HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! The Queen Mary--Haunted?

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you are all having a ghoulishly good day. I was trying to think of something fun to post today and realized one of my favorite supposedly haunted places is The Queen Mary. I have visited The Queen Mary in Long Beach several times, and have even taken quite a few tours. The ship is amazing. It is an art deco dream! So much gorgeous architecture and history to look at, you simply must go more than once.

The Queen Mary has been rumored to be haunted for years and years. The ship was originally built as a luxury liner, but then was used to transport soldiers during WWII. During the war, the "Grey Ghost," as she was called, had a huge accident in which 300 or more soldiers were literally torn apart. Their ghosts are said to haunt the ship, especially in the boiler room and bottom areas of the ship.

During the ships run, there were reportedly 49 deaths, giving room to several "ghosts" to wander the ship today. Some say the 1st class pool area has been haunted by a few ghosts. One such would be the little girl they hear laughing, and making splashing sounds. Another spooky thing about the pool area, is that some mediums have suggested that there is a "cold spot" or "vortex" area where ghosts literally walk between worlds. CREEPY! In the first class swimming pool, which has been closed for more than three decades, women have often been seen appearing in 1930’s style swimming suits wandering the decks near the pool.

In the second class poolroom, the spirit of another little girl named Jackie is often been seen and heard. The unfortunate girl drowned in the pool during the ship’s sailing days and reputedly refused to move on, as her voice, as well as the sounds of laughter has been captured here.

n the Queen’s Salon, which once served as the ship’s first-class lounge, a beautiful young woman in an elegant white evening gown has often been seen dancing alone in the shadows of the corner of the room.

Yet more odd occurrences have been made in a number of first-class staterooms. Here, reports have been made of a tall dark haired man appearing in a 1930’s style suit, as well as water running and lights turning on in the middle of the night, and phones ringing in the early morning hours with no one on the other end of the line.

In the third class children’s playroom, a baby’s cry has often been heard, which is thought to be the infant boy who died shortly after his birth.

Other phenomenon occurring throughout the ship, are the sounds of distinct knocks, doors slamming and high pitched squeals, drastic temperature changes, and the aromas of smells long past.

These are but a few of the many reports of apparitions and strange events occurring at this luxury liner turned hotel. Make sure to visit the hotel and maybe you will see some ghosts of your own. Have a fantastic Halloween!

Psycho--My Favorite Scary Movie of All Time

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you are all excited about this fun-filled weekend. I am feeling a little festive, and am looking forward to a night in with some scary movies, so I thought I would post on my favorite, "Psycho." How can you beat the soundtrack and creepy Norman Bates?

Hitchcock's "Psycho" changed the horror film industry forever. He was able to scare us to death without a lot of gore. Here are some interesting facts about the film:

1. Chocolate syrup was used for the blood in the original Psycho.

2. The sound effect used during the stabbing scene was actually the sound of a knife stabbing a melon.

3. Among the actresses considered to play Marion Crane were: Martha Hyer, Hope Lange, Lana Turner, Shirley Jones and Piper Laurie (who wonderfully portrayed the religious fanatic, Margaret White in Carrie [1976]). Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis' mother) ultimately landed the role.

4. Alfred Hitchcock received a letter from an angry father whose daughter refused to take a shower after viewing the movie. Hitchcock simply replied, "Send her to the dry cleaners."

5. In the "Peeping Tom" scene Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) removes a painting from the wall to watch Marion undress. The painting is called "The Lock" by Jean-Honore Fragonard and illustrates a man about to rape a woman.

6. Psycho cost $800,000 to film and earned an astounding $40 million.

7. In the trailer, Hitchcock yanks back a shower curtain to expose a screaming woman. The woman is Vera Miles, who plays Marion's sister, Lila Crane.

8. The MPAA insisted on the removal of the term "transvestite" from the film, deeming it vulgar. They allowed it once it was explained to them that the term was not vulgar, but used to describe a psychological condition

9. During the filming, Alfred Hitchcock placed the prop used as Mrs. Bates' corpse in Janet Leigh's dressing room without her knowledge. He did this to test the fear factor of the prop.

10. Every time a driver exits a vehicle in the film, he/she does so via the passenger side door.

11. Unlike anyone before him, Hitchcock absolutely insisted that viewers be present from the very start of the film. In some theaters, a record was played, counting down the time left before the show commenced.

12. In the movie, Marion Crane embezzled $40,000; ironically, that is the exact amount of money that Anthony Perkins was paid for his performance as Norman Bates.

13. Hitchcock originally wanted the shower scene to be silent, but after hearing Bernard Herrmann's musical score, he had a change of heart. Hitchcock credits one-third of the film's success to the brilliant and compelling musical score and doubled Herrmann's salary.

14. When the film begins, Marion is seen in a white bra; Hitchcock chose white to symbolize purity. After she embezzles the money and is undressing at the motel, she is wearing a black bra; this was meant to symbolize that she was no longer pure because she had committed an evil act. The same effect was used with her pocketbooks in the film: prior to the theft, her purse was white; after the theft, her purse was black.

15. The 1957 Ford driven by Marion in the film is owned by Universal and is the exact same car used by the Cleavers in "Leave it to Beaver."

16. The woman who played Janet Leigh's body double in about half of the shower-scene shots was named Myra Jones. In a sad case of life imitating art, Jones was stabbed to death in 1988. Her killer? A mentally disturbed handyman who targeted older women. He'd murdered at least one other before her - that police know about.

Interesting huh? Have a great Halloween!!! See you tomorrow!

Joan Crawford...ghost?

Joan Crawford is still one of the most extremely famous actresses of all time. Her reputation, however, is questionable. It is no secret that Joan and Bette Davis had no love for one another, but I was shocked to find this evidence of that dislike: "Davis was nominated for an Academy Award that year for her performance as "Baby Jane" and Crawford aggressively, but secretly, campaigned against her. Unbeknown to Davis, Crawford had contacted all of the Oscar nominees beforehand to tell them that she would be happy to accept the Oscar on their behalf if they were unable to attend the ceremony. Both Davis and Crawford were backstage when the absent Anne Bancroft was announced as the winner. Crawford reportedly elbowed her way past Davis and said, "Excuse me, I have an Oscar to accept."' Um, can you say "bitchy?"

I always felt that Joan Crawford had this scary look to her. Even though she was beautiful, she just seemed like the kind of broad you didn't want to cross. It is well known that her adopted daughter, Christina wrote a memoir about her life with Joan, "Mommie Dearest." In the book, Christina basically exposes her mother as a psychotic, cruel, selfish woman. But, what many don't know, is that the house that Christina grew up in with her mother, was always rumored to be haunted, and continues to this day to be full of the presence of Joan Crawford.

According to Sherry Hansen-Steiger and Brad Steiger from from "Hollywood and the Supernatural," there were rumors of haunting manifestations in Joan Crawford's former Brentwood home.

When asked if there were manifestations or hauntings that she could remember as a child living there, Christina recounted the following:

I have vivid memories of some things, but when you are severely abused, you tend to block out other things. I'm positive that there were manifestations occurring there when I was little. I saw them! There were places in the house that were always so cold that nobody wanted to go in them.

As a child, I was always told that I had an active and vivid imagination; I was always scared by things, but people just told me that I just had an "active imagination." Years later, I thought, oh well, maybe that was good to have had an active imagination, and I became a writer because of that.

But as a child, I saw things in the house! There was, of course, no context or framework in which to put what I saw and felt. I had nobody to speak to about the occurrences.

Any time I would become extremely frightened and would get out of my bed to try and find somebody, I was always treated as though I were just being a "bad child" that didn't want to go to sleep. I always expressed my fear to my mother because it was she that I went to find to help me...because I would be very upset and I'd be crying.

I used to have terrible nightmares and that kind of thing, but a lot of it had to do with the fact that I saw things in the night; so the solution to that finally was just to leave the lights on everywhere. One of the things I saw seemed a bit like an apparition of a child..or children, but as I said I may have blocked out a lot.

Christina told us that she had not been back to the house since she was seventeen. "That was when I went to college [in 1956], at which point, Crawford still owned the house."

Christina recalled her last day there:

I remember the woman who had taken care of me and my two younger sisters since I was four years old just watching me, without saying a word. I was going from room to room in the house, without saying anything, just standing in the middle of each room, then going on to the next one. She finally asked me what I was doing. I told her that I would never see this house again, therefore, I was saying goodbye to it.

Many years after I had left, we met again. She was now an elderly woman and had retired. We always had been quite close. She told me she had always remembered the look on my face when I said my goodbyes to the house. It seemed a strange thing to do, to say, 'I'll never see this house again,' when at that time there was absolutely no inkling of the house being sold. In fact, it was not sold for another two and a half to three years, and, indeed, I have never been back.

Christina had learned recently that the current owners of the house had called in the Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere of the Healing Light Center to work with the house:

Rosalyn described what she had seen in the house when she went there. She picked up on some things that astounded me because they seemed to validate what I may have seen and experienced when I was little. It gave me goose bumps when Rosalyn told me that she discovered so many spirits in the house and there had been signs of ritual abuse in one of the rooms. Many of the spirits had "underworld" connections.

I was sent to boarding school when I was ten years old. I came home infrequently after that. I always believed that I was sent away partly because I was too much the eyes and ears to the world--a witness. I saw too much, I guess.

Some of the things that I saw that were going on were very violent. Her (Joan Crawford's) relationship with men, a number of men, was extremely violent. I was getting too old, and I was beginning to understand what was going on.

That house is so weird! Now, evidently, the walls are starting to catch fire! Other people have heard childrens cries in the walls! Every single owner has had trouble.

The first one was Crawford. She built the majority of the house. It was a small cottage when she bought it, but most of the house, she built. She sold it to Donald O'Connor, who sold it to the Anthony Newleys. They sold it, I think, to the current owner, who is a friend of the Revrend Rosalyn Bruyere, and they asked her to "work" on the house.

Every single family that has lived in that house has had horrible things happen...illnesses, alcoholism, addictions, relationship problems, and now, evidently with the current owner, the walls are breaking out in flames! I've heard that in particular it's the wall that was behind Crawford's bed.

Although the scene is in her book, Mommie Dearest, Christina reminded us that the last words that Joan Crawford uttered were to a woman who was kneeling at the foot of her bed, praying for her.

"As she was dying," Christina said, "Crawford opened her eyes and said directly to the woman, 'Don't you dare ask God to help me!' ...and then she died." It was such arrogance, Christina said, that she believes is a major part of the difficulty with the seemingly accursed house.

And that has nothing to do with me! So it would not surprise me in the least if the "haunting" spirit that is in the house is Crawford! She was capable of real evil. If you have never experienced that "look" from another human being, it is almost impossible to believe that such an experience could even exisit! I think perhaps that's why so many people are unwilling to deal with the shadow side because they can't really get themselves to believe that such a dimension exists.

My brother and I were absolutely terrified of her. In fact, there is a passage in "Mommie Dearest" that describes ("the look" on her face) when she tried to kill me when I was thirteen. We all saw "that look." My brother and I talked about it extensively...it was not of an ordinary human being!

Later, we were able to contact the Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere of the Healing Light Center, who kindly agreed to share her thoughts on the manifestations in Joan Crawford's former home.

"It is true that the house was afflicted with spontaneous fires, primarily in the wall behind where Joan Crawford's bed used to be. However, I did not pick up that Joan Crawford's ghost was there."

The Reverend Bruyere expressed her opinion that the house had been poisoned in some way before Crawford had moved into the place but that the evil in the house had added to Joan's neuroses. The actress had apparently built onto a pre-existing cottage in a very chaotic manner.

"Nothing is where it should be," Rosalyn commented. "She added dining rooms and hallways that led to other dining rooms. It all combines to form an H-shaped house. Turn a corner and you're lost."

The noted healer, who in this case served as an exorcist to clear the home, said that she found the haunting existing in levels.

"It was a place of conspicuous negativity. I called it an 'Astral Central,' a gathering of spirits that were attracted to the negative vibrations. People had been tied up and tortured in that house. I picked up on gangland figures, corrupt politicians. There is an area in the house where a child [not Christina] had been tortured and molested. Terrible things went on in that house."

The Reverend felt that ghosts themselves were trying to burn the house down.

"Once the Beverly Hills Fire Department spent four days there attempting to solve the mystery of the spontaneous fires that would break out on the walls," she said. "I feel the spirits were trying to burn the house down to protect some horrible secret. There is something hidden there. I am certain that there are bodies buried in that basement."

She said that there had only been one recurrence in the house after she had exorcised and cleared it. "The house had become an astral dumping ground, but it seems clean now."

When we [authors Brad and Sherry] visited the former Crawford home in the early 1990s, the current owners graciously allowed us to enter to film a segment for an HBO special on haunted Hollywood. The couple told us that they had experienced some mysterious pyrotechnic phenomena and had witnessed quite a number of apparitions of quite a wide variety of entities in various parts of the home. The couple said that the small cottage next to the swimming pool very often seemed to be center of haunting phenomena.

We kept in touch with the couple for quite some time. It was not long after we had filmed in the Crawford home that they decided to move. We have no comment from them whether or not it was because of any haunting phenomena.

It would seem over the past decade that the once haunted mansion of Joan Crawford has found peace, for we have heard of no further ghostly activity occurring in the home.

Hmmm...it seems that maybe I was right to dislike Crawford? What do you think? Oh well, here are some "haunting" images of Ms. Crawford in all her glory. Enjoy!


Date: Wed, 28

Haunted Hollywood Hotels

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought it was time for some spooky Hollywood tales. Many of the old "haunts" (ha ha) of famed actors and actresses are now torn down due to lack of care. But there are a few that are still around and have even been renovated over the years. The first such place is the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

The Roosevelt opened in 1927 and was host to several of the Hollywood elite. Many famous Hollywood legends such as Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift stayed here in its heyday. The hotel remained popular for many years and then in 1984, underwent a restoration. Since that time, the ghosts, they say, have been putting in frequent appearances. The first strange event took place in December 1985, about two weeks before the grand re-opening. Alan Russell, the personal assistant to the General Manager, was in the Blossom Room, where the first Academy Awards banquet was held in 1929 (I was just in this exact room in August and it is GORGEOUS!). He was sweeping the floor and noticed an extremely cold spot in one part of the room. He and the other employees who were present were perplexed to find there were no drafts or air conditioners to explain away the chill. Psychics who have investigated the hotel believe there is a man in black clothing who haunts this room, although who he may be, no one knows.

On that same day, another employee named Suzanne Leonard was dusting a mirror in the manager’s office. She looked into the glass and saw the reflection of a blond woman there. She turned quickly around but there was no one behind her, although the reflection remained for some time before fading away. So, who was this mysterious figure? It was later learned that the mirror once hung in Suite 1200 of the hotel, a suite that was frequently used by Marilyn Monroe. Could she still be lingering behind at the Roosevelt?

As guests began to arrive at the refurbished hotel, the staff was told of other encounters. They frequently heard complaints about loud talking in nearby rooms and of voices in hallways...rooms and corridors that would prove to be empty. Phones were lifted from receivers in empty suites...lights turned on in empty, locked rooms ... a maid was inexplicably pushed into a supply closet...a typewriter began typing in the middle of the night in an empty, locked office...a man in a white suit (who was seen by three different people on two different days) walked through a door and vanished ...extra bedspreads that were hung on a rod in the basement began moving on their own...a little girl was seen playing in the lobby and then vanished before the eyes of a startled staff member...and much more.

Some employees also reported strange shadows on the Ninth floor, prompting many of them to refuse to work on that level. Strange things were especially connected to Room 928. Here, housekeepers have reported cold spots that brush by them and others have felt a strong presence watching them or walking beside them. One night in 1992, a female guest reported that a man’s hand patted her on the shoulder while she was reading. She turned, thinking that it was her husband, only to find him sound asleep.

Room 928 has been most prominently connected to actor Montgomery Clift, who lived in the room for three months in 1952 while filming From Here to Eternity. Clift was said to restlessly pace his room and the corridor outside, rehearsing his lines and practicing the bugle. And some say that he still does...

Wow! What an exciting place! I can honestly say that it is truly amazing to be inside the Roosevelt. You can imagine being there in the 1940's with all the other starlets. It definitely has a "haunting" quality about it. Enjoy the photos!




Sources:
Haunted Places: The National Directory By Dennis William Hauck (1996)
Hollywood Haunted by Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wannamaker (1994)
Hollywood and the Supernatural by Brad and Sherry Steiger (1990)
Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger (1975)
Hollywood Babylon 2 by Kenneth Anger (1984)
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (official website www.hollywoodroosevelt.com)

Doris Day

I wanted to focus on a singer today, and got the best of both worlds with Doris Day. Not only did she have an amazing voice, but was a very talented actress as well. Born Doris Von Kappelhoff, in 1924, "While still a teenager, she changed her last name to Day when she began singing on radio. She worked as a vocalist in the bands of Barney Rapp and Bob Crosby before joining Les Brown's band in 1940 and making several popular recordings, among them “Sentimental Journey.” Day went solo in 1947 and achieved great success as a recording artist. Her singing was distinguished by crystal-clear tone and the ability to convey great emotion without histrionics."

Doris made 39 films and recorded over 650 songs. She had that "good girl" image that was often in contrast with some of the sexy film sirens of the day. One of my favorite songs, "Que Sera Sera," (which is on my playlist) won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and it ultimately became her signature song.

After things started to become more "free" in America in the 60's, her films were not as popular with some any longer. She had a wholesome appearance, some even calling her "the world's oldest virgin."

Doris had some financial troubles, because of poor choices made by her 3rd husband, Marty Melcher. Melcher died April 20, 1968. "After nearly two decades as a top star, Day was shocked to discover that her husband of 17 years and his business partner Jerome Bernard Rosenthal had squandered her earnings, leaving her deeply in debt. Rosenthal had been her attorney since the late 1940s, and he represented her in May 31, 1949, in her uncontested divorce action against her second husband, songwriter, George W. Weidler. In February 1969, Day filed suit against Rosenthal and won the then-largest civil judgment (over $20 million) until that time in the state of California."

Doris still lives in Carmel, CA, under a different name, Clara Kapelhoff. She still remains one of the most loved actresses and singers of all time. Here are some photos I love of the wholesome Doris Day. 

Pantages Theater

Every time I go to Hollywood, (which isn't often enough!), I am in awe of The Pantages Theater. It stands as a historical landmark that reminds me of times much more glamorous than our own. The Pantages Theater stands n the heart of Hollywood, on Hollywood Boulevard, right down the block from Vine Street.

The Pantages opened on June 4, 1930. "The opening night audience couldn't have been more impressed by the show than they were by the theatre. Alexander Pantages had conceived of this theatre, the last built to bear his name, as a fitting monument to his position in the entertainment industry. Although the Wall Street Crash occurred between groundbreaking and completion, no expense was spared in its construction. The cost of the Pantages Theatre itself, not counting the considerable expense of theatrical and projection equipment, was $1.25 million -- the equivalent of about $10 million in today's dollars."

If you have ever visited the Pantages, you know the amount of detail that went into the design. The restrooms and lobby are so impressive, you almost want to spend your time there, rather than in the main theater. Every time I go, and use the lounge, I am reminded of the many starlets who had their cigarettes and powdered their noses there.

Howard Hughes, through RKO pictures, acquired the Pantages as part of his national chain of movie houses in 1949. At this time, the Pantages played host to Hollywood's most spectacular annual event -- The Academy Awards, which were handed out to lucky winners (including Humphrey Bogart, Vivien Leigh and Frank Sinatra) on its stage each year from 1949 to 1959. As you can see in one of the photos, in 1963, celebrity patrons were treated to a special screening of Cleopatra at $250 apiece, the proceeds going to the construction fund for the new Music Center.

The Pantages has since been remodeled and is now used for Broadway productions, including Wicked, The Producers, and many more. It has been restored to its original 2,691 available seats and still holds all the glory it once had. My favorite memory of the Pantages, is being there for the first time to see Phantom of the Opera and being in complete awe of the staircase in the lobby. What is your favorite memory of the historical theater? Here are some of the vintage pics I could find. Enjoy! 

Jean Harlow

Another platinum blonde to add to the collection. Jean Harlow was one of those actresses who had ultimate sex appeal. Born in 1911 and died in 1937 at the young age of 26.

Jean was known as the "original blonde bombshell," much before Marilyn Monroe came onto the scene. Born Harlean Carpenter, her acting career lasted only 10 years, but she made 36 movies, and was even the first movie actress to appear on the cover of Life Magazine!

Jean had poor health as a child, even contracting meningitis and scarlet fever at age 15. Jean's big break as an actress came when eccentric Howard Hughes hired her for his film debut "Hell's Angels." It was in this film that she spoke her now famous line, "Would you be shocked if I changed into something more comfortable?"

While filming "Saratoga" in 1937, Jean was hospitalized with uremic poisoning and kidney failure, a result of the scarlet fever she had suffered during childhood. In the days before dialysis and kidney transplants, nothing could be done and Jean died on June 7, 1937. The film had to be finished using long angle shots and a double, Mary Dees. Clark Gable was reported to have said that he felt as if he was "in the arms of a ghost." After a large Hollywood funeral organized by Louis B. Mayer of MGM, Jean was buried in the mausoleum in Forest Lawn Glendale, in Los Angeles.

So sad that her life was cut so short. Who knows what she could have accomplished. Even though she died young, and her career was but a mere 10 years, she lives on forever as a true Hollywood legend. Here are some of my favorite photos of Jean. Enjoy! 

Lucille Ball is one of the most loved comedienne's of our time. I can't help but smile when I think of the crazy antics she was always up to on her television show with husband, Desi Arnaz. What most people don't know, though is that Lucy wasn't always a redhead, she started in the biz with blonde, yes blonde hair!

Lucy started her career as a model, but had to retire early, due to a terrible case of rheumatoid arthritis. She then headed out to Hollywood, and was put under contract by Columbia Studios. She later signed with RKO, and was beginning to get notice for her funny personality. Around 1950 or so, she began to dye her hair red.

Since her film career was not going extremely well, she turned to television. She married Desi Arnaz and began a tumultuous partnership with him. "After nearly six years, Ball and Arnaz ended the series in favor of a series of one-hour comedy specials featuring the characters of "I Love Lucy" that aired originally as part of "Desilu Playhouse" and were later packaged as "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show/The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour". Having wisely retained all the rights to "I Love Lucy" after its initial broadcast, the couple racked up enormous profits from the sale of its syndication rights, an unheard of event in the early 50s. Eventually, Arnaz and Ball sold the filmed episodes back to CBS for a tidy profit and the show continues to air somewhere in the world to this day."

She divorced Arnaz in 1960, after years of noted abuse. He was known to have a terrible temper and was also a ladies man. Lucy continued to be well respected for the remainder of her life, when she died in 1989. Here are some of my favorite images of Lucille Ball, one of the greatest funny women of all time. She was also an absolutely gorgeous actress as you can see in the photos. Enjoy! 

Veronica Lake

I was looking through my favorite magazine In Style today and noticed that quite a few of the Hollywood starlets are wearing a new hair style. Their style is inspired by the actress Veronica Lake, which shows long, loose waves with a side swept bang. I wanted to know more about her, so I decided to do a post on her.

My friend Scott Michaels, who owns Dearly Departed Tours, in Hollywood has a wonderful write up on Veronica Lake. I will give you some of the info he provides.

Veronica was one of the most well known actresses of The Golden Age. She was a pin up model during WWII, and one of the most popular, beautiful actresses who drew large crowds to the box office. But, because of her drinking habit, many in Hollywood started refusing to work with her. "Three broken marriages, a domineering stage mother, a manic depressive personality, and a whole lot o' liquor pushed her right into oblivion."

She faded into obscurity, losing friends, family, and even thinking the FBI was following her at times. She started to lose interest in her personal appearance, and ended up dying alone from Hepatitis. How sad! So many of these starlets seem to have been so used and abused by Hollywood. They are so glamorous on the outside, but were so tormented inside. Here are some of my favorite pics of the once gorgeous Veronica Lake. Enjoy! 

Bonnie and Clyde

I've decided to take a short break from my gorgeous actress obsession, to move on to my old school crime obsession. I know, I'm crazy, but I have this serious fascination with gangsters and criminals of the 20's-50's. I don't know what it is exactly, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the F.B.I. hadn't really been set up properly (if at all) yet, and criminals were often supported by the general public. Many of you might have seen the movie "Public Enemies" with Johnny Depp over the summer. The film followed the life and criminal career of John Dillinger. Although he stole, murdered, etc., many of the public supported him, even hiding him at times, acting as though he was some type of Robin Hood figure during the Great Depression.

The first criminal pair I'm going to examine is the infamous Bonnie and Clyde. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker met in Texas in 1930. "Bonnie was 19 and married to an imprisoned murderer; Clyde was 21 and unmarried. Soon after, he was arrested for a burglary and sent to jail. He escaped, using a gun Bonnie had smuggled to him, was recaptured, and was sent back to prison. Clyde was paroled in February, 1932, rejoined Bonnie, and resumed a life of crime."

At the time they were captured and killed, they were believed to have killed 13 people, and committed several robberies and burglaries. Although the couple have been sensationalized by way of a movie with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, they were hardened criminals. Here are some images of both the true Bonnie and Clyde and the film couple. Enjoy!

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy was born Myrna Williams to a cattle rancher who died when she was twelve. The family came out to Los Angeles from Montana, where she was educated at Westlake School for Girls. Mrs. Rudolph Valentino discovered Miss Loy. She was often first typecast as Asian characters because of her dark features and smaller eyes. Because of her high pitched voice, she had a hard time transitioning from the silent films to the talkies.

Loy took a hiatus from filmmaking during World War II except for a stint as Nora Charles to devote herself to Red Cross work and selling war bonds.

She became more involved with politics and only acted occasionally from the 1950's through the rest of her life. For five years (1949-54) she served as a film advisor for UNESCO and she served as an advisor to the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing.

She was married to: Howland H. Sergeant (1951 - 1960) (divorced), Gene Markey (1946 - 1950) (divorced), John Hertz Jr. (1942 - 1944) (divorced) and Arthur Hornblow Jr. (1936 - 1942) (divorced). She received an honorary Academy Award in 1991. Myrna Loy passed away in New York City during surgery on December 14, 1993.

Myrna is yet another true beauty of old Hollywood. Here are some gorgeous shots of her. Enjoy!