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AMAZING STORIES!

The District WeeklyWed. October 31
 

THE DAY ONE OF CHARLIE’S ANGELS KISSED SOME GUY—IN DOWNEY!
Legend: Some dude, maybe Bebek from Pius X High, got kissed by Jaclyn Smith while Charlie’s Angels was filming an episode in Downey.

Reality: I was a student at Pius in the late ’70s, and some time during that sentence—I think it was after I ran my friend’s car into the school cafeteria, true story—word came that the hottest show on TV, Charlie’s Angels, was filming just beyond the razor wire fence that surrounded our campus.

This started a steady exodus of students—mostly fellas—from campus to the Angels set. From those trips would filter back stories. One had it that my friend Dave Duck had played Frisbee with Farrah Fawcett.

There were reports of pictures taken and hugs given but the story that knocked everyone out was that one of the Angels, Jaclyn Smith—the classy one—had actually kissed someone, I forget who, I wanna say it was either Gilbert Garcia or Paul Bebek, but maybe it was Duck. I dunno.

Pius X is gone now. Charlie’s Angels has run its course as campy film franchise and Jackie Smith—the classy one—sells stuff for K-mart. So, the reality is this: never grow old. // SL

BLACK DAHLIA: LOCAL HONEY
Legend: The Black Dahlia lived, worked, and even earned her nickname in Long Beach.

Reality: Elizabeth Short came to Long Beach in the summer of 1946 with six months to live, visiting and sometimes living with a sweetheart named Lt. Gordon Fickling. She rotated through a series of local hotels, at one point settling for a few days at the Washington Hotel (now private apartments) at 53 Linden Ave., just doors down from a corner pharmacy and soda shop (now Flowers By Vickie) and a block and a half from the Lafayette Hotel.

In James Ellroy’s footnoted novel, she’s also working in a café on the first floor of the Lafayette—Lafayette building manager Sharon Hays says she’s heard the story. And her nickname comes down to one of two—or maybe both, since Dahlia-ism isn’t the clearest discipline—reporters who found that Paramount’s then-current film The Blue Dahlia (which won screenwriter Raymond Chandler an Academy nomination) had reminded people in Long Beach of the dark-haired girl often spotted walking up Linden.

Reporter and Times columnist Jack Smith wrote in 1975 (as recovered on L.A. Observed by Times archivist Carolyn Strickler) that he thought he’d put the name in print first—sourced from druggist Arnold Lander, who worked at the soda fountain, and who said he’d heard kids at the counter call her ‘the Black Dahlia.’

But L.A. Herald-Express reporter Bevo Means said he’d heard a Long Beach policeman call her ‘the Black Dahlia’ at a Long Beach bar about the same time, which he reported in his own articles. Smith eventually passed the credit to Means, but the original honor still belongs to the City of Long Beach, which gave her the nickname that made her famous. // CZ

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    I have been working on a book about the women who worked in the aircraft industry during WWII and found out that Douglas hired "midgets" (the phrase used on the cutlines of the photos I saw) because they could fit into tight spaces like the inside of the fuel tanks.
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    Ms. Schipske,
    That's amazing!
    Thanks for letting us know.
    I wonder where these "midgets" lived while they worked at Douglas; it'd make our story better if they lived here. They may have been commuters, though.
    My grandmother worked at Douglas during the war, and I know she drove in from the San Gabriel Valley every day--down Rosemead Boulevard.
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    "Bloody Sunday": 1977 Signal Hill Speed Run. I was one of the few women who entered that race. There were two of us to be exact. The year before, there were no women represented. I thought that was terrible so I entered. I had a great leather outfit made by Bates Leather and was sponsored by my Dad's ship repair company. The other woman, Leslie Jo Ritzma, made it down and got the record for first woman to make the speed run. I unfortunately, as others that day, crashed...(my boyfriend at the time, Herb Spitzer, also crashed...let's just say, it was an exciting day for spectators!) I was not hurt but gave my mother a fright by doing a roll to the side just after the crest of the hill right in front of her! That was a very memorable day for me. I used to skate (roller skates) all the local skateparks and a few empty pools and am still in touch with several of "the guys" I hung with back then. (I'm a triathlete now.) Thanks for bringing some light to a great race, with or without the crashes!...You also got me back in contact with Jim O'Mahoney, a really great guy, that an interview with him alone would make for an interesting article!
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    I am Herbs brother and saw Michelle crash that day. I believe her trucks were tight and didn't turn because she hit a bump at the top and then the cart didn't go stright down hill and she couldn't make it adjust. A really bad eat. But she was one tough cookie! Herb on the other had got to aot 53 mph and his trucks were to loose and he got speed wabbles and got pitched...Someone in this world might have tape of this day...Wonder why they don't hold the ZShell Hill speed run anymo.
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    alright egor was a butler who worked in the house and there were these kids that live and played in the alley behind where he worked and he hated the kids because they were loud and made messes so one night he snaped and hung all the kids
    there's a ledge where u can see a semented door way and thats were it supposidly happend

    drive down the alley at night with your lights out crazy scary
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    I live in the Igor house. The stories crack me up!!!
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    I live in the Igor house. The stories crack me up!!! Email me with any questions.
 
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