"Freeman Bernstein"

You would think that an obscure vaudeville agent and two-bit scam artist wouldn’t show up in more than one of our stories. You’d be wrong.

The Garden of Oblivion

the Golden Age of Hollywood's own no-tell motel

From millionaire's mansion to sleazy hotel to Frank Gehry architectural abomination, the sordid history of the Sunset Strip's own Garden of Allah. Read More...

Categories: Entertainment & Media, People & Places, Series 7

Tags: Freeman Bernstein Hollywood motion pictures Presented by #13

Published: May 10, 2021
Edited: May 10, 2021

Pleadings from Asbury Park

a fake marriage, a dead baby, and 21 absinthe frappes

The amazing story of Laura Biggar, the Anna Nicole Smith of 1901, and her crazy plot to steal an inheritance that may or may not have been rightfully hers. Read More...

Categories: Biography, History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 4

Tags: civil law crime Freeman Bernstein Henry M. Bennett Laura Biggar New Jersey New York, NY Pittsburgh, PA Presented by #13 vaudeville

Published: June 1, 2020
Edited: May 10, 2021

Spirit Princess

one woman, thirty aliases, forty years and too many crimes to count

The greatest and most notorious Spiritualist swindler of all time was a woman from Kentucky who looked a bit like Lola Montez (if you squinted). Read More...

Categories: Biography, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 3

Tags: "General" Joseph Hubert Diss Debar "Prince" Michael Keyfor Mills Ann O'Delia Diss Debar Baltimore, MD Canada Chicago, IL crime David Livingston Mackay Detroit, MI dime museum Dr. Cyrus Reed Teed "Koresh" Florida Fort Myers, FL Freeman Bernstein Harmony Society Illinois Koreshan Unity London, England Michigan New and Latter House of Israel New York, NY Presented by #13 religion Spiritualism Theosophical Society Theosophy United Kingdom Windsor, ON

Published: March 23, 2020
Edited: June 25, 2021