Brenda Allen (aka Marie Mitchell) was a

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...

based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, whose arrest in 1948 triggered a scandal that led to the attempted reform of the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

(L.A.P.D.). Allen received police protection due to her relationship with Sergeant Elmer V. Jackson of the L.A.P.D.'s administrative vice squad, who reportedly was her lover.

Early career

Allen began as a prostitute in Los Angeles in the 1930s, though she already had several prior morals charges in other US cities. She rose to prominence around 1940 as the successor to Ann Forrester (aka "Black Widow"), who had previously run a $5,000-a-week prostitution syndicate but was convicted and sentenced to prison.

Scandal

After an attempted robbery of Brenda Allen and

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Jackson in which Jackson shot and killed the perpetrator, the press and other members of the police became aware of their relationship. Wiretaps led to the arrest of Allen and the resulting publicity to the convening of a grand jury. The publicity from the grand jury revelations of police corruption led to the resignation of L.A.P.D. Chief Clemence B. Horrall and his replacement by retired Marine Major General William A. Worton, who had served with the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

' III Amphibious Corps at the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

Reform

Worton was appointed by L.A. mayor

Fletcher Bowron Fletcher Bowron (August 13, 1887 – September 11, 1968) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. He was the 35th mayor of Los Angeles, California, from September 26, 1938, until June 30, 1953. He was at the time the city's longest-serving ...

on a temporary basis. He served from July 1949 to August 1950, when he was replaced as chief by William H. Parker, who had served the general as a special aide and then as head of Internal Affairs (Horrall's deputy chief, Joe Reed, also resigned after being shamed by grand jury testimony.) It was Parker, in his 16-year reign as police chief, who is credited with cleaning up the L.A.P.D.

Cultural impact

The relationship between Allen and Jackson was depicted in author

John Gregory Dunne John Gregory Dunne (May 25, 1932 – December 30, 2003) was an American writer. He began his career as a journalist for ''Time'' magazine before expanding into writing criticism, essays, novels, and screenplays. He often collaborated with his wif ...

's 1977 novel '' True Confessions'', which was later turned into a movie starring

Robert de Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

(as Jackson). Brenda Allen was played by

Joan Van Ark Joan Van Ark (born June 16, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera ''Knots Landing.'' A life member of The Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1966 in ''Barefoot in the P ...

in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

made-for-television film ''

Shakedown on the Sunset Strip Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

'' (1988). The story of Brenda Allen also plays a role in the 2011 video game ''

L.A. Noire ''L.A. Noire'' is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. Set in 1947 Los Angeles, the game follows detective Cole Phelps's rise among the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department as he so ...

''. In an attempt to divert media attention from Allen's arrest and protect themselves, the corrupt police chief and other public officials expose an affair between German singer Elsa Lichtman and the game's protagonist, Cole Phelps, resulting in him being demoted and disgraced. The scandal appears in the

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, sta ...

novels ''

The Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – January 14–15, 1947), known posthumously as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized ow ...

'', ''

The Big Nowhere ''The Big Nowhere'' is a 1988 crime fiction novel by American author James Ellroy, the second of the L.A. Quartet, a series of novels set in 1940s and 1950s Los Angeles. Plot The plot centers around three characters: L.A. Deputy Sheriff Danny Up ...

'', ''

Perfidia "Perfidia" (Spanish for " perfidy", meaning ''faithlessness'', ''treachery'' or ''betrayal'') is a 1939 Spanish-language song written by Mexican composer and arranger Alberto Domínguez (1906–1975). The song is sung from the perspectiv ...

'' and '' This Storm'', and is mentioned extensively in the book ''

LAPD '53 ''LAPD '53'' is a historical non-fiction book by James Ellroy and Glynn Martin, about the laws, crimes, and the LAPD, during the year of 1953. Ellroy is a writer known mainly for crime fiction set in Los Angeles. Martin was the executive directo ...

'' for which Ellroy provided text to photographs provided by the Los Angeles Police Museum. See also the cast at "

Farewell, My Lovely (1975 film) ''Farewell, My Lovely'' is a 1975 American neo-noir crime film, crime thriller (genre), thriller film directed by Dick Richards and featuring Robert Mitchum as private detective Philip Marlowe. The picture is based on Raymond Chandler's novel ''Fa ...

Early career

Scandal

Reform

Cultural impact

See also

References

Further reading

Articles

Books

External Links