The Murder That Shocked Hollywood

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, History, Education, Sex, Scandal

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In post-war Hollywood, the film industry had a reputation for its dark side as much as anything happening on the big screen.

So when Elizabeth Short was dramatically - and cinematically - murdered in Hollywood, the press called her the Black Dahlia and made a sensation out of her.

Who was the real woman behind the terrifying headlines? What did she have to do with the film industry? And why was no one ever caught?

Joining Kate today is the fantastic historian and author William Mann, to take us back to post-war Hollywood.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Do you want even more shocking and scandalous history?
0:03.2	Like why the ancient Greek statues had such small manhoods?
0:06.8	Or what went on behind closed doors in the Georgian era?
0:10.8	We'll sign up to History Hit,
0:12.5	where you can see me discover the scandalous side of history,
0:15.3	as well as hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:18.7	plus new releases every week,
0:21.1	covering everything from prehistoric Scotland to the Treaty of Versailles.
0:25.8	Sign up to join me in locations around the world and explore the past.
0:30.0	Just visit history hit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:35.2	Hello, my lovely betwixters, it's me, Kate Lister, and you are listening to But Twixter Sheets. Hello, thank you for dropping by once again. But I do, actually, I'm being serious this time. I know I mess about with the Fair Do's Warning, but I am actually a bit serious about this one because today we're talking about murder and a pretty freaking nasty murder. I mean, they're all nasty, but this one was particularly bad.
0:56.8	So, this is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults about adulgy things
1:00.0	and an adult to wake up a range adult subjects and you'd be an adult too.
1:02.5	And if you don't want to listen to today's episode, we won't take any offence whatsoever.
1:06.1	Just scroll on and we'll catch you next time.
1:19.4	We are strolling down Hollywood Boulevard at the start of 1947.
1:24.2	The neon lights are flashing and sailors are on leave falling in and out of bars that are full of young people, many of whom have been lured here with the promise of
1:28.3	stardom. Amongst them is a young woman, Elizabeth Short, who will become famous, but for very
1:34.1	tragic reasons. In the middle of Hollywood's golden age, the moralists are panicking about the
1:40.5	slees and the sensation being projected in the movies, and Elizabeth's tragic murder would come to encapsulate all of those dark fears.
1:49.5	They will name her the Black Dalia, and this is her story.
1:53.3	Music Hello and welcome back to Petwitza Sheets, the history of sex scandal in society with me, Kate Lister.
	...

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