Fauna Hodel

In 1951, Fauna Hodel, the white daughter of a prominent California family, was given away at birth to a young black woman who worked as a restroom attendant in a Nevada casino. Fauna grew up believing she was of mixed race, encountering prejudice from both blacks and whites. When she sought out her birth mother Tamar years later, she found out about her family link to the prime suspect in the Black Dahlia murder mystery. Fauna's early life was the inspiration for the unreleased feature film Pretty Hattie's Baby (1991), and Patty Jenkins' upcoming TNT miniseries I Am the Night (2019). Fauna was a motivational speaker and mother to daughters Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro. She lost her battle with breast cancer at the end of September 2017, but was a producer on I Am The Night until her death. Fauna perpetuated love and equality, and her daughters are continuing her legacy.