Hello, again, Movie Fans:

Last week was the 40th anniversary of the tragic death of a 50s Blonde Bombshell B-Movie Star by the name of Barbara Payton. If you've never heard of her, well, she was much better known during her lifetime than now, 40 years later. A Tabloid Queen, you might say she was the Anna Nicole Smith of her day, but with more talent. And more tragedy.

Well, to commemorate the sad anniversary, I ventured to San Diego with my Three Amigos, Scott Michaels, Lisa Burks and Harry Martin, to retrace her final days there. Lisa is the biographer of Franchot Tone, one of Barbara's ex-husbands. He was famously beaten to within an inch of his life by Tom Neal, another actor to whom she was also engaged, in just one of the many strange episodes of her life. She died at the age of 39 at the home of her parents, and we had the unique honor of being invited in to see the place by the current owners. We actually gazed upon the original tile bathroom floor where she collapsed exactly 40 years earlier. Then, we visited her niche, left flowers, and she is among the 12 new photos in this week's BLA update.

We also visited the graves of Dan & Linda Broderick, murder victims of Dan's first wife, Betty. By all accounts, they had it coming. Well, at least Dan did. Linda was simply the unfortunate younger lookalike of Betty. For more details on this story, visit Scott's excellent site, FindaDeath.com and read the story to which Harry added much of the research and commentary.

Check the What's New page for the complete list of the 12 finds from the day. I'm adding one more, so make it 13 finds for the day. Thanks Scott, Harry & Lisa for the great field trip, and web master Dave for his always excellent support here. And to all of you for enjoying the site and your great comments and suggestions.

Remember, don't reply to this newsletter because I won't see that, but feel free to write me from the site. Just click on my name.

And as always, Happy Hunting!

Steve
http://www.BeneathLosAngeles.com

(Published: Wed Mar 20 2019; Hits: 0)

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