18: Amy Archer Gilligan -- The Real Killer Behind Arsenic and Old Lace Artwork

Vintage Villains

For those who like a little old-time with their true crime, join host Allison Dickson of Ding Dong Darkness Time as she explores the villains of decades and centuries past.

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Vintage Villains

18: Amy Archer Gilligan -- The Real Killer Behind Arsenic and Old Lace

October 22, 2024 • Warped Cortex Media

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We're joined by Brett from The Prosecutors for a Vintage Villains Halloween special.

In 1941, the play Arsenic and Old Lace debuted to rave reviews on Broadway, and a few years later spawned a movie starring Cary Grant. The story, set on Halloween, about two little old ladies who run a boarding house and poison their infirm tenants made for a fun if macabre screwball comedy, but not many know playwright Joseph Kesselring was inspired by very real events.

So we're traveling back to 1916 to talk about Amy Archer-Gilligan, an early pioneer of elder care facilities in the United States. And a key reason why regulations were later created to track deaths at such facilities.

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