Ken Schessler's This is Hollywood

Ken Schessler’s 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝙸 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 "𝚞𝚗𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚎" 𝚒𝚗 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠-𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝.

The View from Hollywood

Melt My Heart, Natalie Wood

River Phoenix

Dead in Hollywood: River Phoenix (Issue #4)

Here Lies Sharon Tate

Holy Cross Cemetery (5835 W. Slauson Ave, Culver City, CA 90230)

Gotta Have It

My husband got me George Michael’s Faith Video Collection on VHS for Christmas 2016. The Christmas that George Michael died.

Certificate of Death: Dorothy Dandridge, 42

Hard at work on issue #10 of the zine Dead in Hollywood. Thanks for “Find a Death” for sharing this!

Fisher and Sons Funeral Home

The Auguste Marquis Residence in West Adams in Los Angeles was the setting for the Fisher & Sons Funeral Home in the HBO series “Six Feet Under.” On the show , the funeral home its supposedly located in North Hollywood. I lived in NoHo for four years and at the end of the street sat a funeral home. I can’t count how many times I walked my dog past throngs of hysterical mourners half expecting to see Nate or Rico comforting a widow or talking to their dad’s ghost. (Instagram: Deadinhollywoodzine)

Deathiversary: Black Dahlia (January 15, 1947)

Today marks the deathiversary of Elizabeth Short aka The Black Dahlia. 72 years ago, Short was found dead, severed in half, drained of her blood with a smile carved into her mouth. Her killer has never been found. The grisly murder case remains unsolved to this day. What are some of your theories? Any favorite books on the case?

Sal Spins Me Right Round

Sal Mineo Spin Wheel.

It Figures

-George Michael, “Father Figure”

FREEEK OF THE WEEEK!

George Michael. Coming Soon.

The Day I Met Carrie Fisher

𝙾𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟻, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟻, 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛.

𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜-𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚠 "𝚁𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙹𝚎𝚍𝚒" 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚜. 𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙. 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚛, 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕. 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚒𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟻 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚊𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎, 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.

𝙾𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟽, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟼, 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝙵𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗.

Last Christmas: George Michael

On April 8, 1998, pop god George Michael, is arrested in Beverly Hills for engaging in a lewd act alone in a public restroom. What follows is the crucifixion of George Michael. Coming Soon… (Instagram: deadinhollywoodzine)

Bette Davis: Merry Christmas to the Man Who Came to Dinner

Bette Davis in “The Man Who Came to Dinner”

The Dandridge Sisters: Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

The Dandridge Sisters are an all black girl singing trio in the 1930's whose most famous member, Dorothy Dandridge, will go on to be the first black woman nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award in 1955 for her role in "Carmen Jones." The Dandridge Sisters are comprised of Dorothy and her older sister Vivian and their friend Etta Jones - not to be confused with the well-known jazz vocalist, Etta James. You'd be surprised how many articles incorrectly list James as a member of this trio. The Dandridge Sisters find success on radio shows and in Los Angeles nightclubs. It was in one of these nightclubs that they are invited to perform at the iconic Harlem nightclub, the Cotton Club. The Sisters are so popular at the Cotton Club that they are given a regular spot in the show. They are only 14-years-old at the time.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Last year, my grandmother died somewhat unexpectedly. Yesterday would have been her 90th birthday, and in honor of my grandmother, I watched one of her favorite movies for the first time: Meet Me in St. Louis. I don't know how I've gone this long without bearing witness to this technicolor triumph, but now that I have, I can't get it out of my head. For a "romantic musical comedy," Meet Me in St. Louis sure has its fair share of dark moments. Because of this, my grandmother must have known that I would fall head-over-heels for Tootie and the entire Smith family! Smith was also my grandmother's last name. My grandmother told me once that she and my grandfather would watch Meet Me in St. Louis whenever they were feeling down. Before the credits rolled, my grandfather would take her hand, and they'd slow-dance around the living to Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" in the background. I'd like to think that watching Meet Me in St. Louis was my grandmother's gift to me this Christmas.

Penny Marshall (October 15, 1943 / December 17, 2018)

You have been loved.

A League of Her Own

“I’m not the most positive person.” -Penny Marshall (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018)

Cemetery Dolls

She has four fatal diseases... and it only takes one.