Early morning, Jan. 15, 1947, a young mother quietly walked on the city sidewalks of Los Angeles, Calif., pushing her baby in a stroller. She enjoyed the crisp, dewy morning air. Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. She spotted something unusual in a field of weeds. At first, she thought it was a department store mannequin. As she inched closer, she realized she was staring at a naked young woman. As she approached even closer, she could see that the woman’s body had been cut into two pieces.
The dead woman was Elizabeth Short. The 22-year-old aspiring actress was born on July 29, 1924, in Hyde Park, Mass. As Short grew up, the beautiful dark-haired girl dreamt of becoming a movie star. She longed for the day she would move to Hollywood. By the age of 19, she did exactly that.
Once in Hollywood, Short would move between the western and eastern coasts over the next two years. By the age of 21 she finally settled in Los Angeles. The sociable young lady began hitting the nightclub circuit, appearing at some of the most high profile hot spots of the time, such as the Florentine Gardens, Hollywood Canteen and Boogie Woogie Club. She did it to get noticed.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if she caught the attention of the wrong person.
Numerous theories have been written about the life and death of Elizabeth Short. She has been portrayed as everything from a slut to a virgin with a sexual deformity. The list of her potential killers has ranged from a nightclub owner to various police officers to famous film director Orson Welles.
Over the years, the few known facts have mixed with conjecture that surround this unusual crime. One known fact is that Short received her famous nickname before her murder. Short was fond of a feature film playing in her neighborhood, The Blue Dahlia. She also liked to wear her black hair up in a bouquet-like fashion. Somehow, these ideas were transposed into the "Black Dahlia" moniker her friends adopted for her.
Another fact in the Elizabeth Short story is she was last seen alive by someone other than her killer(s), in the lobby of the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Short had returned to Los Angeles from San Diego, where she met up with a man by the name of "Red" Manley. He had promised the young woman that he could help her into films, but, in reality, he was mainly interested in getting into her pants. After their meeting, Manley drove Short to the Biltmore Hotel and waited with her in the lobby. She was supposed to meet some friends who never showed up. Manley told Short he needed to leave, so she bid him farewell, walked out of the hotel and onto Olive Street. It was the last time she was seen alive.
Another known truth is that whoever killed Short did so in a particularly grim fashion. In addition to the severing of her body, there were visible signs of torture. Her mouth was slit open from ear to ear, which left a morbid death grin on her lovely face. She was covered with bruises, cuts and scratches on her face and arms. Her left breast had been mutilated and a hunk of flesh had been extracted and jammed into her vagina. She had also been disemboweled and her entire body drained of blood. To remove any trace evidence, the killer washed her body and shampooed her hair. When her body was discovered, her hair was dripping wet.
Police were sent into a tizzy over the butchering. More than 250 police officers pounded the pavement looking for clues. More than 50 people came to the police with confessions. They were all tossed out as delusional deviants with sick senses of humor. The only person arrested was Manley. The 26-year-old married man was placed under intense supervision and even paraded in front of the press while handcuffed. Nevertheless, Manley passed every lie detector test and was cleared of all suspicion.
Throughout the years, many people have attempted to solve Elizabeth Short’s murder. One detective summarized the murder best when he said, "The more you learn about this case, the less you know."
Did a serial killer murder Elizabeth Short? Was it a surgeon with perfect cutting skills? Was it a famous Hollywood film director? Was it a drunk with a limp? All of these theories have been tossed about as the be-all, end-all solution to this crime.
The bottom line to this tale of an aspiring actress who headed to Hollywood to become a movie star is twofold: We may never know who killed "The Black Dahlia" and she will always be remembered, only not the way she dreamed.