This is Hollywood...

[Ireneparalegal]

That is the name of the book I have where I will post here various information regarding "Old Hollywood" and various sites, locations, graves, etc.

Enjoy.

HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL: Carol Burnett, Rick and David Nelson, Lana Turner, Stefanie Powers are just a few of this school's famous graduates. This school is located at 1521 Highland Avenue.

LANA TURNER DISCOVERED IN MALT SHOP: Despite all that has been written or said abt Lana being discovered at Schwab's, she was really found in an ice cream shop across from Hollywood High School in 1936. A gas station now covers that site.

HOLLYWOOD'S FIRST LUXURY HOTEL: Built in 1903, The Hollywood Hotel was the first home of many celebs. In 1919, Rudolph Valentino's first wife, Jean Acker, locked him out of their honeymoon suite here. The old hotel and its grand memories were callously destroyed in 1957. The site is now a parking lot. 6811 Hollywood Blvd.

HOLLYWOOD'S OLDEST RESTAURANT: Musso & Frank's has been in Hollywood since 1919. The backroom during the 30's-40's was the hangout for such writers as William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler and Nathaneal West.

FREDERICKS OF HOLLYWOOD: Still going strong and still selling great lingerie and other sexy items. Located at 6608 Hollywood Blvd.

THE WOMAN WHO GAVE HOLLYWOOD ITS NAME:Mrs. Daeida (Wilcox) Beveridge, known as the Mother of Hollywood, died in her beautiful home in 1914. She and her first husband, Horace Henderson Wilcox, founded Hollywood in 1887. The name "Hollywood" was first brought to Mrs. Wilcox's attention while talking to a wealthy woman on a train during a trip back east. The lady spoke of her country home called "Hollywood". The name so pleased Mrs. Wilcox, that when she returned to Los Angeles, she too, named her home "Hollywood". It is difficult to believe that after 95 years, no plaque can be found anywhere that honors the woman who gave Hollywood its name. Her home was razed and a bank building was built there.

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TAIL O' THE PUP: Tail o’ the Pup is an iconic Los Angeles, California hot dog stand actually shaped like a hot dog. Built in 1946, the small, walk-up stand has been noted as a prime example of “mimic”-type novelty architecture. It is one of the very few surviving mid-20th century buildings that were built in the shapes of the products they sold.

Despite its appearance in countless movies and commercials, the stand faced demolition in the mid-1980s, creating an outcry that resulted in the stand being moved a few yards from original location at at 311 North La Cienega Boulevard, to 329 North San Vicente Boulevard. In December 2005, the stand vacated that location. News reports have indicated that space is being sought to move the stand elsewhere in early 2006, possibly to the Westwood section of Los Angeles. In the meantime, Tail o’ the Pup is currently closed.

The City of Los Angeles has since declared Tail o’ the Pup to be a cultural landmark.

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The L.A. Times also reports that a new location for the popular hotdog stand has already been found - in Westwood Village, near Weyburn, at a Broxton Avenue parking lot. The Tail o' the Pup has been moved at least once already. In 1985, the stand was moved from its original location at 311 North La Cienega, on the northwest corner of Beverly Boulevard, to make way for what became the Sofitel Hotel.

The iconic restaurant was designed by architect Milton J. Black in 1938 and built in 1945. It first opened at its original Beverly Boulevard location in 1946.

Tail o' the Pup is an excellent example of Programmatic Architecture, where the building is designed to resemble the product sold inside. It is also one of a dwindling number of such structures in the Los Angeles area.

Programmatic architecture flourished during the 1930s, 40s and 50s as businesses found new ways to capture the attention of an increasingly automobile-oriented culture. This was especially the case in Los Angeles. Gigantic donuts, tamales, and hotdogs were just a few of the devices used to lure in customers.

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CAPITAL RECORDS TOWER: Depending where you read, the World's First Circular office building was built in 1956. Located at 1750 Vine, the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

The romantic story about the origin of this symbol of '50s chic is that singer Nat King Cole and songwriter Johnny Mercer suggested that the record company's headquarters be shaped to look like a stack of 45s. Architect Welton Becket claimed he just wanted to design a structure that economized space, and in so doing, he created the world's first cylindrical office building. On its south wall, L.A. artist Richard Wyatt's mural Hollywood Jazz, 1945-1972 immortalizes musical greats Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis. The recording studios are underneath the parking lot; all kinds of major artists, including Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and Radiohead, have filled the echo chambers with sound. At the top of the tower, a blinking light spells out "Hollywood" in Morse code. Due to tightened security, the building is not open to the public.

________________________________________
Argent To Purchase Tower And Adjacent Properties In $50 Million All-Cash Deal

Capitol Records and Capitol Studios To Continue Operations in This Historic Hollywood Location

LONDON AND LOS ANGELES, 28 SEPTEMBER 2006 – EMI Music North America has entered into an agreement with Argent Ventures, the New York-based commercial property owner and developer, to sell the Capitol Records Tower and adjacent properties to Argent for $50 million. As part of the agreement, EMI has entered into a long term lease with Argent, which will enable the Capitol Records label and Capitol Studios to continue their operations at these facilities for many years to come.

The sale of these facilities is consistent with EMI’s strategy to divest of non-core real estate assets, and in some cases, enter into leaseback arrangements, as the company recently did earlier this year with two facilities in Japan.

Argent’s acquisition includes the Capitol Tower -- the famous cylindrical building designed to resemble a stack of records, topped with a stylus needle which blinks out “Hollywood” in Morse code. Since opening its doors in 1956, the building has become a fixture in the Hollywood landscape, and home to the legendary Capitol Records label and the Capitol Studios, where artists such as label founder Johnny Mercer, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and The Beach Boys recorded. Argent is also acquiring the adjacent Gogerty building and a parking lot on Argyle Avenue.

EMI will retain the trademark and rights to the imagery of the Capitol Tower.

"We are grateful for EMI's continuing commitment to a community of which we are now a part," said Michael Gargano, Managing Director at Argent Ventures. "Being able to become a stakeholder in Hollywood through the acquisition of such an iconic building, while preserving the operational presence of a landmark company is exactly how we had hoped to approach the Los Angeles market."

“We are pleased to enter into this sale and leaseback with Argent, a company whose track record includes some prestigious and high profile properties in New York and Miami,” said David Munns, Chairman and CEO of EMI Music North America. “This is part of the restructuring effort we announced in April, and will help to ensure our organisation remains flexible, with a focus on investment in the key areas of A&R, marketing and the development of our digital business. We are happy to carry on the heritage and tradition of making and marketing great music in this historic building.”

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THE HOLLYWOOD PALADIUM:

Built in 1940 by Los Angeles Times publisher, Norman Chandler, the Palladium, with its huge dance floor played host to all the big bands during the 40's and 50's. Lawrence Welk appeared here weekly for almost 15 years. In the early 20's, the site was an outdoor movie set on the backlot of the Famous Players-Lasky movie studio.

The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. The facility, built in an Art Deco style, includes an 11,200 square foot (1040 m²) dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people.

It opened September 23, 1940 with a concert by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Over the years, it has hosted the Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Barbra Streisand and many others.

Since 1985 the theater has been owned by Palladium Investors Ltd., a privately held group. In 2007 the owners decided to lease the operation of the venue to Live Nation, a Los Angeles-based company, that in turn plans to do significant renovations to the theater and reopen it in September 2008.

[Mikado]

Capital Records

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THE BROWN DERBY:
This article best explains the history of the Brown Derby along with some pics:

http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_25.htm



The first Brown Derby Restaurant (the only one resembling a hat - generally referred to as the "Wilshire Brown Derby") was first located at 3427 Wilshire Blvd. (where the Equitable Building now stands) which later moved to 3347 Wilshire and was incorporated into a larger coffee shop. There is a nice shot of the Brown Derby after its one block move, in the movie "The Stand In" released in 1937 (a pleasant movie with Humphrey Bogart - it also has a shot of the Ambassador and mentions the Beverly-Wilshire, the Trocadero Cafe, the Victor Hugo and Cafe La Maze). The Hat Brown Derby later became independent of the chain comprised of the other three Brown Derby Restaurants. The Brown Derby Restaurant was based on a bowler hat. Its diameter was 28 ft. Its height was 17 and one half feet. The other later branches were near Rodeo drive at 9537 Wilshire (the "Beverly Hills Brown Derby"), 4500 Los Feliz (opened 1941, the structure here still stands and has a club called the "Derby" - more below), and the Hollywood Brown Derby was at 1628 Vine St (opened 2-12-29). The first lot for the Brown Derby Restaurant Hat cost $155,000. In the early 1930s, Herbert Somborn tried a more upscale art deco version of the Brown Derby called the Hi Hat (it later was briefly an official "Brown Derby" as is discussed in Kevin Roderick's great book on Wilshire Boulevard). It was designed in part by J. R. Davidson. Through out the 1930s, the Brown Derby was the center of a labor dispute with a waiter’s strike and later the Teamsters and Screen Actor’s Guild boycotting the Brown Derby with actors manning the picket line. In 1934, the Original Brown Derby opened an Outdoor Café. By the way - even in the original Brown Derby, the whole restaurant did not fit in the Hat. There was an extension not often seen behind it.

As was previously mentioned, in 1937 the Brown Derby moved one block and expanded into a coffee shop. By 1941, the Brown Derby was considered more famous than any movie star, according to newspaper accounts. Long after Somborn’s death, the Brown Derby continued its corporate name as H. K Somborn Enterprises. In 1936, Bob Cobb appeared in an ad for Camel cigarettes. He bought the Hollywood Stars baseball club of the Pacific Coast League as a partner with others in 1938 (in 1957 the Hollywood Stars moved to Salt Lake City to make way for the Dodgers). At 1632 N. Vine St. the Brown Derby opened a liquor store in 1940. The Hat Brown Derby had a California Room, where great emphasis was placed on an open fire where meats were cooked. In the 1940s you could choose an uncooked steak and have it hickory broiled. In 1941, another Brown Derby liquor store opened at 4500 Los Feliz. In 1945 the Los Feliz Brown Derby sustained $6000 damage in a fire. The Car Café Los Feliz branch had a dining room as well as car service. The Car Café Brown Derby was partially owned by Cecil B. De Mille. In 1946, the Brown Derby’s labor problems resurfaced when there was a citywide strike of restaurant workers. Another Brown Derby store opened up at 1910 N. Bronson in the 1940s. By this time the shops had expanded from liquor to pastries, household goods and gifts.

In 1951 Robert Kreis was the supervising chef at all of the Brown Derbies. He had worked at the Brown Derbies since 1931. In 1952 Gloria Somborn Anderson (Gloria Daly) gave up her interest in the three “newer” Brown Derbies and took over complete control of the Original Wilshire Brown Derby. The Vine Street Brown Derby did a $250,000 remodel for its 30th anniversary, inside and out in 1959, losing it’s Spanish style looks. In 1959, the Hollywood Brown Derby opened a sidewalk café in a nearby alley. The Wilshire Brown Derby also redecorated around this time, I guess to keep up with the other Brown Derbies. In 1975 Walter Scharfe bought the Vine St. Brown Derby and put a million dollars into restoring it. The Wilshire Brown Derby suddenly closed in September of 1980, with plans to immediately tear it down, but a preservation battle “saved” it. On April 3, 1985, the Vine St. Derby, the last of the original chain closed its doors due to a lease problem. A later version opened up in Pasadena for a while.

There are so many stories of how the Brown Derby idea came to be, I'll try to collect them here. One was Herbert Somborn's friend saying "If you know anything about food, you can sell it out of a hat". Another story mentions Wilson Mizner being a big fan of Bat Masterson, who wore a Brown Derby. Another variation is that if a restaurant's food was good enough, it could be called something as silly as a Brown Derby. Another theory is that it was influenced by New York governor Al Smith, a friend of Somborn, who wore a bowler hat. It goes on and on. Send me the version you heard.

P.S. Isn't it crazy the Hollywood doesn't have a Brown Derby recreation? And I'm not talking about the half-way recreations that have been attempted (including in Florida of all places). How hard would it be to recreate the Wilshire Brown Derby Hat with its very austere interior? Please, if there is an insane Billionaire out there, let's make a new one and hire me to make sure it's done right! We need a Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles! And while we are at it, let's buy up the remaining movie palaces on Broadway and restore them (hey, would even doing one be asking too much?). Isn't this a better use of your money than buying some island in the middle of nowhere? And above all - it would be profitable - this time around, Los Angeles is ready to support the cause!!!
Although the Los Angeles Conservancy and Hollywood Heritage fought a brave battle to save it, apparently there are no enforceable rules as to what color it should be painted and how it can be modified. Of course, there was also no way to protect the original interior which is completely gone (it was gutted immediately in 1980). It's sort of like displaying the mummy of a golden age movie star and dressing him or her up as a clown to boot. Of course it's better to have the shell than not, but something must be done to treat it with a little more respect. Thank heaven Bob Cobb and Herbert Somborn are not alive to see this.

There was a recent battle over tearing down the Los Feliz Brown Derby Restaurant site. This branch opened in 1941 as a Drive-in Car Cafe - open 24 hours. In 1960, it went out of business and Michael's restaurant took over. In recent years it had a renaissance as "The Derby" swing club, seen in the movie "Swingers". This battle was recently, thankfully, won.

[Mikado]

I agree, there needs to be a Hollywood Brown Derby.....I know if i went to LA, thats the first place id want to see!

[Ireneparalegal]

You would think with all these insane amount of restaurants being built in Los Angeles and Hollywood by chefs, celebs and other filthy rich people, someone would at least say, "Hey, let's make the Brown Derby again." and have the menu that was used then along with up-to-date dishes. God, what a novel idea, but everyone is into making their own restaurant, upscale and soooooo fancy, where the elite meet to eat, have to be "someone to even be considered getting inside"...uke: those kinds of places make me sick. What a screwed up way of being prejudiced and racist and being allowed to get away with it.

[Mikado]

I guess "classism" is still legal

[Ireneparalegal]

THE HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN:
The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California between October 3, 1942 and November 22, 1945 (Thanksgiving Day) as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas. Even though the majority of visitors were U.S servicemen, the Canteen was open to servicemen of allied countries as well as women in all branch of service. The serviceman's ticket to admission was his uniform and everything at the Canteen was free of charge.


The driving force behind its creation were Bette Davis and John Garfield along with composer Jules Stein, President of Music Corporation of America, who headed up the finance committee. Davis devoted an enormous amount of time and energy to the project and served as its president. The cost of materials for the renovations and the labor was all donated by members of the various guilds and unions of the entertainment industry. The Canteen was operated and staffed by volunteers from the entertainment industry only. By the time the Canteen opened its doors, over 3000 stars, players, directors, producers, grips, dancers, musicians, singers, writer, technicians, wardrobe attendants, hair stylists, agents, stand-ins, publicists, secretaries, and allied craftsmen of radio and screen had registered as volunteers.

Glamorous stars volunteered to wait on tables, cook in the kitchen and clean up. On September 15, 1943, the one millionth guest walked through the door of the Hollywood Canteen. The lucky soldier, Sgt. Carl Bell, received a kiss from Betty Grable.

A Hall of Honor at the Hollywood Canteen had a wall of photos which honored the film actors who served in the military. Most of those actors, while on shore leave, came out to help the Canteen.

In 1944, Warner Bros. made a star-studded film about the Hollywood Canteen.

At the time the Canteen closed its doors, it had been host to almost three million servicemen

Over 225 photographs of the Hollywood Canteen can be seen at hollywoodphotographs.com

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THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO CLUB:
Here is a link that provides some great pics and a little story behind it.
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/j...llywoodyw.html

The Club opened in 1926, it served as the home for many young starlets for almost 50 years. Former residents were Kim Novak, Gale Storm, Donna Reed, Janet Blair, Sharon Tate and Sally Struthers. Marilyn Monroe lived in room 334 in 1948. Located at 1215 Lodi Place.

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NBC RADIO STUDIOS: 1500 Vine...this was the former site of NBC Studios in the 40's and 50's. Many radio shows including the Jack Benny and Bob Hope shows originated here. The studio was destroyed in the 60's. A bank was built on that site.

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CHARLIE CHAPLIN STUDIOS:
Here are some pics in this link:
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~stein/page8.html

The unique cottage style Chaplin Studio buildings, which can still be seen on LaBrea Avenue in Hollywood.

The Charlie Chaplin Studio was built by the famous comedian after he signed with First National in 1917, his first independent production deal.

"At the end of the Mutual contract," Chaplin later wrote, "I was anxious to get started with First National, but we had no studio. I decided to buy land in Hollywood and build one. The site was the corner of Sunset and La Brea and had a very fine ten-room house and five acres of lemon, orange and peach trees. We built a perfect unit, complete with developing plant, cutting room, and offices."

The land was located just south of the mansion owned by Charles Chaplin's brother Sydney, the business head of the Chaplin film company.

Chaplin built the English cottage-style studio in three months beginning in November 1917, at a reported cost of only $35,000. The property was located just south of the mansion owned by his brother Sydney Chaplin, the business head of the Chaplin film company (Sydney's house has since been torn down to make way for an electronics store). Every independent film he ever produced was made at the studio including the classics The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931) and The Great Dictator (1940). His last film shot there was Limelight (1952). Charlie Chaplin's concrete footprints can still be found in front of Sound Stage #3.

The Charlie Chaplin Studio on LaBrea Avenue in Hollywood. Notice the orchard grove next to the property.

He sold the studio in 1953, to a New York real estate firm William Zeckendorf's Webb & Knapp for $650,000. The plan was to tear down the studio, but instead it was leased out to a Chicago television production company. The lot became known as the Kling Studios, and such shows as the George Reeves The Adventures of Superman series, The Red Skelton Show, and the original Perry Mason (CBS) were produced there.

The lot was briefly owned by Red Skelton from 1958 to 1962, then by CBS until 1966 when it became the home of A&M Records and Tijuana Brass Enterprises, Inc. In 1969 , the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board named the studios a historic cultural monument. The recording studio has been used by many major artists such as Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. It was also the site of the memorable "We Are the World" recording of which brought together a who's-who of music talent onto the Charlie Chaplin sound stage in 1985.

The Henson family (Muppet fame) purchased the famous Charlie Chaplin Studio in 2000.

In 1992, A&M Records was acquired by Polygram, Inc., and during the consolidation of the recording industry in the late 1990s, the owners looked the sell the property. In February 2000, the Henson family announced that they bought the property for $12.5 million to become the headquarters of their independent production operation the Jim Henson Company. It subsequently became known as the Henson Recording Studios.

[Mikado]

THE HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN:
Irving Berlin wrote a song about what they called the Stagedoor Canteens...

I LEFT MY HEART AT THE STAGEDOOR CANTEEN

I left my heart at the stage door canteen
I left it there with a girl named Eileen
I kept her serving doughnuts, 'til all she had were gone
I kept her serving doughnuts, 'til she caught on

I must go back to the Army routine
And every doughboy knows what that will mean
A soldier boy without a heart
Has two strikes on him from the start
And my heart's at the stagedoor canteen

I left my heart at the stage door canteen
I left it there with a girl named Eileen
I kept her serving doughnuts, 'til all she had were gone
I kept her serving doughnuts, 'til she caught on