The Questionable Death of Bessie Poole

Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown

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An affair with a *technically* married celebrity, an illegitimate child, a barroom brawl...all things that would define the life - and death - of dancer Bessie Poole. But what really happened at the Chez Florence nightclub on October 6, 1928? Was she murdered? Was it an accident? Or did she die from natural causes? Hard to say, since some witnesses are lying, some can't be found, and some end up changing their stories.

Episode Sources:

“Lillian Lorraine: The Life and Times of a Ziegfeld Diva” by Nils Hanson

“Night Club Death Cleared” The New York Times, Oct 16, 1928

“The Hard Drink Mixups of the Soft Drink Millionaires” Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan 20, 1929, p. 127

“Bessie Poole Burial” The Boston Globe, Oct 10, 1928, p. 9

Bessie Poole - W.C. Fields’ Lover

“Girl’s Night Club Death Still Mystery”

“Dancer Left $7,000” The New York Times, Nov. 20, 1928

“A Shallow Dive Into the Life of Bessie Poole, Paramour of W.C. Fields” by Trav S.D., Travalanche

“W.C. Fields’ Dirty Secret” by Trav S. D., Travalanche, Aug 15, 2023

Bessie and Hattie

“An Interview with WC Fields' 94 year old son” May 29, 2012

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