Dead in Hollywood is a true-crime web series of strange and tragic Hollywood deaths.
Go behind the sign to Catalina Island where Norma Jeane gave birth to Marilyn Monroe. In 1942, the future Marilyn Monroe spent a year and a half on the island as a teenage housewife. Why do historians leave off this life changing year of Monroe’s life?
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Go behind the sign to the night of November 29, 1981, when Natalie Wood drowned on Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California. On July 20, 2021, Natalie's birthday, I sailed to Catalina to retrace Natalie's last, lost weekend. What really happened the night Natalie died? Was Natalie murdered or was it just an unfortunate accident after a holiday weekend of drinking? Never before seen photos/videos of famous Natalie Wood Catalina locations — with addresses! Don’t forget to like and subscribe to our Youtube Channel!
DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: THE DROWNING OF NATALIE WOOD (EPISODE 8). COMING SOON! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE (CLICK HERE) to our YOUTUBE PAGE!
𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚆𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. CLICK HERE for a copy of the fanzine DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: HERE LIES NATALIE WOOD - THE UNAUTHORIZED GUIDE TO PIERCE BROTHERS WESTWOOD VILLAGE MEMORIAL PARK & MORTUARY (ISSUE #18). OUT NOW!
Two years ago, on Natalie Wood’s deathiversary, I did a Natalie Wood slideshow at the Pool Gallery. We projected the slides on the bottom of the pool. It was freezing, but so worth it! You can read more about the slideshow in the upcoming issue of DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: HERE LIES NATALIE WOOD (Issue #18). A companion piece of sorts to DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: NATALIE WOOD (Issue #8).
CLICK HERE for DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD: NATALIE WOOD (Issue #8)
DEAD IN HOLLYWOOD THIS IS WHERE I DIE (Issue #22) will focus on the photos I have taken in and around Los Angeles over the past 20 years. This issue will feature never before seen photos of where stars like Natalie Wood, James Dean, and Dorothy Dandridge met their untimely fates.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎! 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛! 𝙸 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍: 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗! 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢'𝚜 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚉𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝! 𝙸𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢. 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝! 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚉𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢. 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚛... 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎. Which back cover do you prefer? I can’t decide!
𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍: 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢'𝚜 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚉𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙵𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝟸𝟼 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟼 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝙱𝚉𝙵!
𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. "𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚎," 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚞-𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊 𝙻𝚘𝚜 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚎.
The Duke of Catalina: Duke Fishman, the "Original Greeter" at Avalon. Landing on Catalina Island in 1933 after living in a South Seas orphanage for most of his life, a 27-year-old Duke finds work as a lifeguard on the island. After a short stint as a houseman at the Annandale Golf Club, Duke becomes Avalon's "Goodwill Ambassador” - Avalon Harbor is Catalina’s main attraction. Duke leads tourists in singing the town's signature song "Avalon" as they disembark their steamships. Duke is also notable as the original, advertising character for the cleaning product “Mr. Clean." In 1975, he has open heart surgery and gives up his lifeguard duties in Avalon, but continues his role as Avalon's greeter. In 1977, his health deteriorates, and he returns to his small trailer in Palm Springs - as he did every fall. After 40 years, Avalon decides not to renew his contract as "Official Greeter,” and on December 22, 1977, a friend finds Duke dead in his trailer from a heart attack. He was 71. He is interred in Avalon's Cemetery. The position of "Official Greeter" has remained vacant since his death.
Before she was Marilyn Monroe, she was Norma Jeane Daughtry. At 16, Norma Jeane has two options: Ship off to yet another orphanage, or marry the boy-next-door and set sail for Catalina - an island off the coast of Southern California. Norma Jeane is no dumb blonde - she isn’t even a blonde. According to Norma Jeane's soon-to-be-husband, James Daughtry, the island paradise is where Marilyn Monroe is born. In an interview, Dougherty says: “I would marvel at how she’d ‘turn on’ when she was walking and knew men were looking at her. She’d do ‘the walk’ seen later in millions of her films, but back then, she was just learning to do it, and she was very, very good at it!”
There's a heatwave in LA right now and I am in desperate need of that Catalina breeze.
"I didn't feel like a married woman. The most important thing my marriage did for me was to end forever my status as orphan," Marilyn says in her autobiography, "My Story.” "Jim was a nice husband. He never hurt me or upset me - except on one subject. He wanted a baby." The thought of having a baby makes the hairs on Norma Jeane's arm stand on end. Can you blame a child bride for not wanting to bring a kid into this world? Daughtry - who she calls either Jimmie or Daddy - never truly ‘gets’ Norma Jeane. "She was just a housewife," remembers Jimmie/Daddy, "We used to go down to the beach and have luaus on Saturday nights." The couple's favorite song is Glen Miller's "Moonlight Serenade." They listen to it together on the beach in Avalon and dreamily hold each other in their arms. If you haven’t held someone in your arms on Catalina, what are you doing with your life?
At 16, Norma Jeane has two options: Ship off to another orphanage, or marry the boy-next-door and set sail for Catalina Island. According to Norma Jeane's then-husband, James Daughtry, the island paradise is where Marilyn Monroe is born. Dougherty states, “I would marvel at how she’d ‘turn on’ when she was walking and knew men were looking at her. She’d do ‘the walk’ seen later in millions of her films, but back then, she was just learning to do it, and she was very, very good at it!”
“Oh it’s hard to explain the feeling I had.” -Marilyn Monroe describing her time on Catalina Island
Photo: Marilyn on Catalina Island when she was still Norma Jeane. Background photos: The famous Catalina tiles that I snapped pictures of when I was visiting the island this past weekend.
In 1942, a 16-year-old Norma Jeane Baker avoids being shunted to yet another foster home by marrying her 21-year-old neighbor, James Dougherty - a merchant marine soon to be stationed on Catalina Island. Dougherty moves his young bride to an apartment overlooking Avalon Harbor. The future Miss Marilyn Monroe spends the next year and a half living as a housewife, 22 miles off the coast of California. To be continued...
...has already been nominated for 3 Academy Awards - including 2 Best Actress nominations.
