Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato

Johnny Stompanato's body at the crime scene

Lana and Johnny

Police Officer with knife from the scene

Lana Turner, Johnny Stompanato, and Cheryl Crane


More Hollywood scandal! One of the houses we encountered on our tour of Hollywood was Lana' Turner's former home. Lana was in love with Johnny Stompanato, a former marine, turned bodyguard for gangster Mickey Cohen.

Stompanato was extremely possessive of Turner. He reportedly slapped her around a little and although she tried to leave him on several occasions, he always convinced her to come back.

Cheryl Crane, Lana's daughter, had seen her mother with bruises several times. She knew Stompanato was abusing her.

On a Friday evening in 1958, Lana and Johnny were fighting. They were in Lana's bedroom, and Cheryl was in her bedroom next door. Cheryl recalled years later for Larry King, "[There were] awful fights, screaming and yelling and smashing glasses and just, you know, things I wasn't used to hearing," Cheryl told Larry King. "And she finally sat me down and told me the whole story about having had him thrown out of England when she was filming there because he beat her so badly. How he had threatened her life, my grandmother's life. She couldn't get him out of the house. She couldn't get rid of him. And my reaction was, 'Well, mother, call the police.'

According to Cheryl, she called to her mother and Johnny from outside the room to stop the fight. "Cheryl, get away from that door!" Lana yelled. "I'm not going to tell you again!"

But Cheryl didn't go away. Instead she begged her mother to stop arguing and open the door. "And she wouldn't open the door," Cheryl said. "She said, 'Go back to your room. John is leaving.'

"And, of course, he didn't leave. And then I started hearing the threats that he was making that he was going to cut her face, that he was going to kill my grandmother. 'And I'll get your daughter, too.'"

As Lana and Johnny argued behind closed doors, Cheryl went down to the kitchen and grabbed a carving knife from a drawer. Johnny and Lana had purchased the knife earlier in the day. She returned upstairs and found herself outside her mother's closed door.

The argument then tapered down and Stompanato was going to leave the house. He went to the closet and took a set of clothes and some heavy, wooden hangers.

Armed with the knife, Cheryl pleaded with her mother to open the door, which an exasperated Lana did. She stood between Cheryl and Johnny. He was facing the door and looking at Lana with a raised arm holding the clothes over his shoulder in such a way that all Cheryl could see was the arm and some sort of weapon.

He moved to go past Lana toward the door, his arm upraised holding ... something ... and Cheryl thrust out her arm. From Lana's vantage point it looked like Cheryl had punched Johnny in the stomach and he sucked in his breath and jerked like someone who has been hit.

"Oh, my God, Cheryl, what have you done," he gasped. Then he did a small pirouette and fell to the floor. Eyes closed and wheezing awfully, Johnny lay dying on the carpet of Lana Turner's new home. Cheryl backed away, the knife falling from her hand and Lana realized the horror of the event. Cheryl had not punched John; she had stabbed him with the carving knife. Lana went to her daughter, who was sobbing, and helped her back to her room. She returned to tend to John Stompanato.

Johnny was unconscious by the time he hit the floor. His breathing was labored. As if in a trance, Lana picked up the knife and dropped it into the sink in the pink marble bar. Then she called her mother.

Within minutes a doctor and Lana's mother were on the scene. Turner was giving Johnny mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when they arrived. The doctor, a family friend, gave Stompanato a shot of adrenaline directly into his heart, but it was fruitless. Johnny Stompanato, military hero, wannabe actor, small-time hood, gigolo and abuser was dead.

There are many who think that Lana actually murdered Stompanato and asked Cheryl to take the fall for it, knowing she would not be convicted of the crime. We will never know the truth.

Here are some pictures of all parties involved and the actual house as it stands today.

Have a great day friends!

The Death of Virginia Rappe

Virginia Rappe


Fatty Arbuckle

I really knew nothing about Virginia Rappe before visiting Hollywood Forever over the weekend. My friend Judy told me her story and I had to do more research on this poor girl. It's a little long, but interesting, I promise.

Fatty Arbuckle was a vaudeville performer who signed a contract with Paramount in 1921. Arbuckle was celebrating with a 3-day party at The St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. On Monday, September 5, 1921, the party started early. Arbuckle greeted visitors in his pajamas and though this was during Prohibition, large quantities of liquor were being drunk. Around 3 o'clock, Arbuckle retired from the party in order to get dressed to go sight-seeing with a friend. What happened in the following ten minutes is disputed.

One of those present at the party was a young actress named Virginia Rappe. Rappe had a rough childhood and some early relationships with men. It is believed that she had had five abortions by the age of 16. She had also suffered bouts of venereal disease. At the age of 17, she gave birth to an out-of-wedlock child. Wisely reasoning that she was not equipped to raise the child herself, she put it into foster care.

She started getting work in motion pictures. Her parts were small and sometimes uncredited. Perhaps her greatest triumph was being awarded the title "Best Dressed Girl in Pictures" in 1918 and having her photo appear on the cover of several sheet-music scores. The best known of these would be Let Me Call You Sweetheart.

But her career never really took off. There were rumors that, like many aspiring actresses, she dabbled in prostitution in order to pay her bills.

Virginia Rappe attended Arbuckle's party. Arbuckle decided to leave the party at about 3 p.m. to drive a friend of his, Mae Taub, into town. Ironically, Taub was the daughter-in-law of Billy Sunday, a fiery evangelist who strongly supported Prohibition, but she did not seem to mind being in a place where illegal liquor was flowing freely. The comedian went to his adjoining bedroom to change clothes. Exactly what happened after that would become a matter of fierce dispute.

"Bambina" Maude Delmont, who frequently set-up famous people in order to blackmail them, claims that Arbuckle herded 26 year-old Virginia Rappe into his bedroom and said, "I've waited for this a long time." Delmont says that a few minutes later party-goers could hear screams from Rappe coming from the bedroom. Delmont claims she tried to open the door, even kick it in, but couldn't get it open. When Arbuckle opened the door, supposedly Rappe was found naked and bleeding behind him.

Arbuckle says that when he retired to his room to change clothes, he found Rappe vomiting in his bathroom. He then helped clean her up and led her to a nearby bed to rest. Thinking she was just overly intoxicated, he left her to rejoin the party. When he returned to the room just a few minutes later, he found Rappe on the floor. After putting her back on the bed, he left the room to get help.

When others then entered the room, they found Rappe tearing at her clothes (something that has been claimed she did often when she was drunk). Party guests tried a number of strange treatments, including covering Rappe with ice, but she still wasn't getting any better.

The hotel staff were contacted and Rappe was taken to another room to rest. With others looking after Rappe, Arbuckle left for the sight-seeing tour and then drove back to Los Angeles.

Rappe was not taken to the hospital on that day. And though she didn't improve, she wasn't taken to the hospital for three days because most people who visited her considered her condition to be caused by liquor.

On Thursday, Rappe was taken to the Wakefield Sanitorium, a maternity hospital known for giving abortions. Virginia Rappe died the following day from peritonitis, caused by a ruptured bladder.

Arbuckle was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Virginia Rappe. The public reaction to Arbuckle was fierce. Perhaps even more than the specific charges of rape and murder, Arbuckle became a symbol of Hollywood's immorality. Movie houses across the country almost immediately stopped showing Arbuckle's movies. The public was angry and they were using Arbuckle as a target.

After three trials, the defense again became pro-active. Arbuckle testified, repeating his side of the story. The main prosecution witness, Zey Prevon, had escaped house arrest and left the country. For this trial, the jury deliberated for only a couple of minutes and came back with a verdict of not guilty. Additionally, the jury wrote an apology to Arbuckle:

Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was our only plain duty to give him this exoneration. There was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime.

He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed.

The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible.

We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women who have sat listening for thirty-one days to the evidence that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.

Poor Fatty was done in Hollywood. His career was never the same and Virginia's murder was never solved. Virginia is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Hollywood Again

Entrance gates of Hollywood Forever

Cecil B. DeMille

Marion Davies' family crypt

Tyrone Power's marker (notice the kisses on the left side)

Peter Finch's crypt

Valentino's crypt

Monument dedicated to Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Jr.

The beautiful lake in the middle of Hollywood Forever

Judy and I in front of the Mausoleum where Rodolfo Valentino is laid to rest




I went on the fabulous Dearly Departed Tour again this weekend, and as usual, it was amazing! My Mom, Judy, and I headed out to Hollywood to do a little sightseeing. Our first stop? Hollywood Forever Cemetery (formally known as Hollywood Memorial Park).

The cemetery was absolutely gorgeous and so serene. I could not believe I was in a cemetery. There are so many famous people laid to rest here, that it would take pages to list them. There were a few people we wanted to see, including Marion Davies, Tyrone Power, Rodolfo Valentino, Johnny Ramone, etc.

Then we headed over to Farmer's Market to start the tour. Once again, the tour proved to be informative. If you haven't taken any of Scott Michaels tours, you must! Here are some pics of the cemetery and the tour. Hope you had a great weekend friends. I am a little behind this week on comments, so bear with me!

The Notebook

Ok, I know "The Notebook" might be over the top sappy for some of you, but I love it. One of the main reasons (among many) I love it, is the gorgeous time period clothing. Rachel McAdams looks simply amazing as a young, rich 40's girl. I read the book many years ago and cried my eyes out. I have since found that Nicholas Sparks is a little too over the top for me, but I still love this movie all the same. The chemistry between Rachel and Ryan Gossling is so hot (maybe because they dated in real life). He is adorable. Here are some fun facts about the film and some pics to show you the costuming. Check it out with a box of kleenex if you've never seen it. Have a great weekend friends!

--Ryan Gosling built the kitchen table featured in the movie in preparation for his role as Noah.

--Ryan Gosling was the director's (Nick Cassavetes) first and only choice for the role of Noah. Before Cassavetes, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Justin Timberlake were also once attached to the project but backed out.

--Background music for the original theatrical trailer for this film featured music from 'Rachel Portman (I)' 's score for The Cider House Rules (1999).

--The "after 7 years Allie and Noah" scenes were shot first and then the crew/cast went on a Christmas break. Ryan Gosling had to lose the beard and 20lbs he'd had as the older Noah and come back to play the young Noah. Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were rather shy and unsure around each other in the "after 7 years" scenes but were more comfortable together in the young Allie and Noah scenes.

--Other actresses besides Rachel McAdams who are rumored to have been under consideration for the role of Allie included Ashley Judd , Britney Spears and Reese Witherspoon. (yuck! Can you imagine Britney?)

--Ryan Gosling prepared for his role by living in Charleston, South Carolina before filming began. For two months, he rowed the Ashley River in the morning and built furniture during the day.

--It wasn't in the script that Allie would play the piano, but director Nick Cassavetes felt that it was right, for that's what wealthy young ladies of the 1930s-1940s did. Allie's song is 'Frederic Chopin''s Prelude in E minor Opus 28 #4.

--Rachel McAdams auditioned for the role during another movie's premiere. She was given the script just a day in advance. She beat nine other actresses for the role. The scenes used during her audition included the one of Allie's and Noah's argument at the end after Allie and her mother return from their morning drive.

--Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were both born in London, Ontario, Canada. Walt Whitman , quoted in the classroom scene ("Do I contradict myself?") and other parts of the movie, had a long friendship with 19th century London, Ontario, psychiatrist Dr. Maurice Bucke, which was depicted in the film Beautiful Dreamer (2006) .

--Gena Rowlands, who played older Allie in the movie, is the director's (Nick Cassavetes) mother.

--Ryan Gosling (Young Noah) wore brown eye contacts because James Garner (Old Noah) has brown eyes, and Gosling has blue.

Dark Passage

One of my favorite Bacall/Bogart films is "Dark Passage." If you haven't seen it, I will give you a little background and trivia.

Released in 1947, "Dark Passage" tells the story of convicted wife-murderer Vincent Parry (Bogart), desperately trying to prove his innocence.

--When Vincent reads the newspaper clipping about Irene's father, the accompanying photograph of her father is that of director/screenwriter Delmer Daves.

--Franz Waxman's main title music for this movie is exactly the same as that used in To Have and Have Not (1944), for which he was uncredited.

--Warner Bros. paid $25,000 for the rights to the David Goodis novel, which was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post from 20 July-September 7, 1946.

--The actual Art Deco apartment building used in the film (located at 1360 Montgomery St in San Francisco) is still standing as of December, 2008. The actual apartment is marked by a cardboard cut-out of Bogart, which can be seen from the street. The site is visited frequently by fans of vintage film noir.

--When Humphrey Bogart is riding in the car with Clifton Young during his escape, the voice on the radio is supplied by Dane Clark, another Warner's player.

--The third of four films made by husband and wife Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

--The first film in which Humphrey Bogart wore a full hairpiece.