Episode 136: Unsolved Murder of Georgette Bauerdorf

In October of 1944, with World War II still raging and the Hollywood Canteen bustling with dancing soldiers and starlets, 20-year-old Georgette Bauerdorf seemed to be living an enviable life. A junior hostess at the famed Canteen and the daughter of a wealthy oil magnate, Georgette had charm, beauty, and a generosity of spirit that endeared her to the servicemen she entertained each Wednesday night. But just hours after her usual shift on October 11th, she was brutally murdered in her West Hollywood apartment.

Her death shocked the city.

The scene was grim. On the morning of October 12th, the janitor’s wife, Lulu Atwood, discovered Georgette’s body face-down in a bathtub of scalding water. Though the apartment showed no signs of forced entry or a violent struggle, Georgette's bruised body told a different story. She had been raped and strangled, with a piece of medical bandage stuffed down her throat. The front door had been left ajar, the automatic lightbulb on the porch deliberately unscrewed to leave her entryway in darkness. Her car was missing, only to be found later, abandoned and out of gas near downtown Los Angeles.

Investigators pursued countless leads. Suspects included pushy soldiers from the Canteen, an elusive 6’4” serviceman she had dated briefly, and even confessed murderers whose stories unraveled under scrutiny. Clues were tantalizing but inconclusive—a rare European medical bandage, smudged fingerprints on a lightbulb, and a bloodstain someone had tried to scrub from the carpet.

Though Georgette had reportedly entertained soldiers in her home and often offered them shelter on her couch, nothing in the apartment appeared stolen. Her valuables remained untouched. This was not a robbery. It was a calculated, predatory attack—one that left police with far more questions than answers.

As years passed, Georgette’s case was overshadowed by another infamous Los Angeles murder: that of Elizabeth Short, the “Black Dahlia,” in 1947. The two victims bore similarities in background, appearance, and the brutal nature of their deaths, leading some—including the son of Black Dahlia suspect Dr. George Hodel—to speculate a connection. But no conclusive link has ever been found.

Georgette’s murder was never solved.

After her funeral in New York City, she was buried in her family’s Long Island plot. The Hollywood Canteen would shut its doors a year later. The war would end. Life marched on. But Georgette’s unfinished story lingers—a haunting mystery from a glamorous, bygone era.

Her case reminds us that behind the glittering facade of wartime Hollywood were stories of danger, vulnerability, and lives cut tragically short.