Dahlia Noir

Like any legend, stories have grown up around Elizabeth Short -- and not just the kind in books. They say she was a hooker, a virgin physically unable to have sex, a loose woman who was "asking for it." She had an affair with Marilyn Monroe. She worked at the Hollywood Canteen (a place where actors and actresses showed their appreciation to soldiers by serving up free pie and coffee while chatting and dancing.) None of these stories are true. But many of them sprung from the attitudes of the time.