As in Chicago, this confessed murderess claimed, "We Both Reached For The Gun." Of Annan, this groundbreaking reporter wrote, "They say she's the prettiest woman ever accused of murder in Chicago — young, slender, with bobbed auburn hair; wide-set, appealing blue eyes; up-tilted nose; translucent skin, faintly, very faintly, rouged, an ingenuous smile; refined features, intelligent expression—an 'awfully nice girl' and more than usually pretty.". Since 1975, Chicago has sung of the glamorous murderesses of the Jazz Age. Why should I have worried whether he loved me or whether he left me? But while the fictional femme fatale slaughtered her sister and cheating husband, her real-life inspiration allegedly shot her married lover. Hollywood turned them into fame-hungry starlets. (Read some for yourself!) Annan was 25 years old and married to her second husband when she was arrested in April 1924 for the murder of her lover and boss, Harry Kalstedt. On March 11, 1924, Walter Law's corpse was found slumped over in the front seat of Gaertner's car. Annan was accused of murdering her sweetheart Harry Kalstedt on April 4, 1924. It didn't seem to matter. As she felt the pair were guilty and likely lying through their teeth, she had mixed feelings on that. That's not a coincidence. However, she soon tired of her mechanic husband and began taking up with a hot number named Harry Kalstedt. 45 thoughts we had while watching Basic Instinct, Countess Elizabeth Báthory and the dark truth behind her killer legend. In 1926, Watkins went from reporter to Broadway playwright with Brave Little Women, a satirical stage play that would later be retitled Chicago. Annan, Gaertner, and others took advantage of this attention to appearance, which extended far beyond Watkins' coverage. Ripped from the Headlines by Harold Schechter, Published by Little A, New York, 2020. 281-955-5065 Nelita Guglielmo. She'd be found at her apartment. Belva Gaertner (née Boosinger; September 14, 1884 – May 14, 1965) was a woman who was acquitted of murder in a 1924 trial. So, you see gentle public, she wasn't only shooting him in the back to save her own life but also the life of her unborn child! 281-955-0405 Panos Lanum. Your email address will not be published. With tears and an expanding sob story, Annan claimed she was pregnant, and that was the source of her fatal fight with Kalstedt. The two who are the focus of the play, Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan clearly did the crimes. History remembers them as beautiful booze-hounds. The Chicago we know and love today is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter and dramatist Maurine Dallas Watkins. 281-955-7934 Dorelia Hollyfield. 281-955-3639 Heschel Feiner. Watkins wrote the series of articles in which she covered the two murder cases of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. 281-237-3065 Clodomiro Howes. Nonetheless, these women's legend lives on, not only through Chicago's smirking celebration of drink, sex, murder, and all that jazz but also through homicide trials that lean hard on how a woman presents herself instead of on the facts of the case. May 6, 2015 - Belva+Gaertner+Photo | Maureen Dallas Watkins, Reporter for the Chicago Tribune ... 1924—Beulah Annan & Belva Gaertner. On the Broadway stage and on the big screen, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly came alive through catchy tunes and sexy dance numbers. She confessed to Chicago Tribune journalist Maurine Dallas Watkins, "No woman can love a man enough to kill him. Chicago takes more liberties with her story. We will now go into the night of her incident. Then, as he lay dying, Annan put a record of a jaunty foxtrot called "Hula Lou." Watkins used Gaertner's story as part of the inspiration for her play Chicago; Roxie Hart, the lead character in Chicago, is a former entertainer who blames her crime on jazz, liquor and guns. But who were these murderesses, really? He is too slow." Unlike Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, attractive women accused—and later acquitted—of murdering their lovers (and who inspired the musical “Chicago”), Nitti was unkempt, physically hardened by years of farm labor. The press and the public ate up the gossip, the details on dresses, and the sob stories about bad men, booze, and devilish jazz. women were called flappers, for their short provocative skirts and actions. Her estate did not, and so Fosse's Chicago hit Broadway in 1975. It went on to become the longest-running musical on the Great White Way, as well as a 2002 movie that won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. As for Watkins, she believed her influence was key to the acquittal of both the Merry Murderesses. Prosecutors argued the same motive to both: vengeance on the lover who would leave them. 281-237-1773 Dirward Abalos. It was she who transformed Annan, Gaertner, their victims, husbands, lawyers, peers, and reporters into characters like Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly, Billy Flynn, Mary Sunshine, and Go-To-Hell Kitty. The musical Chicago is based on a play of the same name by reporter and playwright Maurine Dallas Watkins, who was … Yup, he's just like poor Amos "Mr. Cellophane" Hart. However, in their divorce papers, she later claimed he deserted her. Update your browser for more security and the best experience on this site. 281-237-8456 On April 3, 1924, he'd be found fatally shot in her bedroom. One more thing. Still, Watkins worked in a juicy thread of skepticism in her columns about these alleged killers. Gaertner was not at the scene. The Bob Fosse masterpiece we know and love today as Chicago the musical actually started with two real women and two real murdered men. The play “Chicago” premiered in 1926 and was based on the unrelated stories of Gaertner and Beulah Annan, another woman acquitted of murder in the Windy City in 1924. After her acquittal, Gaertner reunited with her last ex-husband, who was a wealthy industrialist. The show was well-received, running on Broadway for 172 performances and spurring a silent movie adaptation directed by lauded filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner didn’t meet until they both were put on ‘Murderesses Row’ in the Cook County Jail. May 6, 2015 - Belva+Gaertner+Photo | Maureen Dallas Watkins, Reporter for the Chicago Tribune. ", Meanwhile, Gaertner was peddling herself as a victim of the evil jazz scene. As Velma claims in "Cell Block Tango," she was discovered covered in blood and claiming she had no memory of what happened. In response, both played on public sympathy to win their freedom. Following the trial she married William Gaertner and moved to Europe. Gaertner was a 38-year-old socialite with wealth and two to three divorces under her garter. In fact, times haven't changed that much from Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner up through O.J. Like Velma, Gaertner was a performer, specifically a cabaret singer who used the stage name Belle Brown. So, she wrote about it. They aren't worth it, because there are always plenty more. 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Log in. Belle Brown Overbeck Gaertner A.K.A. The play was adapted into a 1927 silent film, a 1975 stage musical, and a 2002 movie musical (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), all with that title, and a 1942 romantic comedy film, Roxie Hart, named for the character who Annan inspired. The day after her acquittal, she told the press, "I have left my husband. The baby she claimed to be carrying was never born. The real story behind Chicago's Merry Murderesses, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, This Week in Genre History: Whoa! This paved the way for her self-defense argument—even though Kalstedt was putting on his hat and coat when he was shot in the back. The Definitive Ranking of Chicago's Hottest Criminals | UrbanMatter, 15+ Characters film fictitious and their prototypes in real life (Ursula is the most surprising) - Coolest Hacks, https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/beaulahandbelva/, Character Reasearch: Velma Kelly. 281-237-3420 Ylwa Colletta. "1924 - Beulah Annan & Belva Gaertner". This was an actual cell block in the women’s section of the jail that housed Chicago’s most notorious killers. Nonetheless, her husband Albert Annan stood by her side and frantically used his life savings to fund her defense. Dressed to kill, Gaertner even sat in … However, the musical we know today came about only after Watkins died. Following her husband's death in 1948, she moved to California where she lived with her sister, Malinda Kraushaar, until her passing. She based the two gun-toting protagonists—Roxie and Velma—on the real-life defendants Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Court proceedings were whirling bouts of confusion for the foreigner at the center of the story. The loyal husband that stood by her through infidelity and murder charges was ruthlessly dumped. Belva Gaertner (L) and Beulah Annan (R) The true story of the accused but acquitted Chicago beauties who inspired musical legends Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. ", Over six months on this beat, Watkins made a name for herself by recounting every detail of these cases, the accused stories — even as they changed — and the way they looked. Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, Social Opposites 1202 Words | 5 Pages. Beulah was a suspected murderess who soon after Belva gaertner was arrested for murder. Get on your glad rags and pour the bathtub gin, because we're looking back to the Merry Murderesses that inspired Chicago. Newspaper articles compiled and posted on Chicagology.com. He had a gun at his side and an illegal bottle of gin. Saved by Hayley Ritz. It's said they set up a beauty school in the prison to help their sisters in stir look like captivating captives to the court and their all-male juries. Before the names were changed to protect the not-so-innocent, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly were known as Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Belva Gaertner a cabaret dancer living in Chicago in the 1920’s, was arrested for the murder of Walter Law, whom she was rumored to have an extramarital affair with, on March 12 of 1924. which extended far beyond Watkins' coverage. 281-955-0682 With Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, author of UGLY PREY: An Innocent Woman and the Death Sentence That Scandalized Jazz Age Chicago, we dive into the stories of Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan, the most infamous lady killers of 1920s … True crime stories are all the rage these days, and this tale of accused murderesses in Prohibition-era Chicago is based on (unrelated) 1920s court cases involving Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Beulah Annan, a young wife, was born on November 18th, 1899, and died on the date March 10th, 1928. At 23, Kentucky-native Annan was on her second marriage. Belva Gaertner (née Boosinger; September 14, 1884 – May 14, 1965) was a woman who was acquitted of murder in a 1924 trial.She inspired elements of the 1926 play Chicago created by Maurine Dallas Watkins; Watkins reported on the trial for the Chicago Tribune.The character also appears in the 1975 musical based on the play. "Musical Theater and Law: Chicago, The Musical" by Geraldine Davila Gonzalez, April 30, 2019. Beulah May Annan (née Sheriff; November 18, 1899 – March 10, 1928) was an American suspected murderer. Before the names were changed to protect the not-so-innocent, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly were known as Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. "1924 - Beulah Annan & Belva Gaertner". Music: "Hula Lou" - 1923 recording by Isabelle Patricola, Music: "Hula Lou" - 1923 recording by Isabelle Patricola, Or 30 — depending on which source you favor. Malin Akerman (“Billions”) plays Annan and Lake Bell (“Home Again”) plays Gaertner. She'd repeatedly rejected Bob Fosse's pleas to adapt it. However, she soon tired of her mechanic husband and began taking up with a hot number named Harry Kalstedt. Ripped from the Headlines by Harold Schechter, Published by Little A, New York, 2020. However, the pair separated shortly thereafter when he claimed that she threatened to kill him. She hoped this dark comedy would highlight how appearances and sex appeal had become too important in the justice system. She inspired elements of the 1926 pl… Once he was dead, Annan rang her husband to report she'd killed a man who'd tried to rape her. – Violet Rebecca Jubane, Roxie Hart Character Research – Halle'Maia Dumetz. Newspaper articles compiled and posted on Chicagology.com. 281-237-3560 Emlynn Leamer. Then a free woman in two ways, she went on to marry again, a boxer this time. Aside from that and a drunk driving charge in 1926, she kept her nose clean and lived a life of relative obscurity, dying at age 80 of natural causes. Annan and Gaertner were rumored to have set up their own beauty shop out of their jail cell. While awaiting trial on 'Murderesses Row' in the Cook County Jail, Annan met Gaertner, who was also charged with killing a boyfriend. Simpson and, yes, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. But amid the razzle-dazzle of it all, some viewers forget that this outrageous tale of mirth, murder, and media manipulation was based on a terribly true story. It's speculated she faked a pregnancy to save her own skin. One of two real life characters in the stage play "Chicago" (Velma Kelly in the play/movie), she was acquitted of murder in Chicago in 1924. Walter was just a kid — 29 and I'm 38. Gin and guns — either one is bad enough, but together they get you in a dickens of a mess, don't they? In Chicago. But what became of the real Roxie and Velma? Prosecutors began to think you couldn't convict a pretty woman in this town. “No sweetheart is worth killing,” (121) so started Belva Gaertner with the (ill-)famed utterance, and continued, “─especially when you have had a … "Musical Theater and Law: Chicago, The Musical" by Geraldine Davila Gonzalez, April 30, 2019. The first part of the book focuses largely on the crimes, trials, and eventual acquittals of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, the “Most Beautiful Girl” and the “Most Stylish Girl” on Murders’ Row, respectively. The play is a satire and was based on two unrelated 1924 court cases involving two women, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, who were both suspected and later acquitted for murder, whom Watkins had covered for the Chicago Tribune as a reporter. Beulah Annan, left, and Belva Gaertner, both on trial for murder in 1924. 281-237-8033 Bernadine Helander. Reportedly, this story sounded all the more compelling told with her "lovely soft Southern accent. Belva shot her lover in the midst of a very drunken spat about who was the better shot. 281-955-9721 Kasib Romine. Or 29. 1924—Beulah Annan & Belva Gaertner Back to Notorious Chicago Chicago Tribunereporter Maurine Dallas Watkins (July 27, 1896 – August 10, 1969) covered these two murder cases in order to provide a “woman’s angle.” She left the Tribune after only six months and made millions on a play she wrote based on these two cases. At the time of the murder, Belva had already been something of a media sensation because of her messy divorce from millionaire William Gaertner. Annan's story proved to be more the stuff of sensational headlines. Both were accused of murdering their lovers and both were acquitted. Gaertner, a cabaret singer, likewise was found Not Guilty for the murder of Walter Law who was found dead in Gaertner's abandoned car. Gaertner attended the 1927 opening of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. After four months in jail awaiting trial, each was found not guilty. At the time, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, the inspirations for the musical Chicago, were there awaiting trial. 1924 to be exact. Law was “found shot to death at 1:30 A.M. in a Sedan at 50th St. and Forrestville Ave., a .32 cal.… At 23, Kentucky-native Annan was on her second marriage. (Most of Hart's backstory was adapted from an unrelated murder case, that of Beulah Annan.) Belva Gaertner, once known as the "Queen of Chicago's cabarets,"was a 38 year old cabaret singer, she had been divorced twice. Possibly due to the press coverage, and the fact that they were deemed “stylish” and “beautiful,” both Belva and Beulah, in their respective cases, were acquitted by the jury; Annan in May of 1924 and Gaertner a month later in June. Prosecutors would argue Annan had shot Kalstedt because he'd planned to end their affair, which she herself admitted to at one point. Annan was a pretty young wife with a blue-collar husband. In the Roaring 20s. Meet two of America’s first celebrity criminals: Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. She played it for four hours while drinking cocktails and waiting for her lover to breathe his last breath. 1924—Beulah Annan & Belva Gaertner Back to Notorious Chicago Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins (July 27, 1896 – August 10, 1969) covered these two murder cases in order to provide a “woman’s angle.” She left the Tribune after only six months and made millions on a play she wrote based on these two cases. If Gaertner was the classiest murderess in Chicago, Beulah Annan was the prettiest. Beulah Annan (inspiration for Roxy Hart) Annan was found Not Guilty for the murder of Harry Kalstedt whom she claimed tried to make love to her. However, their love would not live long as Annan died of tuberculosis at age 28. ‎Show Once Upon A Crime | True Crime, Ep Stranger Than Fiction: Belva Gaertner & Beulah Annan and "Chicago" - Jul 13, 2020 Fangrrls is about kicking down doors, breaking boundaries and celebrating female fans with fun, witty and entertaining content. Belva+Gaertner+Photo | Maureen Dallas Watkins, Reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Watkins based her show on her experiences working for The Chicago Tribune in 1924, covering the trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Her story inspired Maurine Dallas Watkins's play Chicago in 1926.
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