The 80th Anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots

The poster for the movie
Zoot Suit

It was from June 3 to June 8 1943 that a series of assaults were made upon Mexican American youths, as well as some Filipinos and African Americans, wearing zoot suits by white servicemen and some civilians. These attacks would collectively become known as "the Zoot Suit Riots," after the men's suit that was at the centre of it all. Given that white people wearing zoot suits were not attacked, the Zoot Suit Riots are considered to have their roots in anti-Mexican American racism.

As to the zoot suit itself, it is a men's suit with a long coat featuring wide lapels and padded shoulders, and with high-waisted, wide legged trousers pegged at the ankles. The zoot suit originated in Harlem and the Black communities in Chicago and Detroit in the 1930s. It was an adaptation of the drape suit, which originated in London in the 1920s and was popularized by Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor. The zoot suit was popularized by jump blues and jazz musicians, and the legendary Cab Calloway was known for his often exaggerated zoot suits.

By the late Thirties the zoot suit would be adopted by pachucos, young Mexican Americans who were influenced by jump blues, jazz, and swing music. Originating in El Paso, Texas, the pachuco subculture would spread rapidly to other parts of the United States, including Los Angeles. While the pachucos incorporated the zoot suit into their fashions, they also made the zoot suit all their own. Their zoot suits were often dark in colour (black, brown, charcoal grey, sharkskin, and so on) with pin stripes.

Like many youth cultures, particularly those of people of colour, the pachucos would become stereotyped in the media and elsewhere as criminals and members of youth gangs. In turn the zoot suit would become associated with violence and crime in the media. This fuelled anti-Mexican American sentiment in Los Angeles. With the United States' entry into World War II and the rationing that came about because of it, zoot suits would come to be viewed by some white Americans as "unpatriotic" given the amount of cloth any one zoot suit used.

Anti-Mexican American sentiment would increase after the Sleepy Lagoon case, in which  José Gallardo Díaz was found unconscious and dying near the reservoir known as "Sleepy Lagoon" in Commerce, California. The cause of his wounds remain a matter of question, and the autopsy at the hospital revealed he had been drinking and there was a fracture at the base of his skull. Regardless, The media framed José Gallardo Díaz's death as a murder and demanded action be taken against pachucos. The Los Angeles Police Department ultimately arrested seventeen young Mexican Americans despite having insufficient evidence.

It was mounting anti-Mexican American sentiment that would lead to the Zoot Suit Riots in June 1943. It was on June 3 1943 that eleven sailors departed from a bus and began to walk down Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. They then got into an alercation with a group of young Mexican Americans. The young Mexican Americans claimed that the sailors had started at all, while the sailors claimed the Mexican Americans had jumped an assaulted them. It was the following day that 200 sailors took 20 taxi cabs to East Los Angeles. Once there they proceeded to assault young men wearing zoot suits, stripping them of their suits and then burning the suits. The following days saw further assaults on young Mexican Americans by white servicemen. The police were under orders not to arrest the rioters, but they did arrest more than 500 Mexican Americans on everything from vagrancy to rioting. To make matters worse, the media's sympathies were with the white rioters, with some framing the riots as getting rid of "miscreants" and "hoodlums." Exceptions to this were such Black newspapers as The Chicago Defender and The Pittsburgh Courier, who were sympathetic to the Mexican American victims of the riots.  Horace R. Cayton of The Pittsburgh Courier blamed the violence on "non-Mexican servicemen," even going so far as to state the white rioters envied the zoot suiters and lusted after Mexican American women.

Eventually the white rioters would not only assault Mexican Americans, but young Filipinos and African Americans as well. It would be on June 8 that Navy and Marine Corps authorities in the Los Angeles area would confine sailors and Marines to quarters and declared the City of Los Angeles off-limited to them. This ended the Zoot Suit Riots, although both the Navy and Marines maintained the servicemen had been acting in self-defence.  The Zoot Suit Riots would lead to violence against Mexican Americans and members of other minorities wearing zoot suits in Chicago; Detroit; Evansville, Indiana; New York City; Oakland; Philadelphia; and San Diego.

The fallout from the Zoot Suit Riots included a formal protest from the Mexican Embassy to the State Department. Then California Governor Earl Warren established a committee, headed by Bishop Joseph McGucken, to investigate the causes of the riots.The committee determined that racism was at the root of the riots and noted the "aggravating practice" of the media to associate the zoot suit with crime.

Both the zoot suit itself and later the Zoot Suit Riots would have an impact on popular culture. In the mid-Forties it was not unusual for zoot suits to appear in movies, everything from the Tom & Jerry cartoon "Zoot Cat" (1944) to the musical Stormy Weather (1942). Later, in the Three Stooges short "Three Arabian Nuts" (1951), Shemp is featured in a zoot suit. The debut single of The High Numbers, soon to be renamed "The Who," was "Zoot Suit." On the 1975 Saturday morning sitcom The Ghost Busters, the lead character Eddie Spenser (Larry Storch) wore a zoot suit. In the 1976 Sanford and Son episode "The Escorts," Fred Sanford appears wearing a zoot suit.

The year 1978 would see two works drawing upon the Zoot Suit Riots for inspiration. The novel Zoot-Suit Murders by Thomas Sanchez in which the Zoot Suit Riots serve as a backdrop for a murder mystery. The play Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez draws upon both the Sleepy Lagoon case and the Zoot Suit Riots. It would later be adapted for the big screen as the movie Zoot Suit (1981). While zoot suits don't appear in the episode, the Zoot Suit Riots were referenced in the 8th season episode The Waltons, "The Medal," in which a Chicano paratrooper visits Walton's Mountain. The title character in the movie The Mask (1994) wore a zoot suit.  The zoot suit would make a comeback during the Swing Revival of the Nineties and as a result would appear in music videos from the era. Indeed, in 1997 the swing and ska band Cherry Poppin' Daddies recorded the song "Zoot Suit Riot." Their 1997 compilation album bore the same name.The 2018 novel Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots was centred around the Zoot Suit Riots and was told in free verse. The 2020 graphic novel Lizard in a Zoot Suit is set in 1943 and features an anthropomorphic lizard wearing a zoot suit. Over the years there have also been many non-fiction books and documentaries on the Zoot Suit Riots.

The Zoot Suit Riots are certainly one of the darkest moments in the history of Los Angeles and remain one of the worst instances of racist violence in the city, or any other city for that matter. An argument can be made that the Zoot Suit Riots and other acts of violence against Mexican Americans during World War II would lead to the Chicano Movement of the Sixties and Seventies. The Zoot Suit Riots should certainly never be forgotten.

A Belated 19th Anniversary Post

On June 4 2023 A Shroud of Thoughts turned 19 years old. I generally do a special blog post each year on its anniversary, but this year it totally slipped my mind. During the month of May I was very concerned about my health, as I felt absolutely miserable. As it turned out, my blood pressure medication was not working and, worse yet, had saddled me with side effects (headaches, body pains, et. al.) that made me feel miserable. Fortunately, my cardiologist changed my medication and now I feel much better.

As to the origins of A Shroud of Thoughts, in 2004 blogs were a bit of fad. I had a lady friend who had one and it looked like it might be fun. Originally A Shroud of Thoughts was meant to be on a variety of subjects, some of them quite personal. It was not long before it evolved into the pop culture/nostalgia blog that it is today and the more personal posts fell by the wayside. As to the title, in 2004 the big trend in blog titles included words like "thoughts," "musings," et. al. I then took the title from a quote from Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. I have to admit that I have since regretted not choosing a title more befitting a pop culture/nostalgia blog. Unfortunately, by the time I thought about changing it, the blog already had a readership and I feared changing the title might confuse my readers. It would be a bit like the movie That Thing You Do! (1996), "Whatever happened to The Oneders?" "Whatever happened to A Shroud of Thoughts?"

Next year A Shroud of Thoughts will turn 20, which astounds me. If someone told me in 2004 that I would still be writing this blog after 19 years, I would have thought they were joking. I hope to continue writing it for many more years to come.

Each year I post what I think were my best posts from the past year. Here are this year's best posts.

"The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", June 16 2022

"The Lasting Influence of Vanessa Marquez", August 20 2022

"The 50th Anniversary of The Waltons", September 15 2022

"The TV series M*A*S*H Turns 50", September 17 2022

"The 60th Anniversary of The Beverly Hillbillies", September 26 2022

"Seinfeld: 'The Cheever Letters", October 22 2022

"Kenny & Company (1976)", October 29 2022

"The 80th Anniversary of I Married a Witch (1942)", October 30 2022

"American Graffiti (1973)", November 20 2022

"The Norelco Santa Claus", December 16 2022

"The 54th Birthday of Vanessa Marquez", December 21 2022

"The 50th Anniversary of The Poseidon Adventure (1972)", December 30 2022

"Jack Carson, What a Character", January 7 2023

"The 30th Anniversary of Twenty Bucks (1993)", January 22 2023

"Barbarella (1968)", February 24 2023

"DC Comics Movie Serials of the Forties Part One", March 3 2023

"DC Comics Movie Serials of the Forties Part Two", March 4 2023

"The 1970-1971 Television Season: When the Networks Tried to Be 'Relevant'", March 18 2023

"The X-Files, "Home'", March 25 2023

The Week of My Four-Part Series on the 100th Anniversary of Warner Bros., April 4-April 7 2023

"Death Race 2000 (1975)", April 28 2023

"The 30th Anniversary of Blood In Blood Out (1993)", April 30 2023

The Late Great Barry Newman

Barry Newman, who starred in the movie Vanishing Point (1971) and the TV series Petrocelli, died May 11 2023 at the age of 92.

Barry Newman was born on November 7 1930 in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Boston Latin School in 1948. He later graduated from Brandeis University. In 1952 he was drafted into the United States Army. He played saxophone and clarinet  in the 3rd Army Band. After he was discharged he attended Columbia University and received a master's degree in anthropology. One of his friends invited Mr. Newman to sit in on an acting class with Lee Strasberg. Barry Newman afterwards decided to abandon anthropology and take up acting, studying with Lee Strasberg himself.

In 1957 he made his debut on Broadway in Nature's Way. The following year he appeared on Broadway in Maybe Tuesday. He made his film debut in Pretty Boy Floyd in 1960. In the Sixties he appeared on Broadway in Night Life? and What Makes Sammy Run?. He made his television debut in an episode of Way Out in 1961. In the Sixties he had a brief, recurring role on the daytime serial The Edge of Night. He guest starred on the shows The Defenders, The United States Steel Hour, Naked City, Armstrong Circle Theatre, and Get Smart. He appeared in the movies The Moving Finger (1963) and The Lawyer (1970). It was in the latter that he originated the role of Tony Petrocelli.

It was in 1974 that Barry Newman reprised the role of Tony Petrocelli on the TV series Petrocelli, which was based on the movie The Lawyer. He appeared in the TV movies Night Games, Sex and the Married Woman, and King Crab. He appeared in the movies The Vanishing Point (1971), The Salzburg Connection (1972), Fear is the Key (1972), and City on Fire (1979).

In the Eighties he was one of the stars of the short-lived TV series Nightingales. He guest starred on the shows Quincy, M.E. and The Fall Guy. He appeared in the mini-series Fatal Vision. He appeared in the TV movies Fantasies, ...Deadline, Second Sight: A Love Story, and My Two Loves. He appeared in the movie Amy (1981). In the Nineties he guest starred on the TV shows Miss Marple; L.A. Law; Murder, She Wrote; JAG; NYPD Blue; and  Cupid. He appeared in the movies Daylight (1996), Next Year in Jerusalem (1997), Goodbye Lover (1998), Brown's Requiem (1998), The Limey (199), Bowfinger (1999), and G-Men from Hell (2000).

In the Naughts he had a brief, recurring role on The O.C. He guest starred on the TV shows The Cleaner and The Ghost Whisperer. He appeared in the movies Jack the Dog (2001), Good Advice (2001), True Blue (2001), 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), Manhood (2003) and Grilled (2006). In the Teens he appeared in the film Raise Your Kids on Seltzer (2015).

Barry Newman was a very talented actor, something borne out by the fact that his two best known roles were very different. Kowalksi in The Vanishing Point was a reserved Vietnam vet and former police officer who is intent on delivering a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum as quickly as possible. Petrocelli was a Harvard educated lawyer who champions those innocent of the crimes of which they are accused. The one thing both characters had in common was that they liked to drive really fast. While both roles were very different, Barry Newman gave remarkable performances in both roles. On Miss Marple, in an adaptation of The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, he played film producer Jason Rudd. In Fear is the Key, he played the protagonist John Talbot, a man accused of robbing a bank and killing a police officer who finds himself involved in intrigue. Barry Newman played a variety of roles throughout his career, from lawyers to doctors to yet other occupations, and he did all of them well.

Godspeed Ed Ames

Singer and actor Ed Ames died on May 21 2023 at the age of 95. Both with the Ames Brothers and as a solo artist, he had several hits. As an actor he may be best known for playing Mingo on Daniel Boone.

Ed Ames was born Edmund Dantes Urick on July 9 1927 in Maldon, Massachusetts. He attended the Boston Latin School. He studied both classical music and opera. His brothers formed a singing quartet while still in high school. Three of the brothers would later form the Amory Brothers. It was playwright Abe Burrows who suggested a new name, "the Ames Brothers."

The Ames Brothers signed with Coral Records and their first single, "Caravan," was released in 1947. In 1948 they would have their first hit, "A Tree in the Meadow" recorded with Monica Lewis. It went to no. 21 on the Billboard chart. The year 1950 gave them their first no. 1 hit, "Rag Mop." It was followed by another no. 1 hit, "Sentimental Me." Throughout the Fifties the Ames Brothers would have a string of hits, including "Can Anyone Explain? (No, No, No), "Undecided," "You, You, You," "The Man with a Banjo," "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane," and "Tammy."In 1949 they were regulars on Robert Q. Lewis's radio show. That same year they were regulars on the CBS musical quiz radio show Sing It Again. In 1955 they had a syndicated television show, The Ames Brothers Show. 

The Ames Brothers disbanded in 1963, whereupon Ed Ames launched a solo career. He had several hits in the Sixties, including "My Cup Runneth Over," "Time, Time," "Timeless Love," "When the Show is on the Roses," and "Who Will Answer?."

Ed Ames began his acting career in 1957 on the show State Trooper. He appeared with the other Ames Brothers on an episode of Mike Hammer in 1958. Prior to Daniel Boone, he guest starred on The Rifleman, Redigo, and The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters. It was in 1964 that he began playing Mingo, the Oxford educated Cherokee, on Daniel Boone. He left the show after is fourth season. Afterwards he guest starred on The Danny Thomas Hour and provided a voice for the Rankin/Bass special Cricket on the Hearth.

In the Seventies he guest starred on The Starlost McCloud, Kodiak, The Wide World of Mystery, and Greatest Heroes of the Bible. In the Eighties he guest starred on Murder, She Wrote; It's Gary Shandling's Show, In the Heat of the Night; and Jake and the Fatman. In the Nineties he made his last television appearance, a guest shot on The Marshal.

Ed Ames was very talented as a singer. He had a rich, very expressive baritone. It is a little wonder that both as one of the Ames Brothers and as a solo act he had a string of hit songs. He was also very talented actor. While it was admitted politically incorrect for Mr. Ames to play Mingo and while the portrayal of the Cherokee on Daniel Boone was inaccurate, he did well in the role. He would also do well in other roles as well. He played a racist, corrupt sheriff on an episode of In the Heat of the Night. In the McCloud episode "The Colorado Cattle Caper" he played the leader of a gang of cattle rustlers. In the Murder, She Wrote he played a role with which he was familiar, that of a singer, although in this instance it was a somewhat amoral singer. On The Rifleman he played a man wanted to murder. Both as a singer and an actor Ed Ames was enormously talented and very versatile.

Marlene Clark Passes On

Marlene Clark, who played Lamont's girlfriend Janet on Sanford and Son and starred in the movie Ganja & Hess (1973), died on May 18 2023 at the age 85.

Marlene Clark was born in Harlem on December 19 1937. Growing up, she spent many summers in Virginia, where her mother was born. She attended Morristown Junior College in Tennessee an then City College in New York before working as a model.

Marlene Clark made her film debut in For Love of Ivy in 1968. In the late Sixties she also appeared in the movies Midnight Cowboy (1969), Putney Swope (1969), Stop! (1970), and The Landlord (1970). She made her television debut on The Bill Cosby Show in 1970. That same year she guest starred on The Governor & J.J., Marcus Welby M.D., and The Immortal.

It was in 1976 that she first appeared as Janet Lawson, Lamont's girlfriend and later fiancee, on Sanford and Son. She appeared in six episodes total. She also guest starred on the TV shows Bonanza, The Mod Squad, McCloud, The Rookies, The Richard Pryor Show, What's Happening!!, and Barnaby Jones. She appeared in the movies Clay Pigeon (1971), Night of the Cobra Woman (1972), Beware! The Blob (1972), Slaughter (1972), Ganja & Hess (1973), Enter the Dragon (1973), The Beast Must Die (1974), Newman's Law (1974), Black Mamba (1974), Lord Shango (1975), Swtichblade Sisters (1975), and The Baron (1977).

In the Eighties she guest starred on the shows Flamingo Road, Highway to Heaven, and Head of the Class. In the Eighties she opened her own clothing store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. She later managed Hal’s Bar and Grill in Venice Beach.

Marlene Clark was very talented and she played a wide variety of roles. Janet Lawson on Sanford and Son  was a divorcee with a young son. In Ganja & Hess she played one of the title characters, both of who become vampires. In Night of the Cobra Woman, she played the title character. She played a government agent Slaughter. While Marlene Clark's career was not long, she played  a wide array of roles and she always gave good performances..

Godspeed George Maharis

George Maharis, best known for playing Buz Murdock on the classic TV show Route 66, died on May 24 2023 at the age of 94.

George Maharis was born on September 1 1928 in Astoria, Queens, New York. He attending Flushing High School. He served 18 months in the United States Marines. He initially wanted to be a singer, but found himself drawn to acting. He studied acting at the Actors Studio with Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg.

George Maharis made his television debut in an episode of Philco Television Playhouse. In the Fifties he guest starred on the shows Mister Peepers, Playwrights '56, Goodyear Television Playhouse, The Investigator, The Phil Silvers Show, Brenner, Deadline, Alcoa Theatre, and Naked City. One of the episodes of Naked City on which he appeared, "Four Sweet Corners," was a backdoor pilot for Route 66. He played the role of John Gary. a former serviceman who sets out to travel the country with fellow veteran Lincoln Ridgeway (Robert Morris). There would be several changes made before the pilot would lead to Route 66. The two leads were renamed Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock, with Martin Milner cast in the role of Tod. They were no longer ex-serviceman. Tod was a Yale dropout from a once wealthy family, while Buz was an orphan who grew up on the streets of New York City. Route 66 debuted on October 7 1960 and proved to be a hit. From 1960 to 1961 he briefly appeared on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. In the late Fifties George Maharis also made his movie debut in The Mugger (1958). He also appeared in the big screen adaptation of the novel Exodus (1960). He appeared in the off-Broadway play The Zoo Story in 1960.

In the early Sixties George Maharis continued to star on Route 66. He was nominated for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) for his role as Buz Murdock in 1962. He left the show during its third season after he had contracted hepatitis. After taking a break to recover from the disease, he appeared in the movies Quick, Before It Metls (1964), Sylvia (1965), The Satan Bug (1965), A Covenant with Death (1967), The Happening (1967), Land Raiders (1969), The Desperadoes (1969), and El último día de la guerra (1970). He also continued to appear on television, guest starring on the shows, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Danny Thomas Hour, Journey to the Unknown, and Love Story. He starred in the short-lived show The Most Dangerous Game from 1970-1971.

In the Seventies George Maharis guest starred on the shows Night Gallery, Cade's County, Medical Center, Cannon, Mission: Impossible, Barnaby Jones, Shaft, Marcus Welby M.D., The Snoop Sisters, Thriller, The Wide World of Mystery, McMillan & Wife, Movin' On, Nakia, Ellery Queen, Good Heavens, Jigsaw John, Bert D'Angelo/Superstar, The Bionic Woman, Kojak, Police Story, The Feather and Father Gang, Switch, Gibbsville, Logan's Run, and Fantasy Island. He appeared in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man.

In the Eighties he appeared in the movie The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). He guest starred on Fantasy Island; Matt Houston; The Master; Superboy; and Murder, She Wrote. His last appearance on screen was in the movie Doppelganger in 1993.

George Maharis also had a recording career. Starting with George Maharis Sings!, he recorded seven albums from 1962 to 1966. He released several singles from 1962 to 1965, but only his cover of "Teach Me Tonight" was a hit. It went to no. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962.

George Maharis was a very talented actor. Both Buz Murdock and Tod Stiles on Route 66 rank among the greatest television characters of all time, all because of the performances of George Maharis and Martin Milner. He was also versatile. In The Satan Bug he played Lee Barrett, an outspoken private investigator who had earlier worked as an intelligence agent. In The Sword and the Sorcerer, he actually played a villain, Count Machelli, the War Chancellor to the evil Titus Cromwell (Richard Lynch). In the Ellery Queen episode "The Adventure of the Judas Tree," he played the family physician, Dr. Anthony Bender, of millionaire George Sherman. In The Desperadoes he played one of a band of raiders led by corrupt  Parson Josiah Galt (Jack Palance). George Maharis could play nearly any role he wanted, and he always gave performances. Such was his talent that he could convey emotion with just a look or his body language. While he will always be best remembered as Buz Murdock, he left behind many other great performances.

An Update

For those of you wondering why I haven't posted much this month, I have been under the weather. My tree pollen allergies have gone berserk. At the same time, my blood pressure medication was increased, which resulted in some side effects. I also have  one other health concern, but I am not ready to mention it here until I see my doctor this week. I will tell you I don't think it is anything too serious. Anyway, with any luck I will get back to regularly posting soon.