the film adaptation of The Black Dahlia. Turner Prescott "Buzz" Meeks Appearances: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, Perfidia, This Storm Buzz Meeks (April 1906 – February 21, 1950) was once a cop who was known for his extreme corruption and bad performance reports. This bad reputation would eventually cause his dismissal from the LAPD. He would later find work as an enforcer and bodyguard for various figures within L.A.'s underworld including Mickey Cohen as well as movie mogul and business icon Howard Robard Hughes. He was murdered by Dudley Smith in the prologue of the L.A. Confidential novel. In the L.A. Confidential film, Meeks's first name is changed to Leland and he is portrayed by Darrell Sandeen. Ellis Loew Appearances: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, Perfidia Ellis Loew is an ambitious and corrupt District Attorney in L.A Confidential whose rise from Deputy D.A. begins in The Black Dahlia. In the film The Black Dahlia he is played by Patrick Fischler. In the film L.A. Confidential he is played by Ron Rifkin. Malcolm E. Considine Appearance: The Big Nowhere Lieutenant Mal Considine of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Criminal Investigation Bureau was an intelligent, well-intentioned cop, undone by ambition in The Big Nowhere. Bent on making the rank of Captain with the Bureau, he joined Ellis Loew and Dudley Smith on an investigation of Communists in Hollywood. In the course of that investigation, he recruited Danny Upshaw and became his handler while the latter did double-duty on investigations of Communists and a serial killer. His ambition and desire to impress the divorce court resulted in his death at the hands of the serial killer. Daniel Thomas Upshaw Appearance: The Big Nowhere Detective Deputy Danny Upshaw (1922–1950) of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was a brilliant cop who investigated a horrific string of mutilation murders in The Big Nowhere. When he stumbles upon evidence linking Dudley Smith with an old murder, Smith manipulates him psychologically until he kills himself, partly by threatening to reveal Upshaw's repressed homosexual tendencies. This allowed Smith to breathe free but the serial killer to remain at large. "Rollo Tomasi" Appearance: L.A. Confidential (film) "Rollo Tomasi" is the made up name of the unknown purse snatcher who killed Ed Exley's father, Preston Exley in the film version of L.A. Confidential. In the novel for L.A. Confidential, the unknown purse snatcher kills