The True Story of Fauna Hodel From 'I Am the Night'

From Cosmopolitan

If you’re looking for a new thriller to watch over the rest of this chilly winter, TNT’s I Am the Night could be just the thing. The six-part miniseries, which premieres on Jan. 28, focuses on the real-life Black Dahlia murder of 1947, making it the perfect true-crime show to watch now that Dirty John is over. Oh, and it also stars Chris Pine, and it’s directed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins.

Pine’s I Am the Night character, a reporter named Jay Singletary, is fictional. But the case he’s investigating is all too real. Fauna and George Hodel were both very much real people, and it’s worth knowing a bit about their backstory before you watch the series.

So, Who Was the Real-Life Fauna?

Fauna, played by India Eisley in the TNT series, was the granddaughter of George Hodel, a suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short, a.k.a. the Black Dahlia. She didn’t grow up knowing her grandpa, though - her mother, Tamar Hodel, gave her up for adoption.

The I Am the Night trailer showcases Fauna’s search for her identity, with her character saying that she wants to know who she is. But when she starts looking into her background, Fauna might get more than she bargained for. After receiving an anonymous tip about the case, Jay finds Fauna, convinced she’s connected to the Black Dahlia murder.

What Did Fauna Hodel Say About Her Own Life?

A lot, actually! Before her 2017 death, Fauna wrote the 2008 memoir, One Day She’ll Darken, which was the original name of the TNT show. The title appears to come from the controversy surrounding her background. According to the Google Books summary for Fauna’s book, the reason her mom, Tamar Hodel, gave her away was because she claimed that Fauna’s dad was Black. Fauna was then raised by a Black maid, Jimmie Lee, in Nevada, at her mother’s request.

Based on Goodreads summaries of the memoir, it looks like Fauna spent a lot of the book discussing her relationship with her adoptive mother. It sounds like Lee may have struggled with alcoholism and that their family faced poverty as well. The book seems to be more about Fauna’s experience and her identity struggles, rather than being about the Black Dahlia case.

That sounds like it will tie into the show pretty well, though. The Black Dahlia case was highly publicized, and focusing on Fauna’s experience gives the series a fresh way of looking at the story.

How Did Fauna Hodel Die?

According to an obituary her uncle Steve Hodel shared on his website, Fauna died at age 66 after battling cancer. In the obituary, Steve noted that Fauna did eventually meet her mother, Tamar, in the 1970s. Tamar passed away in 2015. Fauna left behind her two daughters, Rasha and Yvette.

What Does Fauna’s Family Think of the TNT Series?

It looks like they’re totally on board with it! Fauna’s daughter Rasha Pecoraro has tweeted a lot about the show. She’s even co-hosting a podcast called “Root of Evil,” which she tweeted is a “companion” to I Am the Night.

Rasha also posted a photo of herself with Jenkins and Eisley, so it looks like she’s thrilled that her mom’s story is being adapted for the small screen.

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With the addition of Pine’s character, I Am the Night is taking some liberties in its portrayal of the Hodel family’s reported connection to the Black Dahlia case. But it appears that Fauna’s family is on board with the series, which is a positive sign. The show’s producers seem to have taken the sensitive nature of Fauna’s experience into account, too.

While it’s not as thrilling as the Black Dahlia case itself, Fauna’s story is important in its own right. And it looks like I Am the Night will be doing her legacy justice.

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