Month: May 2021

It’s 1925!  The first Motel in the United States opens in San Luis Obispo, Ca.  The Great Gatsby is published, The Grand Ole Opry begins broad casting, Mount Rushmore is dedicated, AND our good friend Clarence Darrow, from the Emma Simpson story is defending John Scopes in Tennessee in what is known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial”.

September 29, 1925 in the fashionable Philadelphia area called Germantown, a handsome 35-year-old man is being wheeled out of a house with a bullet shot in his right temple.  He is followed by a young, beautiful, hysterical woman.

The man is Maurice E. Felt, “Gene”, a real estate magnate and former builder and owner of large movie theaters who later sold them for a small fortune.  Gene was married to Mary and had a 10-year-old son, Cornelius.  It was NOT Mary that was following him from the house.  It was Lillian Emanuel.

Lillian met Gene in 1916 when she worked as a multiplex telegraph operator for her father.  She was recently divorced.  A year later he bought a house for her in Highland Park which was a very stylish neighborhood. The house was built to her specifications.   Besides her butler, Washington Booker, she lived alone.   Gene visited her every Tuesday and Saturday nights.   Washington also took care of the black riding horse that she had.  Some of the neighbors complained about having a horse stabled in their neighborhood, but the horse died and that ended the controversy.  Lillian then bought a car.  Washington is also the one that bought a revolver for Lillian.  At first, he bought and automatic revolver, but that scared Gene and he had Washington buy a regular revolver.  However, they didn’t know very much about guns, so they kept the automatic bullets instead of buying bullets that fit the new gun. 

In 1924 Lillian Emanuel had a baby boy named Hunter and Gene bought her a house on Queens Street in Germantown, another stylish neighborhood, the deed to the house was in Lillian’s name.   She lived there with her son, Hunter and his nursemaid, Ellen Galbraith.

On the night of the shooting, Lillian and Gene had been out to dinner and then went for a ride in Gene’s automobile.  They returned to Lillian’s home.  They were discussing Gene’s upcoming trip to Europe.  Gene told Lillian that he was afraid to leave her alone unprotected.  Lillian responded that she wasn’t unprotected that she had the gun he had had Washington buy for her.  Gene asked Lillian where she kept it and she said inside the bedside table.  He then ran up the stairs to the bedroom and Lillian heard a shot.  She raced up the stairs and found Gene lying on the floor, bleeding from the temple with the gun lying on the floor by his right hand. 

He said, “Lillian, I didn’t think it would be so hard.  But everything will be all right.” 

With that statement he lapsed into unconsciousness.  Lillian screamed for Miss Galbraith the nurse, while she was waiting, she wiped Maurice’s face with a towel and got blood on her hands.  The nurse finally made it down from her third-floor room they managed to get him on the bed when he murmured “Water”.  Miss Galbraith picked up the gun from the floor and laid it on the bed and ran to the bathroom where she got him some water.

Lillian screamed at Ellen to call a doctor.  But after several attempts, no doctor would come to the house, so they called the Germantown Hospital which sent to surgeons to the house.  The surgeons said they would have to call the police, but Lillian pleaded with them not to saying that it was an accident.

They took Gene to the hospital where he never regained consciousness and died the next day.

May Felt, the widow, refuses to see any of her friends, she will only see Gene’s brothers and their wives.  “Don’t mention that woman here!  I can’t bear to think about it.  I’ve tried to believe it was an accident, but I can’t, I can’t.  I want to forget everything except Maurice.  It is too terrible a thing to have happened, ” she told the press as they surrounded her apartment building. 

Lillian Emanuel attended a brief hearing.  She was free on bail of $2,500 for the charges of assault and battery by shooting.  But Maurice had died, and so the District Attorney got a warrant for Lillian’s arrest for Manslaughter.  The police looked all over and couldn’t find Lillian, her attorney William Gray said that he would appear with her on the following day and the police had to be satisfied with that.  It turns out that Lillian was in her own house being guarded by two policemen.

Lillian was being arraigned for Manslaughter.  Lillian arrived at the courthouse wearing all black.  She collapsed and had to be carried to the seventh floor where she was photographed, think mug shot, by the police.  Edna, Lillian’s sister accompanied her to the hearing. 

Lillian is held on suspicion of manslaughter.  She is taken to Moyamensing prison.  And get this!  She was assigned to the same cell that Catherine Rosier had occupied in 1922. 

She was held in a waiting room with other prisoners and when her name was called, she was led into a brightly lit room and told to step up onto a large turntable. 

In the room there are 100 masked men.  As she revolved, she was asked her name.  Captain Wood of the detective squad said, “Boys, this is the woman accused of shooting Maurice Felt.  Do any of you know her?”  The detectives all answered NO.  Lillian was so terrified by the experience she had to hold onto the turntable and had to be carried from the room.  In her cell she collapsed.  Her attorney, William A. Gray was horrified.  He accused the police of putting her in the “stick-up” room to break her.

Lillian’s sister Edna Wyckoff takes little Hunter to care for while Lillian is in jail.  Lillian’s father, Harry V. Emanuel, chief operator for Western Union Telegraph, came forward and admitted he was Lillian’s father.  Lillian’s parents were divorced, and each sent letters to her in jail, but neither had visited her. 

Lillian returns to court before Judges Bartlett and McDevitt in Common Pleas Court to continue the fight to get her released on bail.  She is sent back to Moyamensing Prison to await trial.  Lillian had been denied bail. 

The bail hearing lasted six hours with a surprise testimony by Fred Felts, Maurice’s brother.  Fred testified that a week before Maurice was dead, Fred had been trying to get Maurice to leave Lillian and Lillian told them, “If he doesn’t come up with a lump of money, I’ll knock him off.”  He also testified to a life insurance policy in the amount of $25,000 with Lillian as the beneficiary. 

Ellen Galbraith the nurse, testifies at the bail hearing.  “I had just put Forrest to bed, I heard a sound that I thought was a tire bursting.  I wouldn’t have noticed except it frightened the baby and made him cry. 

“I went to his bed and tried to quiet him.  I don’t know how long after this, but it was only a few moments at the most, that there was a noise like someone falling downstairs.  It was a heavy thud.  Then there was silence. 

” Another few moments passed, and then I heard Miss Emanuel’s step on the stairs.  I heard her run from, I believe, the second floor to the first and then back again.  Then I began to grow a little uneasy.”

So, no bail.

William Gray, Lillian’s attorney plans to take Lillian’s case to either the Superior Court or the State Supreme Court in order to get Lillian released from prison on bail.   He stated, “I will appeal today to a Judge of the Superior Court or a Justice of the Supreme Court to fix bail for Lillian Emanuel.  “There is not an element of first-degree murder in this case.  The Commonwealth has failed utterly to show one iota of evidence to connect this woman with the murder of Gene Felt.” 

The Coroner’s jury meets.  These inquests normally don’t last long, but this one lasted all day, and ended around 9:00 p.m. 

The lengthy hearing turned into a battle between Assistant District Attorney Charles F. Kelly and Coroner Patton.  Most of the argument was due to Coroner Patton calling Edward F. Logan and his sister Mary Logan the owners of the Spruce Eagle Inn, testifying that at the time Fred Felt says that Lillian made her statement about knocking Gene off, they were having dinner at the Spruce Eagle, some 15 miles away. 

Mr. Logan says he remembers it because Lillian sent her steak back as being under done.  Steaks are rarely sent back at the Spruce.  Edward was to take his family to the 9:30 movies but told them to go without him because he himself was going to cook a new steak for Lillian. 

After he took Lillian home, Gene returned to his office and Gray had a witness testify to that.  He also had a witness that heard Felt threaten suicide if Lillian ever left him. 

The star witness was Dr. William Wadsworth, coroner’s physician, and expert in post-mortem examinations.  Dr. Wadsworth testified that there were powder burns on the wound and that Gene could have easily shot himself. 

All of the circumstantial evidence brought by Kelly, was repudiated by Gray.  He was so fierce that he often got applause from the onlookers.  Lillian was so distraught that she fainted twice. 

Then the coroner’s jury with little or no deliberation, announces through the foreman, “Maurice Felt died at the hands of person or persons unknown to this jury.”

When the verdict was announced, Lillian stood up, shouted “I’m Free!” and fainted. 

When she woke up she shouted, “Gene, Gene, I’m free!  I’m free! I knew you would be with me! You were near me the whole time!”

After the Coroner’s Jury ruled.  Lillian left and spent the night at her father’s home.  It was planned that Lillian would go to her sister’s home the next day, getting out of Philadelphia and all the notoriety.  A conference was planned for D.A. Kelly, Isaac Levy –  Mrs. Felt’s attorney and William Gray to decide if Lillian Emanuel would be tried for murder, regardless of the coroner’s ruling.  “The matter of further prosecution of Miss Emanuel rests entirely with District Attorney Rotan,” stated Kelly. And District Attorney Rotan said no. So Lillian was free!

Lillian’s attorney made a plea to Mrs. Felt’s attorney, Isaac D. Levy, not to block the $25,000 from the life insurance so that Forrest, the 18-month-old baby could get an education and a good start in life.  Felt’s widow, Mary withdraws her claims against the $25,000 insurance policy that Maurice left for Lillian.  The widow will receive hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Lillian sells her house in Germantown for $22,500.  With the Life insurance policy for $25,000 that would give her $725,000 in today’s money.  She then changes her name, packs up her son Forrest and moves to Washington, DC.  Her sister, Edna moved with them.

And that’s how a poorly cooked steak saved a woman’s life!

This is the story of a love triangle between The Beautician, The Movie Star, and The Crook.

Pearl Haworth married Teddy Spector, whose real name was Isadore Irving Spector, when she was just 15 and working in a stockbroker’s office, after a very short courtship.  They were married in Buffalo, NY.  After 18 months, Teddy leaves Pearl telling her, “I’ve got plenty of brains and I’m not going to waste them fussing around here!”  Those words would come back to haunt him.

Teddy goes off and lives his life for the next 15 or so years and on March 28, 1931 Teddy marries movie star Olive Borden. 

Olive moved to Hollywood in 1923 when she was 16.  Her mother came with her. Her father had died when she was just a baby.  Olive and her mother moved from Mount Washington, Maryland where her mother was a restaurant manager.  Olive’s aunt lived in Los Angeles and they moved in with her. 

She was a pretty girl with brown eyes and blue-black hair.  When Olive and her aunt were attending a cabaret that was being filmed by Al Christie, a producer, he hired Olive on the spot as an extra.  After that it was a little slow finding parts and their income was quickly evaporating. 

They opened a candy store near the University of California.  Olive sold lollipops and penny candy to the college students.  The candy store was not a success and soon closed. 

Then a casting director for a comedy studio, Hal Roach, featured Olive in some comedic shorts and she worked as a bathing beauty for Mark Sennett.  Her break came when she was given a part in “Dressmaker from Paris”.  She then supported Tom Mix in “The Yankee Senor”. 

In 1925 she signed a contract with Fox Films.  Her first starring role was that of a Polynesian girl.  For the next three years she got billing over other stars like Marie Dressler, Jack Pickford, Jack Oakie, Neil Hamilton, and George O’Brien. 

Olive Borden lived in Beverly Hills, she bought 5 mink coats, 3 cars, had a 5-year contract at $1,500 per week.  Between 1926 and 1927 she starred in 11 movies.  She fell in love with fellow actor, George O’Brien.  They were together for over three years until George took a trip to Europe.  When he returned they were no longer seen together. 

Fox wanted Olive to take a cut in pay, which she refused and suddenly, her roles began diminishing, she went to New York to star on Broadway, but the play never came out of rehearsals.  There she met Teddy Spector, a stockbroker, and eloped with him Harrison, NY, she couldn’t act in films them because her contract barred her from being married.  And then the trouble began.

Pearl all this time has been happy owning and operating a beauty salon called the Rouge Box.  Opening the paper one morning she saw a picture of Teddy and his new bride Olive Borden.  The only problem was that Pearl was still married to Teddy, they had never been divorced.

So why did Teddy commit bigamy?  He told Pearl that Olive threatened to jump off a 10-story building if he wouldn’t marry her.  When a woman threatens to jump if you don’t marry her, you marry the girl!  The marriage went well for about a year.  Olive had theater engagements in vaudeville and Teddy worked as a broker on Wall Street.  Then in April 1932 Pearl sees a picture of Olive and Teddy her long lost husband that left her 18 months after their marriage and hadn’t been heard from since.

Pearl files for divorce and heads to the District Attorney, Walter E. Ferris, to let him know about the bigamy.  On May 15, 1932, the grand jury throws the case out.  Pearl has no proof other than her marriage license, and on Teddy’s marriage license with Olive he states that it is his first marriage.  Also, when he married Pearl the marriage license said that Teddy’s place of birth was New York and his father’s name was Clayton.  On the Olive license, it says he was born Patterson, NJ and his father’s name was Arthur.

On May 22, Pearl and District Attorney head back to the grand jury with a picture of Teddy that Pearl had and the pictures from the newspapers that showed the same man albeit a little older, and the grand jury indicts him.  Pearl describes Teddy as ” a tall good-looking brute, who certainly has a fast line.” 

In July 1932 Pearl finally gets her divorce, uncontested.  She was not granted any alimony but did receive court costs of $51.62.  The oddest thing about the divorce was that Justice Almon W. Lytle signed an order that Teddy could not remarry as long as Pearl was alive without a court order.   

Pearl confronts Teddy saying, “How is it that as brainy a man you would marry a woman while he was still the husband of another.”  Repeating Teddy’s farewell speech back to him!

In November 1932 Olive gets an annulment and Pearl testifies.  After her annulment from Teddy, she remarried an electrician for a railroad, John Moeller.  For seven years Olive Borden was a housewife in Long Island.  Her father-in-law lived with them. 

The marriage broke up and in 1941 Olive joined the WACs and worked as an army chauffeur.  After the war she moved back to Los Angeles.  In 1946 she went to work for her mother the Director of the Sunshine Mission for Women and Children.  The mission was located on Skid Row. 

Olive took over the management of the kitchen.  The first Thanksgiving she prepared over a dozen turkeys for the residents.  In 1947 she became ill, it turned out to be pneumonia and she died in the mission at the age of 40.  As she was dying, she told her mother, “I have found the one thing Hollywood couldn’t give me — Happiness.”

I could find no further information on Pearl.  Hopefully, she went back to Buffalo and ran the Rouge Box and lived happily ever after.

Teddy is another story.  Teddy gets arrested several times for running a “bucket shop”.  For example, Teddy was arrested for trading a client’s securities in American Telephone and Telegraph (known as AT&T today) for oil royalties owned by the Standard Oil Company, guaranteeing the client $77 a month for 50 years.  Teddy kept the money from the sale of the stock and never invested in oil royalties. This was known as violating the Martin Act.  Teddy paid the client $2,000 and was released.  He had never gone to prison until…

In March 1937 Teddy marries model Betty Ryan.

Betty almost eloped at the age of 17 to a very handsome male model.  They got hungry and stopped at a hot dog stand before heading to the justice of the peace when they were stopped by the police, Betty’s parents had sent them as Betty was underage.  The couple vowed to marry when Betty turned 18, but it never happened, their work got in the way. 

So, in 1937 Betty married Teddy, who was going by Teddy I. Stewart at the time.  Teddy neglected to tell Betty about the bigamy and his problems with the law.   During their honeymoon, Teddy was arrested again. 

This time Teddy was arrested with 74 other people for selling fraudulent land in Texas for oil.  They cleared over $5,000,000, which in today’s money would be almost $100,000,000.  Some of the property had used up oil wells, but most had no oil, and some were imaginary plots that didn’t even have any land.

Betty did her duty and visited him in prison, but when he was released, she divorced him, October 15, 1941 in Reno.

And that’s the end of the information that I could find on Teddy.  Betty remarried Phil Ammidown, a society architect.

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