Tragic Facts About Elizabeth Short, The Black Dahlia
Some people see Elizabeth Short as a real-life femme fatale from a film noir thriller. She was a wannabe actress who walked the mean and dangerous streets of 1940s LA, and she also had connections to some very dangerous men.
Sadly, like many women of film noir, Short had a brutal end to her life—even more sadistic than most horror movies. Her senseless attack by an unknown assailant created a media frenzy that literally stopped the country in its tracks.
But who was Elizabeth Short? Let’s peel back the fiction and get some true facts about Elizabeth Short—AKA the Black Dahlia.
1. She Took A Walk
On January 15, 1947, Betty Bersinger was walking with her young daughter in an area of Los Angeles called Leimert Park—which at the time was mostly an undeveloped wasteland. She walked by a vacant lot in it when something surprised her.
Someone had thrown away an old department store mannequin. The mannequin was actually in two pieces—separated at the waist.
As Bersinger and her three-year-old daughter walked closer, she made a horrifying realization. The mannequin was actually a real person. Bersinger had no idea at the time, but the lifeless body in two parts was Elizabeth Short, and this murder was about to become the case of the century.
2. She Was Number Three
While most people consider the story of The Black Dahlia to be a quintessentially Los Angeles tale, it actually started way over in Boston. Elizabeth Short was number three in a quintet of daughters.
She was born on July 29, 1924, to Cleo A Short and his wife Phoebe May Sawyer. Short’s father had a great idea to make money and invested and built his own miniature golf courses.
Sounds like a good idea, except for one thing: he could never have anticipated what a terrible surprise he was in for.
3. He Lost It All
When the stock market crashed in 1929, Short’s father lost everything he had. At the same time, extravagances like playing mini golf became less popular, so his business was also a bust.
Cleo A Short had a wife and five kids to feed, and he had no idea how he was going to do it. Despondent, he got into his car and drove to the Charlestown Bridge.
4. He Never Came Home
Short’s father didn’t come home that night, or any night after that. When they found his abandoned car by the bridge, they were forced to grapple with a disturbing possibility. He’d purposely jumped off the bridge to end his life. Sadly, this was an all too common occurrence in the years following the stock market crash.
Short’s mom was left to care for, feed, and raise five young girls all on her own. Elizabeth Short was just six years old at the time.
