major illness or surgeries. Yes, they treated mentally ill patients, but not the type you keep in asylums. As the newspaper reported, there were no locked doors at Blythewood. Patients could come and go from the building and wander the grounds, take all sorts of classes and yes, also see a psychiatrist when needed. This is no different than the sort of Rehab retreats you hear the Hollywood elite go to for their alcohol and drug addiction issues.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You see, Dorothy could have just went to Blythewood for exhaustion, depression or any other sort of mild issue. She had money, and probably heard of the place from her social circles and decided to go there. Again, perhaps during the separation of her and Paul's relationship, maybe she went there to find some peace. We will never truly know. But it is in very poor taste to just write Dorothy off as some sort of mental case.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We do know now that Dorothy returned to the Algonquin Hotel around 1923-24 according to staff at the hotel. They also reported that Paul Bern sent her two checks in the mail every month, addressed to her at the hotel for the entire length of the time she resided there. She did not move to San Francisco until 1932, very shortly before Paul Bern's death. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHyxk-TYfr4NuOOCWLPBhzXUEUFQ_q09ozMa8ZNsaSdQQ6om_2wniwcujpNdiHkkd21ZfsMvIT8p1FO863pwwsqGgiHgmgO-5JWvRlFtd9_a71OMIGo2MRfRjLHCqDx5LuBNrGzTKaQ3I/s1600/dorothy+millette.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHyxk-TYfr4NuOOCWLPBhzXUEUFQ_q09ozMa8ZNsaSdQQ6om_2wniwcujpNdiHkkd21ZfsMvIT8p1FO863pwwsqGgiHgmgO-5JWvRlFtd9_a71OMIGo2MRfRjLHCqDx5LuBNrGzTKaQ3I/s320/dorothy+millette.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rose from my garden for Dorothy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I guess I just wanted to write this second article about Dorothy to give her a little more in depth back story from the time she married Paul to the time she moved to San Francisco. I think the public has a right to know the truth about Dorothy, not just over embellished rumors about her and her mental state. I will never believe she killed Paul Bern and I will never believe she took her own life either. I believe that both Paul and Dorothy were killed and that MGM and Harlow knew a lot more than they ever led on. Again, that's my opinion of course.<br />
<br />
Next: <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/09/on-anniversary-of-paul-berns-death.html">ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF PAUL BERN'S DEATH, DO WE KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? </a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
(Copyright 2013) J'aime Rubio - Dreaming Casually Publications</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHyxk-TYfr4NuOOCWLPBhzXUEUFQ_q09ozMa8ZNsaSdQQ6om_2wniwcujpNdiHkkd21ZfsMvIT8p1FO863pwwsqGgiHgmgO-5JWvRlFtd9_a71OMIGo2MRfRjLHCqDx5LuBNrGzTKaQ3I/s1600/dorothy+millette.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcE2lzOh8q0_YF5xUDtu2_3qLX-68wmHB61wxCAjCPSOBsGuE3oWUC5X5wBQbzWvCPGOYmJhceCYv6THVWV_PRXCHHoyBaCMKzTdaB6hU8vVPRS_BcBANqLzzDTxiBicFYYuRqC5uMJgM/s1600/Sacramento+097.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-forgotten-wife-hollywood-homicide.html?view=flipcard"><b>TO READ MORE ON DOROTHY MILLETTE BERN PLEASE CHECK OUT:"A Forgotten Wife, A Hollywood Homicide & An Unsolved Mystery."</b></a><br />
<br />
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</div>
J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-31171120426928495142013-03-27T01:41:00.002-07:002013-05-19T00:15:52.526-07:00Interesting Twist- Toni Mannix Wasn't Married When She Dated Superman!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tGEutaPl9NY9KyRZQzK0uWCNvAL7HnfEjEdBLzMGh2ciXlQme5wDvVME8wCUpHYTE-5_8BXf__k5jykfB0f8GhjsmfNN9IztQURfc6fHKvY7YG9BrrGnvSbF94ZO8cC7JcJS4RjVbl4/s1600/1578468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tGEutaPl9NY9KyRZQzK0uWCNvAL7HnfEjEdBLzMGh2ciXlQme5wDvVME8wCUpHYTE-5_8BXf__k5jykfB0f8GhjsmfNN9IztQURfc6fHKvY7YG9BrrGnvSbF94ZO8cC7JcJS4RjVbl4/s320/1578468.jpg" width="249" /></a>So as many of you who are familiar with the <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-day-superman-wasnt-faster-than.html">mysterious death of actor George Reeves</a>, you then are familiar with the affair he had with MGM Vice President Eddie Mannix's wife, Toni. What many may not know though, is the fact that during the beginning of Toni's relationship to George, she was not married to Eddie. In fact, the information I am about to present to you will probably throw you for a loop. I am still actively searching for more information in regards to other aspects of this story, but for now, I will give you what I have dug up so far.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Toni Lanier-</b></u><br />
<br />
Toni Lanier was born Camille Antoinette Froomess on February 19, 1906 (based on US CENSUS RECORDS 1920) in New York where she appears to be one month shy of 14 years of age at the time. The records also show her to be of Russian ethinicity with her family who immigrated from France.<br />
<br />
I cannot find where the name Toni Lanier came into play, however it could have been a stage name that Ziegfeld gave her when she started appearing as a dancer for the Ziegfeld Follies. In fact, she was revered as such a great dancer with the best pair of legs, that Ziegfeld insured them for $1,000,000.00 (one million dollars) while she performed for them. Later on she her legs were insured with Lloyd's of London for $25,000 per leg!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwCuuwRs9FuQVNQ3ItDe81eYtiPNMrI__DQoxVM__TsTjvQXONqVz2OyuGJu3CR7qriJI7jWhewYeX2sIUAk0cz_E3-4p6RHjJW9IedavTAC3gAlGDAF2uZKLu1DHatucQ52HvzxBP20/s1600/Jesse+Livermore+Jr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwCuuwRs9FuQVNQ3ItDe81eYtiPNMrI__DQoxVM__TsTjvQXONqVz2OyuGJu3CR7qriJI7jWhewYeX2sIUAk0cz_E3-4p6RHjJW9IedavTAC3gAlGDAF2uZKLu1DHatucQ52HvzxBP20/s200/Jesse+Livermore+Jr.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jesse Livermore, Jr.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When Toni met Eddie Mannix, she had become irate over how she was being treated while on the set of <i>The Great Ziegfeld </i>so she stormed off and 'allegedly' headed for Hawaii. As the story goes, Mannix was sent to fetch her and bring her back. I guess sparks flew between the two of them and Toni began seeing Mannix. Although, Eddie was not the only man she was dating at the time. Toni Lanier had a reputation of being a "girl about town" and many newspapers stated her dating several men and even allegedly marrying Jesse Livermore, Jr., who inherited a franchise of the Pepsi Cola Company in 1937. Mr. Livermore, only 18 years of age at the time of this 'alleged' wedding was the son of Jesse Livermore, Sr. and wife, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer as well, Dorthea Wendt (who was 23 years his junior). Mr. Livermore (Sr.) was a successful businessman often referred to as "Great Bear of Wall Street" or "The Boy Plunger." What I find interesting about this "wedding" of Toni Lanier and Jesse Livermore Jr., that allegedly had taken place was the fact that only 6 months later Jesse wed Evelyn Bletzer Sullivan of Baltimore in November of 1937. It seems that Livermore's relationship with Ms. Lanier may have just been publicity hype after all, unless they had an anullment shortly after the secret marriage.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Toni Lanier's Personality</b></u><br />
<br />
From what I
have read on Ms. Lanier, she was a big mouth and a little on the rude side. In fact,
I read an article (News-Sentinal June 2, 1936) where she blatently
criticized any girl who danced Hula because it "makes the calves bulge."<br />
<br />
She
went on to say: " Hawaiian beauties haven't got a chance in competition
with girls over here because of their hula-ing and because they go
barefoot and their legs grow heavy. When girls of this country become as
'leg conscious' as the men are, we'll have healthier women and lovelier
legs. There's no excuse for misshapen legs, it requires only a little
care to form the muscles properly, excepting of course, in the case of
thick ankles. I don't know what can be done about that!"<br />
<br />
Sounds like a peach huh?! No wonder Mannix loved her, she was his counterpart! <br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>Someone Was Still In The Way</b></u><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRIen1do82BwUgzsPLdXn7EynnyV2kWtkVJJqRqndAwoL4PjVMHBhjaveP2G3yr0ANG3t2cwIwhyphenhyphenBEH3Qzro6ruHy77guKgshkoMw5GzMmiX5bxAYg4L9kYrDHvcs28YT8XCybbEvuGc/s1600/0326132308-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRIen1do82BwUgzsPLdXn7EynnyV2kWtkVJJqRqndAwoL4PjVMHBhjaveP2G3yr0ANG3t2cwIwhyphenhyphenBEH3Qzro6ruHy77guKgshkoMw5GzMmiX5bxAYg4L9kYrDHvcs28YT8XCybbEvuGc/s320/0326132308-1.jpg" width="296" /></a>Toni and Eddie's relationship seemed to pick up steam just around the time that Jesse Jr. married Evelyn.<br />
But, Eddie was still married to his wife of 18 years Bernice Fitzmaurice, daughter of Irish parents back east. According to my sources, Bernice learned of the affair that Eddie was having with Toni and she filed for divorce, moving out towards Palm Springs. The oddity of this whole situation is the fact that I believe that Toni and Bernice knew each other before Toni hooked up with Eddie Mannix. Why you ask?<br />
<br />
Well according to The Reading Eagle (August 6, 1934) it states various statements made by stars and socialites in regards to various events or vacations. It says:<br />
<br />
"Bernice Mannix postcards from New York that everything "is just ducky!"- And Camille (Toni) Lanier Pensditto"....<br />
I think that they made a typo and meant to say "Camille Lanier pens "ditto," meaning that she agreed with Bernice. Very interesting, if you ask me. What in the world were the two of them doing in New York together? Were they vacationing together? They had to have been friends or acquaintances at least to be mentioned together in the same article.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
By 1937, Bernice met a terrible fate when the car she was riding in with Al Wertheimer, a Detroit mobster crashed. Wertheimer was also an owner of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘The Dunes’ a popular nightclub where Bernice
had been gambling and drinking until the early hours of that morning. According
to the book “Spencer Tracy: A Biography” by author James Curtis, Bernice was
crushed on impact after the car Wertheimer was driving swerved to avoid a tow
truck that was stopped in the middle of the road assisting and broke down
vehicle. Wertheimer slammed on the brakes and lost control of his coupe and
went off the road flipping several times and throwing Wertheimer from the
vehicle. Eddie flew out to Banning as soon as he got word of the accident.
Later on Mannix, his niece Alice and Howard Strickling travelled via train to
Boston taking with them Bernice’s body to her mother Margaret Fitzmaurice to
have her buried. (one note: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eddie Mannix
was said to have been unable to have children, therefore Bernice spoiled her
nieces and nephews as if they were her own children.)</div>
<br />
<br />
Not soon after Bernice was buried, Toni Lanier dug her claws into Eddie Mannix by moving in with him right away. She continued her relationship with Mannix (unmarried) for many years, sometimes she would use the name "Mrs. Mannix" in order to get the right treatment in social circles, however she did not marry Eddie Mannix until 1951. ---Many have speculated that Eddie may have had Bernice killed or even perhaps Toni played a part in the whole thing? Makes you wonder...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIh_9m5iFA5sIQTYikgelBfx5ICF6ZiXh59i0ulHbatv7fytrISYQeCzESqufD8eF0f6U4gRHhrufWqzuaWD7ps5Sm-pZgppja2CJnfz0gAoOMC4UX583v9KBVTXC8I1h-Ia0IEEmHFY/s1600/tonimannix_georgereeves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIh_9m5iFA5sIQTYikgelBfx5ICF6ZiXh59i0ulHbatv7fytrISYQeCzESqufD8eF0f6U4gRHhrufWqzuaWD7ps5Sm-pZgppja2CJnfz0gAoOMC4UX583v9KBVTXC8I1h-Ia0IEEmHFY/s320/tonimannix_georgereeves.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
The time frame in which Toni met George Reeves is often speculated. In the movie, "Hollywoodland" Reeves character is portrayed running into Toni Mannix at a upscale Hollywood night club near the beach (in California). More than likely Reeves actually met Toni in New York while he was working there. The fact is, Reeves was already "intimately" acquainted with Toni long before her wedded bliss to Eddie Mannix.<br />
<br />
One may wonder why Eddie Mannix would put up with that sort of relationship before tying the knot, but you have to recall that Eddie was very close friends with Spencer Tracy, who also was married and had Katherine Hepburn on the side. Open marriages in Hollywood were "taboo" but were also secretly happening. Perhaps Toni had dirt on Eddie and one more dead wife would be too much for even big shot MGM to cover up. Perhaps, Eddie was happy with his affairs and just wanted to make Toni happy by letting her keep her "boy-toy" Reeves. Whatever the case, let it be known, Toni Mannix was NOT married to Eddie Mannix when her love affair with Superman began......<br />
<br />
(COPYRIGHT 2013-by: J'aime Rubio via Hollywoodland Forever, published by Dreaming Casually Publications)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzKrEYjMl-PJ_KbGoA9cwOOrQKGH0QnCQ20mgEQFnX4BSM4jrb1oppOCikIT_vRaFqrQvRMBti-fUTC-zY1KN2K0dZMXXfszBbivsHTxWoUBK4loWDSHYEIqEXEAw43uKoC-FGNtwhQs/s1600/eddie+mannix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
News-Sentinal (June 2, 1936)<br />
Reading Eagle (August 6, 1934)<br />
US Census 1920<br />
Pittsburgh Press (November 15, 1937)<br />
Milwaukee Sentinel (May 8, 1937)<br />
Spencer Tracy: A Biography- by James CurtisJ'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-7893987537163831392013-03-16T17:45:00.001-07:002020-01-05T14:35:42.661-08:00The Day Superman Wasn't Faster Than A Speeding Bullet- George Reeves Death<a href="http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/?action=view&current=george_reeves.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/george_reeves.jpg" height="320" title="" width="235" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
On
June 16th, 1959 sometime after 1 a.m., actor George Reeves was killed
by a single gunshot wound to his right temple. The rumors and
conspiracies that followed the tragic events of that night became a
whirlwind of confusion that remains unsolved even to this day.<br />
<br />
George
Reeves was born, George Keefer Brewer on January 5th, 1914. His mother
Helen Lescher had become pregnant out of wedlock and by the time she was
five months pregnant she then married her beau Don Brewer, but later
the marriage fell apart.<br />
<br />
She then married Frank Bessolo
in 1925, who later adopted George as his own son. It was not until
George was 15 that he learned from his mother that Frank had committed
suicide. It devastated him. Later he learned that his mother had lied to
him and that not only was Frank Bessolo alive and well but that he was
not his biological father. Needless to say George had issues with his
mother after that.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">His Early Career-</span><br />
<br />
George
studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse where he met his wife Ellenora
Needles. They married in 1940 and divorced in 1950 without having had
any children. During that time between 1939- 1950 Reeves had worked in
19 films including “Gone with the Wind”, playing the role of one of the
Tarleton twins. Although he was active in the Hollywood scene, he never
could seem to get the “big role” he had dreamed of his entire life.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/?action=view&current=ToniMannixGeo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/ToniMannixGeo.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Toni Mannix-</span><br />
<br />
In
1951 George met Toni Mannix, wife of MGM Studios Manager Eddie Mannix.
Upon her pursuit for his affections he later learned that her marriage
was open, being that Eddie Mannix was openly in a relationship with an
Asian woman whom he took care of. Toni and George were seen dining
alongside Eddie and his Asian mistress at some of the finest dining
establishments in Los Angeles at that time. During that time is when
Reeves landed the role of Superman on a television program. His career
soon took off, and he became a household name and a hero that thousands
of children looked up to. In his mind though, he was a failure. After
becoming Superman he could not get any parts in decent film roles due to
being type casted, it seemed he was in a bigger rut then ever before.<br />
<br />
The
relationship between Reeves and Toni lasted some 8 years until George
called it off around the same time he had met Lenore Lemmon in New York
while he was away on business.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/?action=view&current=lenore.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/lenore.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lenore Lemmon-</span><br />
<br />
Lenore
was a money hungry party girl, who was the first woman in history to be
thrown out of Stork Club in New York for fist fighting. She married for
money twice, to Socialite Jacob Webb and then later to Musician Hamish
Menzies. She was later divorced before having met Reeves.<br />
<br />
The
story that still floats around after all these years was that they were
engaged and going to be married. No where can you find that Reeves ever
confirmed this. Lenore wanted to be engaged to him. There was no
wedding planned in Mexico, in fact her friend (a girl friend) was
tagging along to the trip in Mexico because the trip was strictly a
publicity trip for Superman. Reeves schedule had him booked in Mexico,
Spain and Australia due to being signed on for another year playing
Superman and Lenore was just coming along for the trip- not getting
married. It was all wishful thinking on her part.<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The fateful night-</span><br />
<br />
So
the night is June 15th, 1959 and George had already retired for the
evening in the master bedroom which is located facing the back of the
house (not above the garage as many assume). Sometime around 12:30 a.m.
Lenore’s friends stopped by for a visit. George was awakened by the
noise and came down to see what the commotion was. He was not happy
about the late night visit as his open door policy of allowing guest in
to the home ended normally at 12 midnight, and this was well after that.
Nevertheless he welcomed his friends in and visited with them briefly
before bidding them goodnight and retiring back to the room.<br />
<br />
Now
it has been said by the guests and Lenore herself, that she jokingly
mentioned “Oh he is probably going to go shoot himself now” as he went
up to bed. Whether that was some kind of joke or not, the shooting part
is exactly what happened.<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />So here is the part where we speak about the theories and the facts-</span><br />
<br />
Some
say that Toni Mannix, who was so grief stricken from George having had
broken their relationship off to be with Lenore could have pushed her
over the edge to hire a hit man to kill George.<br />
<br />
I don’t
buy that. Toni was a smart cookie, but definitely not a killer. She
taught George everything he knew about business and loved him dearly.
She was also much older than he was and knew how to maintain herself in
that element of scandals in Hollywood at that time.<br />
<br />
Now
I won’t rule out that Eddie Mannix could have had something to do with
it. He loved his wife, although their relationship was far from a normal
one. He didn’t want to see her in pain and George did inflict pain on
his wife by breaking up with her. Eddie was known as the “Bulldog” of
MGM Studios and he had connections to high profile “fixers” with MGM
that were rumored to have possibly played a part in the death of Paul
Bern and other various scandals in Hollywood. It would not be a far fetched idea that Eddie was somehow involved.<br />
<br />
But
what about Lenore? Ms. Lenore Lemmon was after his money and there
wasn’t a person out there that could say otherwise. Perhaps she found
out about George’s will and realized that even as his wife she would
still have had no rights to his estate. His will mentioned Toni Mannix
as the sole beneficiary.<br />
<br />
George never agreed to marry
Lenore in the first place. Lenore went around telling everyone that she
was going to be George Reeves’ wife but there had never been an actual
engagement nor had there been any true plans for a wedding at all.
Saying you are engaged doesn’t mean that you are, and George was quoted
on several times actually replying “I never agreed to any of that” after
she had stated “we are engaged” to friends out in public places.<br />
<br />
One
of the persons who was there the night of Reeves death later admitted
that Lenore had been upstairs when the shot rang out and that she rushed
downstairs distraught. She kept telling them over and over “You have to
say I was downstairs”. After pressuring her friends to cover for her
they then called the police to report the death, a whole 30 minutes
after the fact.<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Then there is the mention of suicide-</span><br />
<br />
George
was found on the bed, lying on his back. The gun was on the floor and
the shell casing was lying underneath him. There were no fingerprints on
the gun, and the police never checked for GSR on Reeves hands. His
head did not have GSR which shows that the gun was not touching his
temple at the time that the gun fired.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Now comes to the gun-</span><br />
<br />
George’s
gun was a .30 caliber Luger Pistol. According to Bob Shell, a gun
expert and ammo maker “a .30 caliber Luger throws the casings to the
right & rear at various angles”. The gun would have had to have
been held upside down facing up in order for the casing to have shot out
and landed behind him before his body fell back onto the bed.<br />
<br />
From
the trajectory of the gunshot wound, going from his right temple it
shows that the gun had to have been placed near his right temple at an
angle upwards.<br />
<br />
Mind you, Reeves had a virtually
worthless right hand after having been severely injured in an auto
accident earlier. He was even on strong prescription pills for the pain
of his injury so it would have been nearly impossible for him to have
held the gun to his head, let alone pulled the trigger.<br />
<br />
I
did my own little investigation and it is puzzling- if he had really
killed himself he would have had to have held the gun upside down in
order for the shell casing to have landed behind him, but at the same
time it is possible to think that someone else shot him as well. The
results remain inconclusive. In the police reports it is obvious that
their investigation had holes in it in the sense that they checked for
GSR on his head but not on his hands, and did not seem to find any
fingerprints on the gun, not even Reeves’.<br />
<br />
So then if
he didn’t shoot himself and the gun was held upside down who did it, and
why? Obviously someone wanted to make it elaborately look like a
suicide?<br />
<br />
Perhaps then it was just a tragic an accident?<br />
<br />
Maybe
Lenore, being the big mouth she was, made a joke to him about shooting
himself and he chose to play a round of Russian roulette as he often
did. Perhaps he had her pretend to shoot him with it, and she did.
Maybe it wasn't a joke or Russian roulette at all. Maybe Lenore followed
George upstairs to belittle and criticize him as usual, perhaps she
had the gun and shot the gun to scare him. In the movie "Hollywood Land"
the first scenario of his death is quite possible. It would explain
how the two other bullet holes were made in the floor and how if George
was struggling to get the gun from Lenore's hand it could have been
facing upside down in the struggle and accidentally fired. Upon
realizing that she actually shot and killed him she rushed down the
stairs and conjured up a story for her friends to follow along with
until the police arrived.<br />
<br />
The facts of the matter are
that George Reeves died. Could he have killed himself? Sure, anything is
possible. Could he have withstood the pain and disability in his right
hand to pull the trigger? I am sure it is possible. But why did he kill
himself a few days before his international trip to market the new
season of Superman?<br />
<br />
Could Lenore have killed him either
intentionally or even by accident? I could say that is entirely
plausible and the most likely of all suspects. She was not a happy
person, she fought with George often and enjoyed belittling him any
chance she got. She was riding his coat tails as best as she could and
it is possible she got sick of him after he did not agree to marry her.<br />
<br />
What
about Toni Mannix? I don’t believe she killed him or had anything to do
with his death. I do believe however that it is also a possibility that
Eddie Mannix her husband could have been involved without Toni having
any knowledge of it. Eddie Mannix was suspected of having his first wife
killed in a "make believe" car chase that ended in a fatal accident,
not unlike the car accident that Reeves' had been in that injured his
hand. There were rumors that the brakes had been cut or the brake fluid
had been drained in the Jaguar that Reeves was driving that crashed into
a brick wall. The police concluded that his car had slid on a patch of
oil in the road and crashed, however that theory had never been proven
to be true. The mystery of Eddie Mannix's first wife's death and the
car accident that injured Reeves' hand are still unsolved as well.<br />
<br />
Sadly,
there is no way I can solve this mystery of how George Reeves died and
why. Reeves certainly isn’t talking. Unfortunately this will remain an
unsolved mystery that will be remembered in history. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The time that Superman wasn’t faster than a speeding bullet</span></span>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/?action=view&current=reeves.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/laguera2319/reeves.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">© J'aime Rubio- 2011 All Rights Reserved</span><br />
originally published via Dreaming Casually 9/8/11<br />
<br />
Sources: <br />
Various Newspaper Archives<br />
Gun Expert Bob Shell<br />
http://writerbobshell.com/J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5538618414425693703.post-55264075470660923232013-03-16T17:41:00.001-07:002015-11-25T22:18:07.238-08:00A Forgotten Wife, A Hollywood Homicide & An Unsolved Mystery<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617196834421367954" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RccVBP3K4Pc/TfRKwn0iZJI/AAAAAAAAAD8/UfDUMPlOKJ0/s320/0611111617a_01.jpeg" style="height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">copyright: J'aime Rubio</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>While researching a story for my blog I came across another mystery that
I knew was too good to pass up. I had gone to the East Lawn Cemetery in
Sacramento to take photographs of the grave of Anna Corbin, the housekeeper who
was murdered at Preston Castle in Ione California in 1950. I was going through
the list of “famous internments” and came across the name Dorothy Millette
Bern.<br />
</b><br /><b>
I didn’t recognize the name at first but after I looked into it I realized that
she was the estranged wife of MGM Executive Paul Bern. The same Paul Bern who
was also married to famous movie star Jean Harlow and the same man who
tragically died from a mysterious gunshot wound to the head in 1932. Many
people say it was suicide but from the moment I heard about it that just didn’t
sit right with me. Once I heard that Dorothy had died on or about the day after
Paul Bern, I became fixated on the story even more.</b><br />
<b></b><br /><b>
</b><br />
<b>
The more I dug the more unbelievable discoveries I made. This article is a no
holds barred look at Dorothy and Paul's life together, what possibly transpired
the night of Paul’s Death, and who, what, when and why it was covered up. It
will also show that during that period of time, that ‘Show Business’ reigned
supreme in Los Angeles, and not even the Police or the District Attorney could
control the powerful leviathans who ran Hollywood.</b><br />
<b></b><br /><b>
<u>DOROTHY MILLETTE</u></b><br />
<b><u> </u></b><br /><b>
</b><br />
<b>
Dorothy Millette was born in <a href="https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MJB3-BXM">France in 1895</a> (NOT
1886 as her grave marker claims). She immigrated with her family to the United
States in 1899. I find it quite strange that I have read so many articles where
people claim she was born in Indiana, Idaho or Ohio and that she was married before.
All of these theories are simply untrue. There were even newspaper articles after her death of people who falsely came
forward claiming she was a “long lost sister” in hopes that they would cash in
on any estate she could have left behind (or inherited from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul Bern).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dorothy was not born a U.S. Citizen and she had never been married prior to
her relationship with Paul Bern.</b><br />
<br />
<b>
It was confirmed through Paul’s sister and brother that Dorothy met Paul in
Toronto, Canada and then later lived in New York with him after he had
graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Their relationship began
around 1911 and continued into the 1920s. In fact, the US Census records for 1920
show Paul and Dorothy as man and wife living in the District “Borough of
Manhattan" at the Algonquin Hotel.</b><br />
<br />
<b>It was reported that around August of 1920 Dorothy started showing signs of a mental illness (although no one has ever been able to prove if this is true, or what type of symptoms she was having). Eventually she went to stay at the <a href="http://hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/04/who-was-dorothy-millette.html">Blythewood Sanitorium</a> in Greenwich, Conneticut. During her stay there, Paul continued to support her financially, paying for all of her needs and care and even visiting her on occassion.</b><br />
<br />
<b>I have read accounts that
Dorothy went “mental” after Bern’s mother committed suicide due to the fact
that he was living with a non-Jew, but that simply isn’t the case. In fact,
Dorothy was with Paul for over 9 years before Paul’s mother passed away in
October 1920. There were employees from the Algonquin Hotel who actually stated that she was
not committed to any institution, but remained a tenant at the hotel and was living there at the
hotel for over 10 years. I believe she may have stayed at Blythewood for a time period and moved back to the Algonquin, where her and Paul's apartment was, thus the reports from staff at the hotel confirming her continued residence there. </b><br />
<b><br />
Allegedly, The Blythewood Sanitarium lost all of their records in the 1950’s
therefore there has never been any clear cut facts of the ailments that Dorothy
suffered from or if she even was a patient there at all. Newspapers claimed that she was very much of sound mind
according to her doctors when she was released however, there are no real doctor's reports quoted in the newspaper articles. Also, think about this. There were also rumors she
had been in a coma for ten years. Again, we DO NOT know why she went to Blythewood. We can only assume...there are no facts proving she was "mental."</b><br />
<b><br />
Whatever the case, Dorothy was released and moved back into the Algonquin Hotel. According to Paul's brother, Dorothy went back to New York
sometime between 1930 and 1932. But my sources say she moved back to the Algonquin actually around 1923-1924. Paul continued to
send her money every month and paid for her stay. He also would visit her along
with his brother Henry Bern (who was fond of Dorothy) whenever they were in New
York.<br />
<br />
During the time that Dorothy was staying in New York, Paul and Jean Harlow were
kindling their new found relationship. So many speculated that it was an odd
pair but the couple acted as if they were in love.<br />
<br />
Paul's good friends claimed that Jean was the pursuer in the relationship and
that eventually she pulled Paul into her web. It was also said that Harlow was
told the only way to the top was to marry up…meaning no more actors and low
life thugs—only big wig producers…funny how she just fell into Bern’s lap huh? </b><br />
<br />
<b>The unlikely pair, married on July 5th , 1932. They seemed to have rushed
into things, not even planning the wedding but just “winging it” at the last
minute. <br />
<br />
Jean was starting to make the big bucks thanks to Paul getting her contract
bought by MGM, but Paul was having some money problems of his own. Although he
was more established in Hollywood with a highly regarded name, he was secretly
going broke. Living lavishly and not taking in as much as he was spending, he
ended up owing people all over town. People even made jokes that he couldn't
even afford to buy a can of cat food let alone buy Jean a home. Perhaps Jean
sought Paul out with the thought of "making it big" with his help and
his money, but ironically in fact Jean had more money than Paul.<br />
<br />
Actually, the house on Easton Drive was originally Paul’s. He deeded the home
to her after taking out a mortgage of almost the value of the home just to
sustain his lifestyle. Jean didn’t want the house and wanted to sell it, but
Paul loved the home and wanted to remain there.<br />
<br />
Money issues seemed to be the root of their problems, although many claimed he
was sexually inadequate to perform intercourse. Louis B Mayer's doctor claimed
Bern had a penis the size of a infant boy. But the people who knew Paul were
aware that he was sexually active. After all, he had been with Dorothy for well over
9 years. Also, he was sleeping around with his secretary Irene
Harrison, although he never made the relationship much more than a “booty
call”. The idea that he couldn't perform in the bed was just a farce so that
people would believe that could have been a reason to have killed himself. It
wasn’t true.<br />
<br />
In May 1932, Dorothy moved to the Plaza Hotel in San Francisco for “a change in
climate”. Dorothy called Paul frequently and wrote letters often. Paul also
sent Dorothy $350 monthly for her expenses. Many times Paul wrote her back
or had his secretary Irene Harrison send the monthly payments. Nevertheless,
Paul's “relationship” with Dorothy was friendly.<br />
<br />
Jean adamantly denied having any prior knowledge about Dorothy but, in fact the
wooden beams to the Tudor Styled home that Paul deeded to Jean, had four carved
faces on them. One of the faces was none other than Dorothy Millette Bern.
Henry Bern confirmed that Dorothy was spoken of regularly within Paul’s inner
circle of friends which included his new wife, Jean.<br />
<br />
Jean must have known all about Dorothy and continuously denied it. Also it was
stated that Mama Jean, Marino Bello (a mob connected opportunist) and Jean all
took a day trip up to San Francisco months before Paul’s death and only stayed
an hour before returning back to Los Angeles.<br />
<br />
Perhaps they had a meeting with Dorothy to see if she was telling the truth
about being the wife of Paul Bern? It was said that Dorothy had spoken to them
and shown them letters that Paul had sent her. It seemed that Jean wasn’t happy
that Paul had a woman from his past, who was still present in his life.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Another thing to mention was that Paul Bern had more than one will, he
had three. Many sites mention two, however the Daily Capital News (9/27/1932)
states that Herman Koch hired Attorney Chester Gannon to represent
Dorothy's estate. Letters of Administration was granted in the California
Superior Court in order to prove that Dorothy was in fact Paul Bern's
wife. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Koch also claimed that two of the three wills that Bern had drawn up
listed Dorothy as his wife. The first will bequeathed a monthly annuity to
Dorothy in the amount of $1,200 (per month). However, the last will which was
dated July 29,1932 (a few weeks after the marriage to Harlow) bequeathed his
entire estate to Harlow, and left out Dorothy. </b><br />
<b>Another tidbit of info: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul Bern
had taken out a life insurance policy on Dorothy, noting that she was his
"wife." So what do you think? </b><br />
<b><br />
<br />
<u>THE NIGHT OF PAUL'S MURDER</u><br />
<br />
So it was Sunday, September 4th , 1932 and Paul was home. Before we get into
the possible scenarios of how, when, where or why, lets state the facts. Paul
died Sunday evening. His death wasn’t reported to the Police until 2-2:30 pm on
Monday, September 5th. So between the time he was murdered and the time the
police arrived, there were so many stories of what could have happened that it
could make your head spin.<br />
<br />
<br />
Truly what I am about to tell you is what Hollywood movies are made of:<br />
<br />
<u>Lies, Sex, Murder, Pay-Offs and Cover Ups……</u></b><br />
<b><br />
<br />
<u>Scenario # 1:</u><br />
<br />
So the first scenario is the one most people assume as factual, even though
there was no proof. The story was that Dorothy was upset that Bern had
committed her to a Sanitarium so many years ago that she planned to get back at
him. That and the fact that her husband was married to Jean Harlow and they
were enjoying the life that Dorothy thought she deserved.<br />
<br />
So did she kill him?<br />
<br />
If so, why did she travel so far to Sacramento to "allegedly" kill
herself? She could have killed herself right there on Easton Drive. Also, if
she was so mentally disturbed, why then was she released and deemed as being
“cured”? If she had suicidal tendencies, she would have committed suicide while
institutionalized, one would think, and not wait until she was free. I
personally feel that Dorothy has gotten a bad rap all of these years just
because of her past history, and that is not fair.<br />
<u><br />
Scenario # 2</u><br />
<br />
Maybe Paul was two timing Jean with Dorothy all along. His secretary Irene
Harrison who also had been rumored to been having a sexual relationship with
Bern, sent letters and money (as ordered by her employer Bern) to Dorothy every
week. If she had any suspicion that Dorothy had intentions to kill him or even
that she was ill tempered, she would have spoken up wouldn’t she? Irene was the
one who was not happy about Bern marrying Harlow and that was a fact that she
admitted even after Bern's death.<br />
<br />
So perhaps Bern had invited Dorothy over to speak with him since Dorothy had
allegedly came to L.A. for the weekend. Perhaps he told her to come over for
drinks so they could talk. Harlow had been working all day and over the weekend
at the studios and had agreed to stay at her mother’s home on Saturday night
due to her step father Marino Bello having gone on a fishing trip with Clark
Gable. Mama Jean reportedly “didn’t want to be alone,” so Jean stayed over.</b><br />
<b>What about the fight? According to the Ottawa Citizen 9/10/32, it states
that Harlow and Bern got into a fight the night of his death because he didn’t
feel like going to Jean’s mother’s home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bern eventually blurted out : <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Get out and leave me alone, if you don’t- I
will kill you!”</i><br />
<br />
FACT: <u>Saturday night Paul had met with a friend at a hotel to help fix his
friend up with a mistress and then was supposed to go over to a party at
Fredric March’s home but he never showed up. </u></b><br />
<br />
<b>According to reports, he had
stated he didn’t want to go to the party without Jean. Maybe he was using it as
an excuse to see Dorothy at her hotel that night. A witness did report seeing
Paul with a unknown woman dining at a hotel restaurant on Saturday evening.
Interesting, isn’t it?<br />
<br />
CONFLICTING STORIES: On Sunday, Jean claimed to have had dinner at home with
her husband. After dinner, Paul allegedly sent her back to her mother's home,
saying he would be along after he read over some scripts. In another report,
Jean said he claimed to have had a headache and wanted to be alone. That sounds
to me as if she couldn’t get her story straight.<br />
<br />
Did Jean come home to find Dorothy and Paul drinking and swimming together in
the pool? Remember, some may have claimed Paul was the one who fell for Harlow
but many people who knew them stated that Harlow was the pursuer of the
relationship. No doubt she would have been infuriated at the sight of her
husband spending time and showing affection for another woman at her house.
Remember also, Jean was in a big hurry to marry Bern, and the MGM executives
rushed to get a new will drawn up leaving all of Bern’s estate to Jean Harlow
and not to Dorothy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Paul was found naked, shot in the head by his own gun. He usually kept his gun
in the top pocket of his coat, which he obviously wasn't wearing. Where he kept
the gun was something that Jean was well aware of because he would tell people
that he had to carry it to “protect his baby.” How then would Dorothy have
found it without him noticing her searching the house for a weapon? Only Jean
would have known where it was, and only Jean could have had time to get the
gun.<br />
<br />
The servants, whose quarters were located outside at the other end of the
property, claimed to hear a scream after the gunshot. If Dorothy had killed him,
why would she have screamed right after shooting him? Perhaps Jean shot Paul.
Dorothy could have been so shaken by it that she screamed and ran for her life
out of the house and down to the limo that had been waiting for her as ordered
by Paul.<br />
<br />
That would make sense as to why she left her bathing suit behind and why she
didn’t even stop to pick up the shoe that had fallen off as she was running
away. That also explains why she told the limo driver not to stop but to keep
driving faster.<br />
<br />Once Dorothy made it to the hotel in San Francisco, she placed her
valuables in a trunk and left it at the front desk of the hotel stating she was
going on a “little trip but that she would return.” She then boarded the steam
boat “Delta King” on Sept 6th departing San Francisco to Sacramento. Reports state that she was seen dining on the boat and it was said she
took a stroll on the deck of the ship and later disappeared. </b><br />
<br />
<b> There is no way to know the whole
truth but somehow she was thrown overboard.
Some say she was overcome with guilt from killing Paul herself, but it is also not impossible to say that someone could have followed her onto the steam boat and when the available time
came, someone tossed her overboard to conceal the truth--that Jean had killed
Paul.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Whether Jean pulled the trigger or had someone do it for her, the fact of
the matter was that Dorothy needed to be silenced if in fact she knew who
killed Paul, whoever the killer was. Also, if word got out in Hollywood gossip that Paul Bern was
already married prior to marrying Jean, it would have ruined Jean's career
regardless of whether she killed Paul or not, It would have also put a damper
on the Bern’s estate because California did not recognize common law marriages
performed in California, but it upheld common law marriages from other states.
Meaning, with Bern dead- his estate would have belonged to Dorothy and the new
will could have been contested and thrown out in court. The fact of that
scandal would have embarrassed Jean to no end. She had to keep that whole story
quiet, no matter what the cost.<br />
<br />
<u>Scenario #3</u><br />
<br />
This is where it gets good. There was also rumored speculation that Jean’s
mother, Mama Jean, who was often controlling and nosy, had just about enough of
her son in law. There is no doubt that Jean had told her mother about Paul’s
first wife and all the problems within the marriage.</b><br />
<br />
<b>FACT<u>: Jean had dated a gangster, Abner “Longie” Zwillman aka "
The Al Capone of New Jersey", and he had allegedly “taken care of some
blackmailers” who had threatened to go public with nude photographs of Jean in
1917. </u> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Could it have been that Mama Jean called her daughter’s ex and asked
him for another favor?<br />
<br />
FACT: <u>Paul was secretly broke and it was evident he was spending more than
he was taking in. He mortgaged his home on Easton Drive for almost the face value
of the home, He then deeded it to his wife, making it look like he gave her a
wedding gift even though Jean didn’t like the house</u>.</b><br />
<br />
<b> In reality, he just
didn’t want to lose it. He needed Jean’s money to support Dorothy, too. It was
common knowledge that he owed people all around town. Even after his death,
Jean had to pay over $20,000 in bills incurred by Paul, not counting the
mortgage. Where did she get the money since Paul was broke? She collected his
life insurance.<br />
<br />
Could Mama Jean, her husband Marino Bello or perhaps even Jean herself have
planned the whole thing? Maybe it was Jean who invited Dorothy down for the
Labor Day weekend. She may have told her to come over to ‘bury the hatchet’.
The fact is that someone sent a limo up to San Francisco in Paul’s name to pick
up Dorothy and bring her to L.A. The same limo took her back to San Francisco
on Sunday night. Paul was seen on Sunday night telling the Limo driver to take
her back but there is no way to know if he had ordered the limo to pick her up.<br />
<br />
Maybe when Dorothy showed up, Jean was waiting for her. Paul never left the
house that day so the scenario of him walking in and finding Jean and Dorothy
“hanging out by the pool” wouldn’t be possible. Plus, there was only one female
bathing suit found wet, hanging to dry (which was NOT Jean’s size). So it was
obvious this scenario wouldn’t have worked out.<br />
<br />
It is still possible that Jean invited Dorothy over, planning to have both her
and Paul murdered to make it look like a murder suicide. She was well aware of
Dorothy’s reputation of mental instability due to her having been institutionalized
in the past.<br />
<br />
Maybe Jean had someone waiting there on the outskirts of the property, looking
for a convenient time to take both of them out. When the first shot was fired,
the hired gun wouldn't have expected Dorothy’s scream to be so loud it alerted
the servants. She would have ran for her life as the servants came hurrying up
the path to investigate. Maybe the hired “hit man” knew he had to get out of
there so he left, and followed Dorothy back up to Northern California to finish
the job.<br />
<br />
<u>Scenario # 4</u><br />
<br />
The scenario that the police ruled, a suicide. To this day some people still
think Paul killed himself although this is the one scenario I just don’t buy.
He wasn’t said to have been depressed or even suicidal. There were rumors of
homosexuality or even that his penis was the size of a woman’s pinkie finger.
Another rumor was that his inability to perform sexually would have drove him
to commit suicide but that was another lie I believe conjured up by MGM. Was
that because they were trying to place blame on Paul and away from any possible
scandal that Jean could be pulled into?</b><br />
<br />
<b>By the way, the note that said: </b><br />
<br />
<i>"Dearest Dear, <br />
Unfortunately this is the only way to make good the frightful wrong I have done
you and to wipe out my abject humiliation, I Love you. <br />
Paul <br />
You understand that last night was only a comedy" </i><br />
<br />
<b>This was actually an entry in a guest book (not a journal) and it was
some sort of joke that had been written long before Paul Bern's death. In fact,
friends of Bern claimed they had read that note in the guest book at a party
months prior to his death. This was used as a cover-up suicide note, but in
fact had NOTHING to do with his death.</b><br />
<b><br />
<br />
<i><u>BACK TO THE MYSTERY.......</u></i></b><br />
<b><br />
After Dorothy's body was found in the Delta by fishermen, the San Francisco
Police reported that when they arrived at Dorothy’s hotel room at the Plaza, it
had been ransacked. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her diary was
missing as well as other items. Her belongings found in her room on the Delta
King were intact and there were “friendly” letters from both Paul and his
Secretary found in her bag as well. Another item found was a box that contained
a swim cap that matched the bathing suit that was found at the home of Paul
Bern.<br />
<br />
Both MGM executives and Howard Hughes thought Jean had killed Paul Bern but the
opinions remained within the confines of inner circles of friends, and they
intended to keep it there. It was obvious that MGM covered up the scene of the
crime to avoid scandal. It is also possible that members from MGM or even
Howard Hughes may have played a role in tying up loose ends as well. Jean lied
to the police when she said she had never seen Dorothy before and had no
knowledge of her.<br />
<br />
Dorothy had come to Los Angeles for the Labor Day weekend. Someone must have
invited her or had she just decided to show up? Either way, her appearance at
Paul’s home was by no means unwelcome<br />
<br />
Jean also lied about her alibi, saying that she ate dinner at home with Paul
and then went back to her mother's house. But Howard Hughes’ housekeeper,
Beatrice Dowler stated that Jean Harlow came to Howard Hughes estate,
distraught on Sunday Sept 4th late in the evening. Howard Hughes even confirmed
to Noah Dietrich that he had seen Jean on the night of Paul’s death.<br />
<br />
Jean told Howard Hughes that she went home and discovered Dorothy running out
of the house. When she entered the home, she found Paul's body. He had been
shot. She then stuck the gun under Paul's body to make it look like a suicide.
This was because she didn’t want anyone to find out that Dorothy and Paul were
still married because it would ruin her career. Now she had to make sure that Dorothy
could NEVER be found to be questioned or suspected because then the truth would
come out. Perhaps Dorothy “couldn’t be found” because if she had, then she
would tell a story that Jean had been the one who shot Paul, causing Dorothy to
scream and run for her life.<br />
<br />
Noah Dietrich (Chief Executive Officer to Howard Hughes Empire) was stated to
have said that he wouldn’t have “put it past Howard” to have “taken care of
Dorothy” as a favor to Jean. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems
after this incident, Howard Hughes' opinion of Jean as a person or as a friend
began to deteriorate. Perhaps it was because he knew what type of person Jean
really was? Maybe he blamed Jean for getting him involved with silencing
Dorothy to save Jean’s career?<br />
<br />Whatever the case, whether it was Howard Hughes’ men, The MGM men, or Abner
Zwillman's gangster boys, they had a common denominator, Jean. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jean was apparently responsible for making
sure Dorothy disappeared, along with the real story.<br />
<br />
<u>WHAT ABOUT THE CRIME SCENE?</u><br />
<br />
Several people from MGM showed up at the property two hours before the police
were even notified (around 11:30 am), but yet the newspapers had reported
Paul’s death hours before the police knew about it.<br />
<br />
Who leaked the information to the press?<br />
<br />
The police never once questioned anyone about that. The D.A. Buron Fitts was
not convinced of Jean's innocence in the matter, but he was “paid off” by MGM to look the
other way and rule it as a suicide. MGM even went so far as to make sure the
police never even attempted to question or look for Dorothy Millette Bern.<br />
<br />
<u>WHAT FRIENDS AND STAFF STATED</u><br />
<br />
Ilse Lahn who was considered a “Senior Member” of the German community in
Hollywood and also a personal friend of Paul’s claimed that Paul was miserable
and that he regretted marrying Jean. He wanted to go back to Dorothy and
thought it was the right thing to do, since the doctor’s felt she was cured. He
stated he wanted to divorce Jean. Jean would have not only suffered from being
humiliated in the Hollywood community for being left for another woman but also
it would have come out that Paul had committed bigamy and Jean was not legally
wed to Paul. Her career would have been ruined. She was convinced that Paul was
murdered by Jean Harlow and claimed she never liked her.<br />
<br />
Samuel Marx, a story editor for MGM and good friend of Paul’s, claimed that he
showed up at Bern's house to find Irving Thalberg there still interrogating the
servants. It was also noted that the butler was the one who had found Paul
Bern’s naked body in the bedroom. He notified the other servants and quickly
called MGM. Louis B Mayer along with Whitey Hendry and Irving Thalberg showed
up. For over two hours the men were there clearing away all traces of murder in
the house and trying to convince the staff to go along with the story that Paul
had committed suicide to avoid any further scandal.<br />
<br />
Howard Strickling told Louis B. Mayer to hand over the “suicide note” he had
taken from the home. The note which was written in a guest book was mistakenly
noted as a diary.<br />
<br />
Personally, I believe that Louis B. Mayer took the book to see if he could find
any writing in it that could be used to forge a letter. Upon finding the note
he could have realized that this could be used as a suicide note. Friends of
Paul’s said they previously had seen the note in the guest book. Obviously, it
had been written it in the past. They decided to turn the note into the police.<br />
<br />
Samuel Marx met a man who claimed to have been a drinking buddy of retired MGM
security chief, Whitey Hendry. This unidentified man told Marx that Hendry told
him that he had accompanied Mayer to Bern's house the morning Paul Bern’s body
had been discovered and it was more than obvious he didn’t commit suicide.<br />
<br />
So as the story goes, Hendry volunteered to plant the gun in Bern's hand and
the suicide note was faked. Just days after this person confessed his story to
Marx, this unidentified man ended up dead. I guess someone believed in the
saying "dead men tell no tales."<br />
<br />
The servants, Clifton Davis, the gardener, and Irene Harrison, Bern’s
secretary, were also convinced that Paul was murdered. The butler told police
that Paul and Jean seemed happy but he had heard Paul mention suicide more than
once. It was uncertain whether or not the butler was “bought off” by MGM, The
story he told to the police contradicts Davis’, Ms. Harrison’s and even the
butler’s own wife Winifred Carmichael, the cook. They all stated that Paul was
not suicidal and that Jean and Paul often argued about money. Jean didn’t like
the house and wanted to sell it. Winifred even went on to say that an
“unfamiliar” woman was at the home on that Sunday evening and that they heard
her scream once. It was also said by Winifred that a wet bathing suit was found
by the pool along with two empty glasses. Winifred also stated during the
inquest that she witnessed a woman running down to the limo that evening.<br />
<br />
The gardener, Davis, also told police that there had been a small puddle of
blood near the pool right behind Paul’s favorite lounge chair but there was no
mention of that in the investigation afterwards.<br />
<br />
My assumptions are that MGM told the servants that they had to go along with
their story that Paul killed himself in the house. Davis also claimed that the
alleged suicide note Louis B. Mayer provided police with was in actuality
someone else's handwriting and not Paul Bern’s making it a forgery.<br />
<br />
My personal belief is that Paul was shot outside near the pool. I also believe
that the bathing suit and the two glasses that were found, had been moved after MGM
showed up to clear up any evidence that contradicted their tale of suicide. The
bathing suit was then hung up to dry in the bathroom and the glasses put away.
The blood, no doubt, was where Paul was originally shot.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the murderer or the people covering it up, moved Paul’s body and
removed his clothing to make it look like he had just showered.<br /> </b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorothy Millette Bern</td></tr>
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<b>Whatever happened that fateful night of September 4th, we may never truly know.
Dorothy knew, and she lost her life because of it. She drowned in the Delta.
Her body was found in a slough of the Sacramento River.<br />
</b><br /><b>
I visit Dorothy’s grave at the EastLawn Cemetery in Sacramento on occasion, and sometimes I leave a rose on her marker out of respect. </b><br />
<br />
<b><u>WHO PAID FOR THE BURIAL, FUNERAL, HEADSTONE?</u></b><br />
<b><u> </u> </b><br />
<b>It was
stated that MGM had paid for internment and Jean paid for the funeral.
Let me make this clear, JEAN HARLOW DID NOT PAY FOR DOROTHY MILLETTE BERN'S GRAVE OR FUNERAL!!!</b><br />
<br />
<b>However it was Mendel Silberberg who happened to be both MGM and Jean
Harlow's attorney, who directed Coroner James
Garlick to bury Dorothy and send him the bill. MGM told Silberberg to direct the Coroner to bury Dorothy and nothing more. Basically, MGM was just
trying
to use it as a publicity opportunity and gave credit to Harlow to make
her
"look good." They only paid for the burial. There also was NO HEADSTONE placed or paid for by MGM or Harlow....literally Dorothy's
grave was just a pile of dirt within East Lawn Cemetery.</b><br />
<br />
<b>There
were accounts in the papers that some people stepped up to claim
Dorothy's inheritance of Bern's estate, however there has been no
legitimate record that these people were ever truly related to Dorothy.
No one even seemed to know her date of birth, thus her headstone was
marked incorrectly. </b><b><b>Personally, If it weren't for the Census records available now I
don't think I would have been able to locate the information either. Thank
goodness for all the archived records of the past! </b></b><br />
<br />
<b>Although Dorothy
was buried right away, It wasn't until
later on when Public Adminstrator Herman Koch, with the help of Attorney
Chester Gannon, both were able to raise funds through an auction to pay for Dorothy's headstone, to make sure that
she received a proper funeral. </b><br />
<br />
<b>According to
several newspaper archives such as the Miami Daily (5/26/1933) and Reading
Eagle (5/26/1933) state that the funds used to pay for Dorothy's marker and
inscription were made by auctioning her clothes that were found in her stateroom
aboard the Delta King. Given the fact of the high profile status of her death
and her attachment to Paul Bern's death, they were able to get enough money
together to mark her grave. </b><br />
<b><br />
In death, Dorothy was looked on as the “estranged wife” of Paul Bern, or the
“crazy” wife of Paul Bern due to her stay at a sanitarium. You know back then
even the smallest anxiety or depression, even undiagnosed bi-polar disorders
were looked upon as being “mental" or "crazy." I feel like in
life and in death Dorothy never got the respect she deserved.<br />
<br />
I truly do not believe for one second that she killed Paul. I believe she
witnessed his murder and ran for her life. That’s why she was even trying to
get out of San Francisco but Jean had other plans for her. I love
all the Hollywood starlets of the past but something about her just didn’t sit
well with me. I think Jean had some serious issues and everyone was blind to it
because she was the “flavor of the month” back then.<br />
</b><br /><b>
Paul Bern is dead, Dorothy is dead, and Jean Harlow is dead so the mystery
remains just that, an unsolved mystery. Poor Dorothy, she was forgotten in
death as she was in life. But, I for one will not forget. </b><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.hollywoodlandforever.blogspot.com/2013/04/who-was-dorothy-millette.html">CLICK HERE TO READ "WHO WAS DOROTHY MILLETTE?"</a></b></span></div>
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<b><br /></b><b><br /><br />J'aime Rubio © 2011</b><br />
<b>originally published via Dreaming Casually 6/11/11</b>J'aime Rubio, Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087085042404097820noreply@blogger.com6