Alfred Hitchcock, Winona Ryder, Dean Martin and More Appear in “Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210 ”(Exclusive)
The new true crime anthology from journalist and PEOPLE contributor Scott Huver covers both famous and under-the-radar crime in America's glitziest zip code
Lindsey Foard; Post Hill Press
Author Scott Huver and the cover of his new book 'Beverly Hills Noir'Think the 90210 is all glitz and glamour? Think again.
Veteran entertainment journalist and longtime PEOPLE contributor Scott Huver has taken his experience in the industry, which began at a local newspaper in Beverly Hills, to pen the new true crime anthology Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210, out Oct. 1 from Post Hill Press.
"I couldn’t resist digging back into my own experiences as a local newspaper and magazine reporter to recount some genuinely unknown 'only in 90210' crimes I covered in the 1990s and 2000s, in which the culprits slipped into character as intensely as any Hollywood actor," Huver says.
"There, while covering the local crime beat, I discovered the gilded city’s rich history of criminal acts as unique and extravagant as 90210 itself, where the rich and famous — as culprits, victims or concerned bystanders — face watching everything they’ve achieved and accumulated slip away."
Related: The Best True Crime Documentaries to Stream Now
"It's the dark side of having it all: jaw-dropping crime scenes, astronomically priced losses, celebrity appearances around every corner and consequences that still resonate today," he adds.
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The book covers some of the most well-known Hollywood crime scandals, including Winona Ryder's December 2001 arrest for shoplifting clothes worth $5,500 from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif., but mostly addresses those that may have flown under readers' radar.
"For this first volume of Beverly Hills Noir, I wanted to take deep dives into less-frequently explored cases like the above stories," he adds.
Below, exclusively for PEOPLE, Huver offers a little taste of some of the crimes and characters readers will find in Beverly Hills Noir.
Alfred Hitchock's Arrest
Courtesy of Everett
Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 press luncheon for the second season of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' is disrupted by the surprise appearance of Beverly Hills police officers.
Today still one of the most acclaimed directors in Hollywood history, thanks to his classic suspense thrillers like Rear Window, Vertigo and Psycho, and known for his stealthy cameos was taken away in handcuffs from a 1956 press luncheon celebrating his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, while reporters were also rounded up for questioning. The tale features a signature Hitchcockian twist and reveals the seeds of one of his subsequent triumphs, North by Northwest.
The Greystone Mansion Murder-Suicide
Everett Collection Historical / Alamy
Ned Doheny (left) leaves the federal court in Los Angeles with his stepmother Estelle and father Edward L. Doheny during the Teapot Dome trial in 1924.The enduring mystery surrounding the 1929 murder-suicide at Beverly Hills’ Greystone Mansion is notable for its connections to one of the region’s wealthiest families — the Doheny name remains a fixture across Los Angeles — and the nation’s biggest political scandal pre-dating Watergate. The posh estate subsequently appeared in scores of films and TV show including The Big Lebowski, The Bodyguard, X-Men and Gilmore Girls,
The circumstances and characters involved inspired popular storytellers ranging from pulp novelist Raymond Chandler and filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, and – with its theme of power and money triumphing over truth – the case is a Chinatown-esque tale of corruption and cover-up.
Related: The Best True Crime Documentaries to Stream Now
Walter Wagner ambushes Joan Bennett
Imagine the scandalous headlines that would follow today if one of Hollywood’s most successful and respected movie producers confronted his glamorous movie star wife and her high-powered talent agent over their affair — at gunpoint. In the agency’s parking lot. Directly across the street from the Beverly Hills police station. Aiming for the agent’s groin.
That was the seamy scenario in 1951 when Walter Wanger, known for all-time classics like Stagecoach and Foreign Correspondent, ambushed Joan Bennett, a film noir femme fatale today remembered for her roles in Father of the Bride and Dark Shadows, and her representative-turned-lover Jennings Lang over their trysts in an apartment rented for Lang’s agency’s client, Marlon Brando. What followed was an master class in spin control, with repercussions later felt on screen in classic films including I Want to Live!,Cleopatra and even Billy’s Wilder’s The Apartment.
Pictorial Press Ltd. / Alamy
Frank Sinatra (left) and Dean Martin getting into their usual boozy hijinks in 1966.Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin's barroom brawl
In 1966, still-legendary Rat Packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were already as iconic as the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel – the “Pink Palace” that has embodied the city’s luxurious image for a century and famously graces the cover of the Eagles’ Hotel California album — but they had to wonder if their superstar careers hit a disastrously sour note after a raucous late-night birthday celebration erupted into a barroom brawl, during which one of their millionaire opponents collapsed unconscious on the floor. But who punched out who, and how did it all impact Sinatra’s May-December romance with Mia Farrow?
A standoff on Rodeo Drive
The 1980s were the pinnacle of Rodeo Drive’s rise as one of the world’s most glamorous shopping streets — that heady, designer-conscious, wild-spending era of conspicuous consumption, as seen in films like Beverly Hills Cop and Pretty Woman. And the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry boutique was — and remains — one of the hallmarks of avenue.
But in 1986, when drifter Steven Livaditis attempted to rob the shop and suddenly found himself trapped inside the nearly impregnable building, surrounded by fast-arriving police, a day-long hostage standoff resembling the film Dog Day Afternoon ensued, and the human cost was higher than any price tag Rodeo Drive had ever seen.
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Beverly Hills Noir: Crime, Sin, & Scandal in 90210 hits shelves Oct. 1 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
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