Florabel Muir
Encyclopedia
Florabel Muir was an American reporter and newspaper columnist from the 1920s through the 1950s. She was famous for covering both Hollywood celebrities and underworld gangsters.
Muir attended the University of Washington
in Seattle, where she worked as the assistant editor of a student paper. She began her professional newspaper career at the Salt Lake Herald after convincing the city editor to break with tradition and hire their first female reporter. Eventually, she moved to the Salt Lake Tribune where she was, again, their first female reporter. After brief stints at other papers, she went to work for the New York Daily News
as a police reporter in 1927.
In 1934, she attempted to quit her newspaper career and become a fiction writer. However, she received and accepted an offer from the New York Post
. Later, she and her husband left for Hollywood after receiving an offer to write screenplays at Fox. She is credited with one screenplay, Fighting Youth (1935), produced by Universal.
She went back to the Daily News as their Los Angeles correspondent when her former editor was having trouble covering a story in Hollywood. While still writing for the Daily News, she also contributed stories to the Saturday Evening Post, the Los Angeles Mirror, and began writing a column for Daily Variety. She also hosted programs on radio and television (KFI).
Muir was injured during a shooting attempt on the life of mobster Mickey Cohen
at Sherry's restaurant on the Sunset Strip
the night of July 19, 1949. Cohen was struck in the shoulder. Three others were also wounded, including Cohen henchman Edward "Neddie" Herbert, who later died from his wounds, Harry Cooper, a bodyguard assigned by California State Attorney General Frederick N. Howser
to protect Cohen, and Dee David, a young Hollywood movie starlet who was Cohen's dinner guest earlier that evening. Muir was struck in the backside when a slug ricocheted and left a large bruise. Her first instinct was to call the Mirror and get a photographer to the scene while her husband screamed for her to get down.
She was also a confidant of Cohen and enlisted her husband to improve Cohen's reading and vocabulary skills.
Muir was married to Denis A. (Denny) Morrison (Nov. 1, 1890 - Sep. 24, 1966) until his death. Morrison wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. They are buried together at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
Muir attended the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Seattle, where she worked as the assistant editor of a student paper. She began her professional newspaper career at the Salt Lake Herald after convincing the city editor to break with tradition and hire their first female reporter. Eventually, she moved to the Salt Lake Tribune where she was, again, their first female reporter. After brief stints at other papers, she went to work for the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
as a police reporter in 1927.
In 1934, she attempted to quit her newspaper career and become a fiction writer. However, she received and accepted an offer from the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. Later, she and her husband left for Hollywood after receiving an offer to write screenplays at Fox. She is credited with one screenplay, Fighting Youth (1935), produced by Universal.
She went back to the Daily News as their Los Angeles correspondent when her former editor was having trouble covering a story in Hollywood. While still writing for the Daily News, she also contributed stories to the Saturday Evening Post, the Los Angeles Mirror, and began writing a column for Daily Variety. She also hosted programs on radio and television (KFI).
Muir was injured during a shooting attempt on the life of mobster Mickey Cohen
Mickey Cohen
Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:...
at Sherry's restaurant on the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
the night of July 19, 1949. Cohen was struck in the shoulder. Three others were also wounded, including Cohen henchman Edward "Neddie" Herbert, who later died from his wounds, Harry Cooper, a bodyguard assigned by California State Attorney General Frederick N. Howser
Frederick N. Howser
Frederick N. Howser was the 22nd Attorney General of California.-External links:*...
to protect Cohen, and Dee David, a young Hollywood movie starlet who was Cohen's dinner guest earlier that evening. Muir was struck in the backside when a slug ricocheted and left a large bruise. Her first instinct was to call the Mirror and get a photographer to the scene while her husband screamed for her to get down.
She was also a confidant of Cohen and enlisted her husband to improve Cohen's reading and vocabulary skills.
Muir was married to Denis A. (Denny) Morrison (Nov. 1, 1890 - Sep. 24, 1966) until his death. Morrison wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. They are buried together at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.