Betty Grable and the Extortion Letters
When a popular 1940s actress received extortion letters, the FBI was on the case
In 1943, Betty Grable—a popular actress, model, singer, and dancer of the time—received a letter of extortion.
The letter read:
Dear Miss Grable,
This is an extortion. Under threat of your life or great bodily harm, gather $25,000 in uncut diamonds and mail them in 2 envelopes addressed to
Jonathan C. Wild, Esq.,
Gates Hotel,
5th and Figueroa
Los Angeles,
Calif.
(Signed),
The Leop
Miss Grable was just coming into her own as a movie star—"Down Argentina Way" and "Tin Pan Alley" were box office hits, and she'd just started working on "Sweet Rosie O'Grady." She was just months away from insuring her legs with Lloyd's of London for $1 million.
As the extortion letter had been transmitted through U.S. mail and violated the Federal Extortion Act, the FBI was assigned to investigate the case.
Our agents in Los Angeles set a trap, but the extortionist didn't show up. A month went by—and then Grable received another letter:
Dear Miss Grable:
On March 19 at 9:40 A.M. come North on Gower Street and 1/2 block south of Santa Monica Blvd. I will be waiting leaning on the cemetery wall. Bring $5,000 or you will not be alive on the 20.
(Signed),
Snow
This time, the trap was sprung and recorded on the high technology of the day: a 16mm camera with a telephoto lens. Exact charts were made to plan the surveillance, agents were disguised as gardeners and grave-diggers, and others were equipped with high-power binoculars, portable walkie-talkies, and radio-equipped cars.
At 9:40 a.m., a shiny blue sedan approached the drop spot and tossed a brown package out of the window. When 18-year-old Russell Eugene Alexanderson made a grab for it, he ran right into the FBI's trap.
After pleading guilty, Alexanderson was sentenced to 5 years' probation. Then, yet again, he sent Miss Grable another extortion note, this one for $500. The FBI arrested him again, and he was sentenced to prison.
