The dahlia has an allure and mystery like no other flower. After all, it lends its name to Hollywood’s most famous unsolved case: the January 1947 murder of aspiring starlet Beth Short, just 22 years old.
Beth, a Massachusetts native, who was trying make her way in Tinseltown, was known to friends and admirers as the Black Dahlia. Though not much is known for sure about her, it’s clear that she had a fondness for eccentricity. She often dressed in black, wore geisha-like makeup and tucked a flower in her hair.
Beth Short
After “The Blue Dahlia” movie came out in 1946, friends in Long Beach decided that Beth should be dubbed The Black Dahlia. The comparison was both apt and eerie because the movie (starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, and written by Raymond Chandler) is a classic film noir. Beth followed her own doomed path within months of the film’s release.
Chandler got the name “Blue Dahlia” from a Charles Baudelaire prose poem, "Invitation to the Voyage," in which he refers to black roses, blue dahlias and other absurdities, such as loving a woman who would love him back. ;)
That interesting tidbit comes from Black Dahlia aficionado Richard Schave. Richard and his wife Kim Cooper run offbeat bus tours of Los Angeles, retracing the steps of people like Beth Short, Raymond Chandler and many others.
Or as they put it on esotouric.com: “Our tour themes are provocative and complex, but never dry, mixing crime and social history, rock and roll and architecture, literature and film, fine art and urban studies into a simmering stew.”
I recently took the Dahlia Tour and it was both fascinating and fun. Beth Short's murderer was never brought to justice, but theories abound as to the culprit's identity.
Was it a jealous boyfriend or movie mogul? Some have suggested that it was a mafia hit ordered by a wealthy LA businessman. Others argue it was a prominent doctor Beth met through her sister. Still others maintain that a random psychopath was responsible for her grisly death.
It's unlikely that there will ever be definitive answers in the Black Dahlia case. To me, the most intriguing question isn't whodunnit, but rather who was Beth Short and what was she like?
Flower Fact of the Day: A new flower pot takes in solar power so it can glow at night. It’s pretty cool! See for yourself at: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/22/solar-powered-glowing-flower-pot-does-just-that.
