L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood by Anne Soon Choi

L.A. Coroner
Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood
by Anne Soon Choi
Third State Books
Hardcover ISBN: 9798890130075
April 2025
256 pages

Amazon — Barnes & Noble — Powell's

“Gentlemen, you’re about to enter fascinating sphere of police work. The world of forensic medicine.” — Quincy M.E.

When a major celebrity passes away under mysterious or violent circumstances, it’s natural for the public to demand answers. What happened? How did they die? Did they suffer? Who or what is responsible for their death? And the person most qualified to answer these questions is a medical examiner or coroner. The art of the autopsy is one that has advanced greatly over the last several decades. Examining the body with attention to detail, running toxicology, ruling out countless scenarios and performing a psychological examination of the decedent all help the coroner interpret the story of the dead to the living. However, coroners are not infallible and any oversight or misstep can prevent justice from being served or lead to the proliferation of conspiracy theories about what actually happened. 

“Dating to medieval England, the coroner was a public official that was responsible for looking after the interests of the king when it came to the payment of death duties and to serve as a counterbalance to the sheriff. The coroner also presided over the coroner’s inquest where a jury would determine the manner of death—accident, suicide, or homicide based on evidence and eyewitness testimony. This very public display of the adjudication of death was to reassure the public that order would prevail.” — Anne Soon Choi

Dubbed the Coroner to the Stars, Dr. Thomas Noguchi, chief medical examiner for Los Angeles County, is one of the most famous and perhaps most controversial figure in the history of forensic science. A new book, L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood by Anne Soon Choi, examines the complicated legacy of Noguchi through his trials and tribulations working for Los Angeles County and through his most complicated cases. The author carefully navigates the story of a man who chased the American dream of hard work and upward mobility and became one of the best in his field but was plagued by mishaps and a constant need for attention and approval. 

Each chapter focuses on one major aspect of his career whether it’s his fight with the county to achieve the status of chief medical examiner—and then again to keep it—or the autopsy of a major celebrity and the ramifications of that work. Despite being a book about a coroner, Choi is careful to avoid sharing too much of the gruesome details. For those readers like myself, your morbid curiosity won't be fully satisfied. Others will appreciate that each case is treated with much respect with the focus being on the details of Noguchi’s work.

Some of Noguchi’s famous autopsies include:

Marilyn Monroe — RFK — Sharon Tate — William Holden — Natalie Wood — John Belushi — Albert Dekker — Divine — David Janssen — Janis Joplin — Gia Scala — Inger Stevens

Classic film and television enthusiasts will be interested in the dedicated chapters on Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate and Natalie Wood, which also discusses William Holden at length. 

Here are some key takeaways of interest:

• Noguchi’s work was the inspiration for Jack Klugman’s character in Quincy M.E. and one could say that Robert Ito’s character Sam Fujiyama is a hat tip to Noguchi’s Japanese heritage.
• Noguchi handled the autopsies of both William Holden and Natalie Wood—who died two weeks apart. His public statements about the level of intoxication of both figures drew ire from the public.
• Upset with Noguchi’s handling of Natalie Wood’s case, Frank Sinatra went to the administration office and presented a letter asking for Noguchi to be fired. According to the author, “Sinatra noted he was “particularly disturbed by Dr. Noguchi’s constant seeking of headlines and publicity for himself and investigations, often involving entertainers or other well-known individuals.”
• Marilyn Monroe’s case heavily relied on a psychological autopsy performed by another coroner to interpret Noguchi’s findings.
• Noguchi was sometimes careful what to reveal to the public and what to hold back. He was particularly cautious with Sharon Tate’s murder and the presence of the rope.
• His autopsy on RFK is referred to as the “perfect autopsy” and is studied as the gold standard by future coroners.
• The deaths of JFK and Marilyn Monroe led to the public interest in autopsies and forensic science. This interest would skyrocket during the 1970s and continues today.

Dr. Thomas Noguchi’s story is incredible complicated and I commend the author for handling it so delicately. Choi artfully weaves the story Noguchi’s career with his cases while shining a light on his battle with racism and his own personal failings. Choi’s “autopsy” on Noguchi’s complicated career leaves the reader with a comprehensive look in which no stone is left unturned.

L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood by Anne Soon Choi is on sale now. Thank you to Third State Books for sending me a copy to review.

Photo credit: Anne Soon Choi

Author bio: Anne Soon Choi, Ph.D., is a historian and professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Her essay “The Japanese American Citizens League, Los Angeles Politics, and the Thomas Noguchi Case,” on which this book is based, won the 2021 prize for best essay from the Historical Society of Southern California. Choi has previously served on the faculty of Swarthmore College and the University of Kansas and is an Andrew Mellon Fellow and an American Council of Learned Societies Digital Ethnic Studies Fellow. She lives in Los Angeles, California. — Source: Edelweiss and Third State Books

Cinema Shame: The Wild Bunch (1969)

Four years ago I created a watch list for 2014. These were the films that I hadn't seen yet that I wanted to make a point to watch that year. The Wild Bunch (1969) was one of those films. Unfortunately I never got to it that year or since. So when Jay of Cinema Shame prompted bloggers to submit their Cinema Shame statements for 2018 I added this one to mine!

Directed by Sam Peckinpah, The Wild Bunch (1969) follows a band of outlaws as they seek out one big heist. The year is 1913. Pike Bishop (William Holden) leads his "wild bunch", consisted Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine), Lyle Gorch (Warren Oates), Angel (Jaime Sanchez), Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson) and others to a dessert town to rob the railroad office's bank. What Pike and his men don't know is that this was a lure created by the railroad, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan) and his own band of bounty hunters to trap the wild bunch. The robbery goes south and ends in a deadly shoot-out with the wild bunch getting away. When they discover their loot was nothing but bags of steel washers, they seek out another opportunity for a big pay day to make up for this failure. They head for the border and pick up old Freddie Sykes (Edmond O'Brien) along the way. Pike's past begins to haunt him. He's tired of this life and wants one last big heist so he can settle down. But his former partner Deke has made it his mission to capture Pike no matter what it takes. As the two bands cross the border into Mexico, a long chase filled with more heists, lots of booze, women, guns and violence.

"Being sure is my business." - William Holden as Pike Bishop

The Wild Bunch is a movie that revels in violence. Right from the very beginning when we see children feeding scorpions to fire ants, we realize that this movie is going to be tough as nails. In a post Hays Code world, this movie tested the waters and set the standards for increased violence and blood shed on film. Ernest Borgnine once said, "I made The Wild Bunch, which was the beginning of the splattering of blood and everything else. But there was a moral behind it. The moral was that, by golly, bad guys got it. That was it." The film was highly controversial at it's time. It won praise and disdain from those who were in awe of the filmmaking techniques and the performances and others who were appalled by its graphic and relentless representation of violence.

Maybe that's why The Wild Bunch is a mixed bag for me. I can appreciate the artistry of this film but am also repulsed by its violence. The cast is superb and includes some of my favorites like Borgnine, Ryan and O'Brien. I marveled at the excellent filmmaking and on location shooting. The film felt real to me. Like I was in Mexico right alongside the wild bunch on this outrageous adventure. It's not a film I feel the need to watch again but one I'm glad I saw. The Wild Bunch does make me want to watch more of Peckinpah's work. He received his one and only Academy Award nomination, in the Original Screenplay category, for this film.

Have you seen The Wild Bunch (1969)? What did you think of it? Tell me your thoughts below.
Stay tuned for more reviews or quick takes on my Cinema Shame movies for 2018!

Invisible Stripes (1939)

The stripes are invisible because even though they are no longer in jail, they will never be free.

Invisible Stripes (1939) watches a lot like another Bogie movie that came out that same year: Roaring Twenties (1939). Instead of James Cagney and Bogie coming home from World War I you have George Raft and Bogie coming out of jail. The plight they face when they come home is the same. Any opportunities that were available before the left are not there when they come back. Bogie, in both roles, knows that going/staying bad is the only way to get by whereas both Cagney and Raft make a valiant effort at going straight. George Raft plays Cliff who tries everything he can to get a decent job but finds nothing but opposition. No one wants to have an ex-con from Sing Sing on staff. His little brother Tim (William Holden - wait, what? William Holden? OMG! That was him? I didn't even recognize him. He's so young. Why didn't anyone tell me...) wants to marry his longtime girlfriend Peggy (Jane Bryan) but he can't make ends meet enough to be able support a wife and a family. Tim is very tempted by the criminal life that people like Chuck (Bogie) lead; taking what they want, when they want and making no excuses. Cliff will do everything possible to give his little brother and his mother (Flora Robson) a good life, even if it means sacrificing a life for himself. Bogie is as well represented here as he was in Roaring Twenties. He's in a supporting role, has fourth billing but his part is significant enough that although another actor carries the movie you still get the Bogie experience.