Actress Natalie Talmadge's house on Las Tunas Beach

Actress Natalie Talmadge's house on Las Tunas Beach

A lit cigarette, left on the couch, set ablaze the Las Tunas Beach house of actress Natalie Talmadge (1896-1969) on September 25, 1943, at 2:30 a.m. Fire Captain Tom Cheney concluded this because the couch burned through the floor.

Natalie’s surfer son, James Talmadge (1922-2007), had taken over the house with his teenage wife, Barbara Tichenor (1925-2023), a local tennis star. Barbara would later become the first female Fire Commissioner in California, in Lake Tahoe; but, that night, the newlyweds’ negligence destroyed the second story, and ended the family’s residence there.

The house would be turned into the Las Tunas Isle Motel.

September 25, 1943

Digital only

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Santa Monica Evening Outlook, 1943-09-26