Myra Jones’ Former House

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Though I love true crime and pretty much all of its facets, there are some cases that I find too sad and disturbing to read about, research, do any stalking of, or feature on my blog.  Today’s locale, the site of the brutal rape and murder of a 71-year-old grandma, is not one I would typically cover.  But the victim’s connection to what is arguably Hollywood’s most iconic thriller and the serious mistaken identity that resulted from her killing had me utterly fascinated.  I figured my fellow stalkers would be intrigued, as well.  I am talking about the 1988 slaying of actress Myra Davis, who worked under the stage name Myra Jones.

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The moniker is likely unfamiliar to most, which is not surprising being that Jones’ IMDB page lists a scant six credits.  Her face is also likely unfamiliar.  Again, not surprising being that she never actually appeared in the most famous production on which she worked.  (That’s her below pictured via an image from the television show North Mission Road, which covered her murder in a 2005 episode.)Though Myra did find a bit of success later in life starring in commercials, it was not until after her death that her name and image found their way into the papers.  A full decade after her death, actually, thanks to a bit of misreporting in an Associated Press article.  But more on that in a bit.  During her early days in Hollywood, Jones worked as a stand-in for Janet Leigh.  From November 1959 to February 1960, she served as Leigh’s stand-in the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho – even during the infamous shower scene.  But you never saw her onscreen.  For those not familiar with Hollywood terminology, a stand-in, which is not to be confused with a body double, literally “stands in” for an actor or actress anytime the camera is not rolling – typically during rehearsals to test camera set-ups, lighting, and blocking.  While standing-in during the shower sequence, Myra wore a nude leotard, which mimicked flesh tones, so that various lighting schematics could be evaluated against it.  But neither her face nor her body was featured in even one second of footage.

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Flash forward to June 28th, 1988.  After not hearing from her for several days, Myra’s granddaughter, Sherry Davis, headed to the actress’ West L.A. bungalow, located at 2917 South Beverly Drive in Palms, to check on her.  Peering in the bedroom window, she discovered a horrifying site – Jones’ decomposing body splayed across the bed.  She had been raped and murdered eight days prior.  Though Sherry had suspicions that the crime might have been committed by next-door neighbor Joel Stein, who lived one door south at 2923 South Beverly, detectives zeroed in on Sherry’s brother, who was battling drug addiction at the time.  The brother passed a polygraph, though, and police it seems didn’t look further.  Myra’s case went cold.

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Her 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,234-square-foot home, which Myra had lived in for 40 years, was subsequently sold.

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Flash forward once again.  This time to March 29th, 1998, almost a full decade later, when 60-year-old Jean Orloff was found raped and murdered inside her apartment located at 1810 South Bentley Avenue in West L.A.  Though a fire alarm in her bedroom had been dismantled, her dust ruffle burned, and marks on her neck and back were visible, the police detective on the scene ruled that the death resulted from a heart attack.  The burned bed skirt he explained away by saying Jean (pictured below via a Cold Case Files episode), who was a known smoker, might have dropped a cigarette during the attack, causing a small fire.  No matter that no cigarette was found near her body or on the floor.  Because of the ruling, Jean’s apartment was turned over to her family and they began to clean up the scene and pack her belongings.  It was not until four days later that the truth was unveiled.  While the funeral home was preparing Jean for cremation, a worker noticed that her death certificate had never been signed by the attending coroner.  Orloff’s longtime doctor was contacted, but, because he had not seen Jean for over eight months, legally he could not endorse the document.  So the coroner’s office sent out investigator Sherwood Dixson to re-examine the body and sign the paperwork.  While inspecting her, Dixson noticed that there was significant bruising on Jean’s neck.  In the days since her discovery, the ligature marks left by her killer had darkened significantly.  Dixson ruled the death a homicide.

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By the time of Dixson’s ruling, Jean’s family had already cleaned her apartment (pictured below from the Cold Case Files episode) and packed away most of her belongings, wiping away or tossing out any evidence in the process.  The police were in a predicament.  So they started reaching out to those close to Orloff in the hopes that someone might be able to shed some light on why she was killed.  One of the people contacted was Jean’s longtime manicurist, Adrienne Rosenfeldt.  Though Rosenfeldt did not have any relevant information to give police, when she returned home later that night she mentioned Jean’s murder to her son, Joel Stein.  Yes, the same Joel Stein who lived next door to Myra Jones.  The conversation got Joel thinking about his brother-in-law, Kenneth Dean Hunt, who also inhabited the home next door to Myra.  Kenneth had been behaving strangely and binging on cocaine over the few days prior.  Joel remembered that ten years earlier, immediately following Jones’ death, Kenneth had acted the exact same way.  He called the police, who brought Hunt in for questioning and obtained his DNA.  Sure enough, the results showed that he was the killer of both Jean and Myra.  Sherry Davis had been right all along.  Her grandmother had been murdered by the man next-door – just not the man she was thinking of.  Kenneth was arrested, charged and ultimately convicted of both homicides.  He was sentenced to life in prison.  The story doesn’t end there, though.

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When Hunt was arrested, the Associated Press published an article stating that one of his victims was Janet Leigh’s Psycho body double.  The press subsequently ran with the story, tantalized by the eerie fact that a woman who appeared in one of the most famous murder scenes of all time wound up dying a brutal death at the hands of a deranged killer.  The only trouble was the account wasn’t accurate.  Can you say fake news?!?  As I mentioned above, Myra was Leigh’s stand-in, not her body double.  That job went to a former stripper and one-time Playboy cover model named Marli Renfro (pictured below).  It is her body that appears in all portions of the shower scene in which Janet’s face is not visible in the frame.  The press’ misreporting is somewhat understandable, I guess, being that the terms “body double” and “stand-in” are often used interchangeably, though they shouldn’t be.  Further muddying the waters was the fact that both Leigh and Hitchcock categorically denied the use of a shower scene body double for years.  Because Myra used a stage name, after the Associated Press released their initial article, some media sources, confused by Hitchcock and Leigh’s denials, simply assumed that Marli Renfro and Myra Jones were the same person.  It was not long before news of the Psycho body double’s murder was everywhere, with some outlets even claiming that Myra had done the voice work of Norman Bates’ mother in the movie, another incorrect factoid.

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It took years for the matter to be cleared up.  Enter author Robert Graysmith, who had been obsessed with Renfro since his teens.  While perusing a December 2007 news article about the murder, he was surprised to see Sherry Davis quoted as saying, “My grandmother would never have done any nude work.”  Being that Marli had been featured on the cover of Playboy, the quote confused Graysmith and he began researching the matter further.  As he shockingly soon discovered, not only were Marli Renfro and Myra Jones two different people, but Renfro was alive and well and living in the Mojave Desert.  Even more shocking, Marli had no idea she had been proclaimed dead by the media or that there was so much confusion surrounding her role in Psycho until Robert contacted her and explained the situation.  Graysmith wound up publishing a book on the subject titled “The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shower” in 2010.

I first learned about Myra’s killing from fellow stalker Alan who posted a comment on my Challenge Lindsay! page back in January alerting me to the addresses of several Haunted Hollywood locales, one of which was Jones’ home.  Another fellow stalker named James responded to Alan’s comment, providing a link to a Wikipedia page about Marli Renfro.  I was not familiar with either Jones or Renfro at the time, but once I started Googling, I pretty much couldn’t stop.  The whole story is almost stranger than fiction!

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Myra’s house, which was originally built in 1938, was featured in the Season 3 Cold Case Files episode that covered her murder titled “Before I Do/Hollywood Homicides.”

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The residence also appeared in the North Mission Road episode about the case titled “Double Mystery.”  You can watch that episode here.

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Alan for telling about this location and to fellow stalker James for providing the Wikipedia link that led me to reading more about the case.  Smile

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Myra Jones’ former house is located at 2917 South Beverly Drive in Palms.

My Experience at Halloween Horror Nights (Hint – It Was Fabulous!)

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Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is something I have wanted to do forever.  Considering my obsession with Halloween, all things spooky and movie studios, it’s kind of a shock that I had never been.  The rather steep ticket prices – as well as the fact that everyone told me I shouldn’t bother attending unless I was also going to purchase a Front of Line pass – are what deterred me year after year.  When my best friends, Robin and Steffi, announced that they were coming to visit us from Switzerland for a week in mid-October, though, I decided that they were not leaving America without a nighttime visit to Universal.  Not only is Halloween Horror Nights a perfect way to celebrate my favorite holiday, but Robin is obsessed with The Walking Dead and the park features a maze themed after the AMC series.  So we headed right on over there after picking them up from the airport.  While this is not my typical Haunted Hollywood column, because I always had so many questions about Halloween Horror Nights (if it was worth the cost, if Front of Line passes were necessary, if the crowds were prohibitive, etc.), I thought a post on our experience would be a good idea.  (I do have to apologize for the quality of my photographs – they were all taken on my iPhone and, being that lighting was low at the park, are not the greatest.)

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In short, I loved, loved, LOVED Halloween Horror Nights.  The ticket prices may be high (we paid $90 a person, but the rates fluctuate depending upon which night you attend and how far in advance you are purchasing), but they are worth every penny!  We opted not to buy Front of Line passes and, as it turns out, we really didn’t need them.  For those who have never attended or looked into attending, Front of Line tickets run about $200 a person (that includes admission to the park).  Again, the rates fluctuate depending on the date you attend and how far in advance you are purchasing (late in the game, Front of Line passes cost about $260 per guest!).  Our group (read: the Grim Cheaper) just wasn’t willing to pay that much, which, in hindsight, was a good decision.  While the lines were definitely long (some over 100 minutes), it is my opinion that Front of Line tickets are not at all necessary.

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Because Robin and Steffi were extremely tired from their long flight (and had been awake for more than 24 hours straight at that point), we only stayed at Universal for about two and a half hours.  During that time, we were able to go through two mazes and grab a bite to eat.  While we, admittedly, saw very little of what Horror Nights has to offer, we had a blast and definitely felt that we got our money’s worth.  Heck, just being there and walking through all of the Halloween madness was worth it!  And had we arrived when the park opened and stayed until closing, we easily could have experienced most of the attractions sans Front of Line tickets – especially considering that early admission (two hours before the park actually opens) is offered every single night for free, during which time a few select mazes are accessible.  So my best advice for enjoying Halloween Horror Nights is to skip the pricey Front of Line tickets and instead get to the park right at 5 p.m., when it opens, and stay until closing at 2 a.m.

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I would also suggest purchasing a hotel package if you don’t live in the area.  We opted to go that route and our package included tickets to the park and a King Bed Corner Room at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City.

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Our room was large and had a queen-sized sofa-bed, which was perfect for our group.  The Hilton is also within walking distance to the park (it’s about a block to the Universal Studios entrance) and shuttle service to CityWalk is provided, as well.

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Our room also boasted incredible views of the park!

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It happened to be cloudy the night we attended Halloween Horror Nights, which made for the perfect ambiance.  Even our hotel looked spooky!

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As I said earlier, just being at Universal, seeing all of the frightening décor and witnessing the many masked figures, aka the “scareactors,” who walk around terrorizing guests was an experience in and of itself.  Throw in the multitude of chilling attractions and it was pretty much the perfect night for me!

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The first maze we hit up was The Walking Dead Attraction (which is now open during the day and year-round).

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I have never seen The Walking Dead (I know, I know – I’m missing out), so I did not really know what to expect, but the maze was uh-maz-ing (pun intended!).  I honestly felt like I was walking through a live movie set – the decorations were that good.  Add to that the fact that scareactors were jumping out at every turn and the whole thing made for an absolutely terrifying experience.  We all screamed our heads off the entire way through.  (Though photos were allowed inside and I did attempt to take some at the beginning, with scareactors jumping out at us regularly, I became afraid I might drop my phone and opted to put it away rather quickly.)

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My favorite portion of the evening, though, was hands-down the Terror Tram!  As part of the attraction, guests are not only able to walk right through the Bates Motel set from Psycho . . .

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. . . but right up to the Bates house . . .

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. . . and onto the front porch to take a photo with Norman Bates himself!  The daytime tram ride does not allow visitors to get up-close-and-personal with the Psycho house (heck, guests aren’t even allowed to get off the tram during the daytime ride), so, for me, this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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Y’all better be sitting down for this next part because it’s downright incredible!  Following the visit to the Bates home, guests are invited to walk through the War of the Worlds plane crash set!  Yes, you read that right – visitors are actually allowed to walk through the plane crash set from the 2005 film.

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I’ve talked about the set – which is comprised of an actual commercial 747 jetliner that was chopped up for the movie – numerous times on my blog.  Heck, the site – or at least a free view of it – even made it onto My L.A. Must-Stalk List!

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During the daytime tram ride, guests are only driven through the set, so being able to walk through it at a slow speed and see every aspect of it so closely was downright remarkable!

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All in all, Halloween Horror Nights was an incredible experience and I cannot more highly recommend it!  It might be one of my favorite Halloween events ever!

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Halloween Horror Nights takes place annually from mid-September through the beginning of November at Universal Studios theme parks in Universal City, Orlando, Japan, and Singapore.  This year, Halloween Horror Nights Universal Studios Hollywood runs through November 5th.  You can find out more information about the event and purchase tickets here.

The “Psycho” Car Dealership

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While putting together a list of spooky-type locales to stalk during my Haunted Hollywood month a couple of weeks ago, I decided to peruse through fave book James Dean Died Here: The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks by Chris Epting for a little inspiration.  And, let me tell you, I just about died of excitement when I saw a blurb about the North-Hollywood-area car dealership that appeared in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho. In the blurb, Epting mentioned that not only was the place still standing, but that it was also still a car dealership – over fifty years later!  How incredibly cool is that?!?  So because Psycho is arguably one of the most well-known and best-loved horror movies of all time, I decided that I just had to include the location in my Haunted Hollywood postings and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to the Valley to stalk it a few days later.

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In Psycho, Marion Crane (aka Jamie Lee Curtis’ mother, Janet Leigh), who is on the run from the police after having stolen $40,000 in cash from her boss in Arizona, stops by the supposed-Bakersfield-area “California Charlie’s Used Car Lot” in order to trade her car in for one with California plates.  While there, her brusque, hurried attitude causes California Charlie (aka John Anderson) to say his famous line, “Well, it’s the first time the customer ever high-pressured the salesman.”  At the time of the filming, the dealership was known as Harry Maher’s Used Car Lot and, because the Ford Motor Company was a sponsor of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maher was required to swap out his real life inventory with a supply of Fords for the one-day shoot.  Hitchcock was apparently such a perfectionist that, according to a fabulous article written on The Cabinet website, he sent assistant director Hilton A. Green all the way to Bakersfield to photograph real-life used car salesmen in order to see their clothing so that California Charlie’s costume would be realistic.  He also commissioned Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano to observe car salesmen while writing the script so that Charlie’s dialogue would be legitimate.  Talk about attention to detail!

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Also according to The Cabinet article, the bathroom scene, in which Marion takes $700 out of her purse in order to pay for her new car, was not filmed on location at Harry Maher’s Used Car Lot, as the restroom there was too small to fit an entire camera crew.  Hitch instead decided to shoot that brief scene at Universal Studios, on what I am assuming was just a set that was built on a soundstage.

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Today, Harry Maher’s Used Car Lot is home to MINI of Universal City and it, sadly, does not look much like it did in 1960 when Psycho was filmed.

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Because the lot has changed so considerably over the years, it was hard to discern the exact spot where filming took place.  But if I had to venture a guess, I would say that the California Charlie’s scene was shot in the area denoted with a pink rectangle in the above aerial view.  And I am fairly certain that the building denoted with a blue arrow was not in existence at the time that Psycho was filmed.

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It is my guess that the screen capture and photograph pictured above show the same exact area of the lot.  I believe that the California Charlie’s sales office is now the MINI dealership’s service office . . .

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. . . and that the door shown in the screen capture above is in pretty much the same location as the door denoted with a pink arrow in the photograph.

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I am also fairly certain that the MINI showroom was built in the portion of the lot that Marion walked through in Psycho . . .

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. . . and that the above images show the exact same view, albeit 50 years apart.  Even though the property has changed so drastically in the five-plus decades since the filming of Psycho took place, I was still absolutely elated to be standing on such hallowed ground.  The thought that Alfred Hitchcock had once been in the same spot I was now stalking was literally mind-blowing.  So incredibly cool!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: MINI of Universal City, aka the Psycho car dealership, is located at 4270 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood.  You can visit the dealership’s official website here.