Mummy Brings Out Dry Sense of Humor

Mention was made here of the BBC’s plans to broadcast a feature next year on Elmer McCurdy, the turn-of-the-century badman whose mummy was discovered in 1976 in a Long Beach amusement park.

Elmer fans will recall that the body, believed to be a mannequin, was discovered by a set designer who inadvertently pulled off the bad guy’s arm before the shooting of an episode of TV’s “The $6 Million Man.”

Chris Haynes, that set designer, phoned the other day to discuss the incident at the old Nu-Pike park.

McCurdy, whose body was sold to a series of carnival promoters after he was shot to death in 1911, eventually was transported back to Oklahoma for burial. But Haynes recalled that Long Beach authorities had a bit of sport with the dead outlaw first.

“A fireman who came to the scene laughed and said, ‘I’ve got an idea,’ ” Haynes said. “McCurdy was laid out with a blanket over him. Then [the fireman] phoned some of his paramedic buddies and told them to get over to the Pike.”

When the paramedics showed up, they were told that the victim had a problem--a dehydration problem.

A BOAST OR A WARNING? Pat Bliss of Long Beach came upon a flier from Long Beach Community Medical Center and notes that the hospital probably didn’t realize that the slogan could also be given a macabre interpretation (see accompanying).

ODE TO THE WALKER: After this column published a photo of a sign that said, WATCH FOR CROSS PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC, Marybelle Wells of West Hills was moved to wonder what made the pedestrian so cross. She wrote:

Has he, perhaps, some lemon bought?

So he’s (his purchase come to naught)

Afoot on streets with danger fraught?

More likely, his teen son or daught

Grabbed his car first, so left him hot.

His temper frayed, his patience shot.

Wells ends on this hopeful note:

We’ll do exactly what we ought:

We’ll share this street, and hit him not.

ODE TO THE WALKER II: Carol Lanham of L.A. recalled a ditty by Ogden Nash that was prompted by a similar sign:

CROSS CHILDREN WALK/

CHEERFUL CHILDREN RIDE

THE COST OF FAME: The spate of items of the “sounds like” variety in this space reminded Carol Nelson of Northridge of an incident involving Australian actor/comedian Barry Humphries. He was signing copies of his book in a department store, so the story goes, “when a woman held out a copy to him and said what he believed to be her name. He duly wrote inside the cover, ‘To Emma Chizzitt, Regards, Barry Humphries’ and handed it back to her. She looked at what he’d written, scowled and passed it back to him, saying, ‘Nah! Emma Chizzitt?’ ”

Translation: “How much is it?”

miscelLAny:

Movie buffs who followed the so-called good twin / bad twin trial in Orange County may have thought they were seeing a rerun. After all, as Marguerite Weiner of Encino points out, Olivia de Havilland had already played the dual role of sisters in the 1946 mystery “The Dark Mirror.” The latter movie is on video. But don’t ask me Emma Chizzitt.

Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.