Matt Weinstock, June 25, 1959

"Never Touched Me." Happy Ending Roy Huerta got up at 2 a.m. yesterday, drove to Tijuana and brought his wife Manuela and their six children back to L.A. to stay, thereby ending a frustrating, 10-year, across-the-border separation. Roy and Manuela were married here in 1947. One day in 1949 they took a trip to Tijuana. At the border on the way back they were asked the usual questions. Roy had no trouble. He was born in Johnstown, Pa., and served three years in the Army. Manuela, born in Zacatecas, Mex., panicked and gave conflicting answers. She was detained and accused of entering this country illegally. Later, she compounded her apparent guilt by ignoring, out of fear, a summons to a hearing. She was convicted of perjury and deported under the McCarran Act. FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS Roy, 39, a cook at the DuZeff's restaurant on Sunset Blvd., has made a pilgrimage each weekend to Tijuana to be with his family. He took along groceries, clothes, and gifts for the children, the sixth of which was born there. The case was first reported here in 1957. Ridley Billick, manager of the Spring St. restaurant in which Roy then worked, was trying to correct the injustice. About two months later a reader, Fay C. Rosenblatt, inquired about the case, which disturbed her. A phone call to Roy disclosed that the situation was unchanged, which was reported here. But Francis H. Ohswaldt, deputy district director of immigration, saw the column and phoned. It appeared to him that Roy and Manuela could be reunited under Public Law 85-316, in effect since 1957, if they could meet the conditions, which apparently they could. The sad thing, he said, was that they didn't know they were eligible for this relief for more than a year. Ohswaldt was put in touch with Roy, and the wheels began to turn. There was the interminable chore of filing applications with the American consul in Tijuana and assembling of birth and other records. Meanwhile, immigration officials at SanYsidro were alerted to expedite the case. For several weeks all the necessary papers were on file except one from Zacatecas police department, giving proof that Manuela had no police record. Last week the letter came through. Then came the processing of the records by the immigration people to satisfy the requirements of the law. It was just another case among scores of similar cases, but by this time they were taking a benevolent interest. Today the happy, grateful Huerta family is staying with friends, meanwhile house hunting. :: THE PUZZLING suicide of George Reeves has friends recalling tales about him. An actor who worked with him in several installments of the "Superman" series remembered that Reeves was always complaining that his feet were killing him because of an inevitable scene in each show. He didn't mind the shot in which he, as Clark Kent, changed into his Superman suit and dove out of a window to fly to someone's rescue. It was the one where he landed that bothered him. He'd have to stand on a ladder out of camera range and jump from 4 of 5 ft. If he landed sideways or with his costume out of place, there would be retakes. By the end of the day he was an unhappy man. :: AL CAPP'S comment in Newsweek about Hollywood: "A welcome here starts hotter and gets colder faster than anything anywhere in the world." Come, come, Al, we always say nice things about Dogpatch. :: PEOPLE ARE always ribbing colleague Paul Coates because of his steely, unsmiling appearance on TV. Bob Crane of KNX told of a gal, a regular Coates watcher, who put a Venetian blind on her set and closes it when his program comes on. She gets ready for bed about that time and has the feeling he's watching her. :: AROUND TOWN -- A girl of about 7 came up to a guard at Pacific Ocean Park and said, "I'd like to report a lost mother and father. They shouldn't be too hard to find -- they're together."

Michael Jackson -- Master of Marketing

Jan. 15, 1984: Michael Jackson as a master of marketing. "Jackson is assuredly not the innocent he's usually presumed to be."

Michael Jackson in Victory Tour

July 9, 1984: Michael Jackson's Victory Tour: "Michael Jackson is passively aggressive, childishly macho, asexually passionate, dreamily realistic ... The 25-year-old pop sensation is the living, dancing embodiment of an oxymoron ... a figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory ideas are combined."

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Your Music

June 25, 1973: Phil Ochs (1940 - 1976) performs at the Ash Grove, 8162 Melrose, (1958 - 1973).

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Music

June 23, 1966: The Marantz Model 10B FM stereo tuner costs $750, or $4,924.09 USD 2008.

U.S. Bans D.H. Lawrence Novel

"I Feel Terribly Different."

The Farmers Market ad pokes gentle fun at Times columnist Hedda Hopper. Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield defends his decision to ban "Lady Chatterly's Lover" from the U.S. mails. Times book columnist Robert R. Kirsch says Summerfield's ban is "shockingly like the kind of literary criticism issuing recently from the Kremlin." What's on the bestseller list? Why, it's "Lady Chatterly's Lover"!     Even the Republicans have beauty contests!

A drive-in church designed by Richard Neutra? And get this: The minister is some fellow named the Rev. Robert Schuller. Joe Hyams interviews Sophia Loren. Audio excerpts from the Elizabeth Ann "Ma" Duncan trial.   At left, George Reeves' mother hires Jerry Giesler to investigate his apparent suicide. Above, Richard Ingledue kills Charles De Long in a fight over Dolores Mayfield. The judge sentenced Ingledue to a year in jail, calling him a "spoiled brat."   Abe Ben Fisher kills one man and wounds two others before committing suicide. "He just put the gun to his head and fired," says Donald T. Giertz, who was shot in the mouth.

Newspapers in the 1950s often ran contests featuring peculiar puzzles -- like this one.  Ballet is like baseball -- except I don't think dancers spit nearly as often.    Don Drysdale leads the Dodgers to a 9-2 win over the Reds, bringing the Dodgers within 2 1/2 games of first-place Milwaukee.

Star of Hit TV Show Kills Himself!

George Reeves, star of "Superman," one of the most popular shows on TV, kills himself with a 9-millimeter Luger and The Times runs the story inside. I wonder what the editors were thinking. Present at the time were Reeves' fiancee, Lenore Lemmon, writer Robert Condon, who was doing a story about Reeves' upcoming exhibition match with boxer Archie Moore, neighbor Carol Van Ronkel and her companion William Bliss.

Reeves was furious that Bliss and Van Ronkel arrived about 1 a.m. and said he was in no mood for a party. He threatened to throw Bliss out of the house, then apologized and went to his bedroom. "He's going upstairs to shoot himself," Lemmon told the visitors. "See, he's opening the drawer to get the gun." And after the shot was fired, "See there, I told you; he's just shot himself."

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The "Man of Steel" lived at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive.
Above, the neighborhood as shown via Google maps' street view.

A $700 Jan Murray?

In going through Los Angeles items on EBay, I try to select ones that are interesting or unusual--and reasonably priced. I usually filter out what I consider junk, but this one is worth a comment. Here's a basic bread-and-butter letter from TV comic Jan Murray that has been listed on EBay with a starting price of $500 or Buy It Now for $700. No disrespect, but I wouldn't pay $700 for a Jan Murray even if you threw in a Larry Storch, a Charley Weaver and a Wally Cox.

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Radio and Record Player

June 7, 1925: The Brunswick Radiola combines a radio and a record player.

Jerry Doggett Calls the Plays

Photograph by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times Aug. 25, 1983: Jerry Doggett in the broadcasting booth. He did not want to be photographed calling a game.

Jerry Doggett spent more than 30 years happily in Vin Scully's shadow. He came with Scully to Los Angeles when the Dodgers moved west and remained his broadcast partner until retiring in 1987. "This year without a doubt has been one of the most wonderful years of our lives," Doggett wrote in The Times' radio column about living in California. Doggett was pinch-hitting for the vacationing Don Page. Generations of baseball fans who grew up in Southern California can remember games or calls made by Scully. Not so much with Doggett, who gave Scully a break of two during the game in a solid if unremarkable manner. "He never complained about not getting more of the limelight, he never showed any ego or any of that baloney. Jerry Doggett was just a terrific guy and I will miss him forever," Scully told The Times' Larry Stewart when Doggett died at age 80 in 1997. --Keith Thursby Here's a rarity--the ninth inning of a Dodger no-hitter not called by Scully. Doggett did the play-by-play for Sal Maglie's gem in 1956. Scully was also on the broadcast and wrapped up the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ANbQ-7LQHs&feature=PlayList&p=E52233F9DD7C12DE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=78 [Gosh, look who picked up a photo from the Daily MIrror! Mr. Doug Miles--lrh]