Tom’s Tour of Stars Homes
To Get As Close As Possible To The Hollywood Sign:
Down Hollywood Blvd. to Vine. Turn left on Vine to Franklin. Right on Franklin.
Turn left on Beachwood. Turn left on Ledgewood. Left on Deronda.
Right on Ledgewood. Sharp turn right and up Rockclift.
Left on Deronda and proceed to top of hill.
The Tour:
At the northeastern corner of Hollywood and Cherokee is a dark red building, the Geisha House (6633
Hollywood Blvd. 323-460-6300), owned by Demi Moore. It’s very expensive and requires a reservation.
Further east on Hollywood Blvd. on the left is the Pantages Theater (6233 Hollywood Blvd. 323-4681700) where “Wicked” played all of last year. Built around 1920, the Academy Awards were held at the
Pantages from 1950 to 1960. From 1968 until 1988 the Academy Awards were held at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion (135 N. Grand Ave. 213-972-7401) in downtown L.A. In 2002 the Kodak Center
became the permanent home of the awards.
At the 1958 Academy Awards the Oscar for Best Story went to Robert Rich for “The Brave One”.
Rich, the nephew of the producer of the bullfighter movie, remains the only Academy Award winner
who never picked up his Oscar. The reason? Robert Rich didn’t write the script. It was written by
Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted writer, who had Rich’s permission to use his name. Trumbo finally
received his Oscar in 1973.
Alexander Pantages left his native Greek island of Andros, spending some time helping the French dig
the Panama Canal but after contracting malaria headed north to cooler climates. He built a chain of
theaters starting with the Crystal Theater in 1901 Seattle. By 1920, he was owner of more than 30
vaudeville theaters and controlled through management contracts, perhaps 60 more in both the United
States and Canada. His customers received the best service at a reasonable price, despite his shortsighted
early refusal to allow African-Americans into his theatres. He was successfully sued by an AfricanAmerican after being refused entry into a Pantages theater in Spokane, Washington.
In 1929, in the midst of a Wall Street meltdown, Alexander Pantages was arrested and charged with the
rape of a 17 year old would-be vaudeville dancer named Eunice Pringle. Rumor had it that at the time
that Pantages was framed by Joseph Kennedy, JFK’s father. Around 1920, Pantages entered into
partnership with the motion picture distributor, Famous Players, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures.
Although
the Pantages circuit dominated the vaudeville and motion picture market west of the
Mississippi, Pantages was effectively blocked from expansion into the eastern market by the dominant,
New York-based Keith-Albee-Orpheum Circuit (KAO).
Kennedy and David Sarnoff successfully gained control of KAO, later to be called RKO. (“Citizen
Kane” was shot at RKO.) Kennedy then offered to buy the entire Pantages chain but Pantages refused to
sell. Even though Pantages was acquitted at trial his career was forever tainted with the scandal,
consequently Kennedy was later able to purchase the Pantages chain at a greatly reduced price.
Heading south on Las Palmas to Selma turn west and drive west towards Highland. As you approach
Highland Avenue, you will see the 2002 mural across the east wall of Hollywood High School, (1521 N.
Highland 323-993-1700). The celebrity students on the mural from left to right are Dorothy Dandridge,
Dolores del Rio, Brandy Norwood, Selena, Lana Turner, Laurence Fishbourne, Cantinflas, Carol
Burnette, Cher, Ricky Nelson, Bruce Lee, Valentino and Judy Garland. John Ritter is on the north
side of the building and was painted after his death.
1
On the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland is the Kodak Center (6801 Hollywood Blvd.
323-308-6300) finished in 2001. Built at a cost of $94 million, this is now the permanent home of the
Academy Awards. The Grand Staircase columns at the Kodak Theater showcase every movie that has
won the Best Picture title since the first Academy Awards in 1928. There is viewing gap in the complex
where you can see the Hollywood Sign from Hollywood Blvd.
Built in February of 1903, Hotel Hollywood stood where the Kodak Center now stands. When
Rudolph Valentino, then a struggling actor recently arrived from New York City, and his first wife,
Jean Acker, were married on November 5, 1919, there was no question where they would spend their
wedding night; it would be in her room at the Hotel Hollywood. Acker, a lesbian, slammed the door in
Valentino’s face, locked it, and wailed that she had made a terrible mistake. That was the end of the
marriage before it even began.
Hotel Hollywood was the most prestigious hotel in town. Guests included Gloria Swanson, Greta
Garbo (who registered incognito), Jack Warner, Lillian Gish and Irving Thalberg. Around 1927 the
hotel changed its name to Hollywood Hotel. There was a strawberry field across the street. Mack
Sennett, the famous director, recalled that Hollywood Blvd. (then called Prospect Avenue) was a semidirt street with a little pavement in the center and a one-track trolley. When it rained, it was muddy.
You had to put chains on your tires. On Vine Street they grew grapes. That’s how Vine St. got its
name.”
The film industry actually started in New York and New Jersey. Thomas Edison claimed to have
invented the motion picture process in 1889, although the work of William Friese-Greene in Britain
almost certainly predated Edison’s. Edison’s enforcers from his organization, The Trust, would go to a
movie shoot and demand payment. If you didn’t pay them they would shoot holes in your cameras and if
someone accidentally got shot then that was no big deal.
Cecil B. DeMille used to live at the Hollywood Hotel, was shot at twice in his first few months in
Hollywood and slept with a gun next to his bed. He wore a .45 revolver in the hotel and during film
production. He was afraid the Trust would find him. Finally, the government ordered the Trust to
disband after its monopoly was successfully prosecuted under the Sherman Act.
As you drive north on Highland past Hollywood Blvd. you’ll see the huge AIDS ribbon on the south
wall of the Hollywood United Methodist Church, (6817 Franklin Ave. 323-874-2104) on the corner of
Highland and Franklin. Both of Whoopi Goldberg’s “Sister Act” movies were shot in this church. In
addition, the dance sequence in the first “Back To The Future” movie where Michael J. Fox’s future
parents had to kiss at the “Enchantment Under The Sea” dance. All those scenes were shot in the
basement of this church.
As you proceed through the first stop light north of Franklin on the intersection of Highland and
Camrose, look up the hill to the left and you will see a red house that stands out against the neighbor’s
houses. This is Eva Longoria’s home. Look quickly because you can only see it from the intersection.
Immediately on the left is the Hollywood Bowl (2301 N. Highland Ave. 323-850-2000), one of the largest
natural amphitheaters in the world, with a current seating capacity of just under 18,000. On July 11 th,
1922 with the audience seated on simple wooden benches placed on the natural hillsides of Bolton
Canyon, the Los Angeles Philharmonic inaugurated the first season at the Hollywood Bowl.
The woman who bought the property intended the bowl for religious plays but that didn’t pan out so she
opened up a theater across the street now called Ford Theater. After the religious plays went belly up
only classical music was played there until Frank Sinatra sang there. He opened the doors for all types
of music. The Beatles have played there twice and in 1967 when the Monkeys were at their height of
fame, their opening act at the Hollywood Bowl and on their tour was then an unknown Jimi Hendrix.
2
As you continue north, you have to either get on the 101 freeway or lean towards the left and go up
Cahuenga West to Mulholland Drive. Do not go straight as that will lead you onto the 101 Freeway
North!
At the second stop light, Mulholland, turn left and immediately left again up the hill. You will be able to
see the Hollywood Sign after a few turns in the road. You don’t need to take photos here because there
is a Hollywood Sign (4015-4099 Mt. Lee Dr.) viewing area at the top of the hill.
After you get your first glimpse of the Hollywood Sign you will see two dome structures at the 10
O’clock position. That is the Griffith Park Observatory (2850 E. Observatory Dr. 323-664-1191) first
built in 1908, where scenes from “Rebel Without A Cause” were shot. (The famous knife scene was
just one of the scenes.) They used to have Laserium where great laser light shows were accompanied by
Pink Floyd or Moody Blues music.
This was very popular throughout the sixties and seventies until the observatory was closed for two
years for remodeling. When it opened, they didn’t bring back Laserium. Leonard Nimoy, who played
Spock on the original Star Trek series, donated over a million dollars to the observatory and has a room
named after him now. The only night it’s closed is Monday night.
At the top of the hill is a parking area on the left side of the road. Once parked you can look at the house
across Mulholland, at the top of the hill, overlooking the viewing area. Once owned by Wilt
Chamberlain, the bedroom roof slides open.
As you look out over the city turn to the right and you’ll see a redwood colored home high on the hill.
Harrison Ford built it when he was a struggling actor and full time carpenter.
Now look down over the city. You’ll see the Hollywood Bowl from above. There are what looks like
three white air condition ducts. The shell sits behind those towers and that’s where the performers stand.
You see the winding 101 freeway heading downtown. Just after the curve and to the right you will see a
green colored building that looks like a tall stack of records. This is the Capitol Records building (1750
Vine St. 323-462-6252). Built in 1954, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole,
Pink Floyd and the Beatles recorded there. John Lennon’s star on the Walk of Fame is just outside the
building. On the top is a tall needle shooting up from one side of the roof. Christmas tree lights are hung
from the top of this needle to the other side of the roof and that’s Hollywood’s communal Christmas
tree. At the very top of this needle is a red light which continually blinks “H-o-l-l-y-w-o-o-d” every few
seconds in Morse code.
In the distance you see a number of tall buildings. That’s downtown Los Angeles. The tallest building
that looks like a column is the U.S. Bank building, (633 West Fifth Street) tallest building west of the
Mississippi. In “Independence Day”, Will Smith’s girlfriend has a dancer friend who runs up to the
rooftop of a building and unfurls a banner welcoming the aliens only to be blasted to pieces. This was
shot on the roof of the U.S. Bank building. Also as a historical footnote Vice President Cheney has
defended water boarding by stating that the man responsible for planning 9-ll, Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, had also planned on flying aircraft into this building as well as the Pentagon, The Twin
Towers and the White House. He admitted this, according to Cheney, only after being water boarded
183 times.
Look towards the 2 O’clock position and you’ll see Century City. The ocean is out past where the land
ends. If you drive north on the 101 freeway you get to Santa Barbara in about 100 miles and north of
that is the Napa Valley for those of you who love wine. There are so many wineries there you could
spend weeks going from one to another and tasting their wine for free.
3
There are stairs to the left winding up to the viewing area where you may take photos of the Hollywood
Sign. This is the second Hollywood Sign. The first sign was put up in 1923 at a cost of $21,000 and
actually read “Hollywoodland” because it was a publicity ploy by the Hollywoodland Real Estate and
Development Company trying to sell local plots. Mack Sennet, a famous silent film director was one of
the chief executives of this company.
The “land” part of the sign was taken down in 1949. There was at one time four thousand 15-watt light
bulbs around all the letters so it could be clearly seen at night but those were removed in 1939 because
the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said it was too expensive to run. The sign was lit in stages. At
first “Holly” would flash on and off then off followed by “wood” flashing and when it was off “land”
would flash on off. Finally the entire sign would flash on and off. Later they put two search lights below
that would cross back and forth as they panned the flashing sign at the end of the sequence.
Lillian (Peg) Millicent Entwistle was a graduate of the famed Theater Guild in New York and a stage
actress with a portfolio of rave notices from performances in such plays as “Tommy” and “Alice Sit By
The Fire”, written by “Peter Pan’s” author, James Barrie. A young Bette Davis, after watching Peg play
“Hedvig” in Henrik Ibsen’s “The Wild Duck”, proclaimed to her mother that, ‘I want to be just like Peg
Entwistle”. She seemed a natural at a time when the studios were raiding New York’s theatrical talent
pool for “real” actors. She appeared in only one movie, “Thirteen Women” with Myrna Loy and Irene
Dunne, which opened shortly after her death.
Her personal life was troubled with an abusive husband. She became very disillusioned and on Friday
night, September 16th, 1932, she told her Uncle Charlie (She lived with him at 2428 Beachwood Drive.
A house bought for only $2,000) she was going to the store to borrow a book and buy a few things then
visit a friend. It was the practice then to borrow books from the local store on Beachwood Drive much
like we do with libraries today. Her uncle became worried when she didn’t return that night or the
following day, Saturday.
Sunday night an anonymous phone call was made to the LAPD station downtown reporting she had
found a woman’s jacket, one shoe and her purse with a suicide note inside which read in part, “I’m
afraid. I’m a coward. I’m sorry for everything”. The anonymous caller also reported she had then looked
down the ravine and seen a woman’s body about 100 feet below the base of the Hollywoodland sign.
The woman made it a point not to call the local Hollywood station and refused to give her name. It has
been suggested that she could have been a famous actress living in Beachwood Canyon who worried
Hollywood police would have recognized her voice.
Pen Entwistle climbed up to the sign, which she had ridden past on horseback almost daily during her
stay in Hollywood. She neatly folded her jacket, putting it on top of her shoes. A worker had left a
ladder propped up against the letter “H” so she climbed on top of the letter and jumped off. She bounced
off a huge boulder, shattering her pelvis then rolled down the ravine one hundred feet.
A week later her uncle, who she was living with, got a letter from the Beverly Hills Community Players
offering her a lead role in the next play… if she had only waited one more week. The irony is that the
play was about a woman who commits suicide.
Some people say that since her suicide, they have occasionally seen a woman dressed in clothing from
the 30’s wondering around the sign, appearing lost and dazed. The smell of gardenias flooded the air
when a couple walking their dog noticed the dog acting up. They looked up to see a woman dressed in
clothing from the 30’s staggering towards them. The couple assumed the woman was drunk but as she
approached them she suddenly vanished into thin air. Gardenias were Peg Entwistle’s favorite flower
and perfume. She remains the only person to ever commit suicide off the Hollywood Sign. A fence was
put up around the sign shortly after her suicide knowing other actors might be tempted to be
immortalized in the same way.
4
These days there are motion detectors and video cameras to monitor the area around the sign. You can
see the view from the Hollywood Sign by going to www.HollywoodSign.org
In 1978 the original wooden sign had fallen apart. The two O’s fell down. They were going to just tear it
down but it’s so popular that locals started to throw benefit concerts. Fleetwood Mac offered to perform
for free at The Hollywood Bowl but local residents felt it would be too loud so it was never thrown.
Hugh Hefner who considered the sign “Hollywood’s Eiffel Tower” sponsored a $150-a-person benefit
at the Playboy Mansion (10236 Charing Cross Rd. Holmby Hills 14,217 sq. ft.) which netted $45,000.
In a successful effort to restore the Hollywood sign to its original glory the following people sponsored
the letters for $28,000 each:
H - Terrence Donnelly, Publisher Hollywood Independent Newspaper
O - Giovanni Mazza, Italian movie producer
L - Les Kelley - Originator of the Kelley Blue Book
L - Gene Autrey - With his pioneer television station KTLA (I worked there in 1977)
Y - Hugh Hefner - Creator of Playboy Enterprises
W - Andy Williams - Singer
O - Warner Brothers Records
O - Alice Cooper - In memory of Groucho Marx
D - Dennis Lidtke
The “Y” in the sign was restored and dedicated in his name. Soon after the Playboy benefit Alice
Cooper donated $27,000 for the letter “O” in memory of Groucho Marx. Gene Autry, who owned the
Angels and KTLA while I worked there, sponsored the second “L”. Warner Brothers Records soon
sponsored the second “O” and a Hollywood graphics company paid for the “D”. All the letters now are
made from solid Australian aluminum.
On November 11, 1978 the sign, lit by floodlights instead of the original four thousand fifteen-watters,
was unveiled to the public. Three days later all America saw the restored sign when Hollywood
celebrated its nationally televised seventy-fifth birthday.
Note: If you are a Justin Timberlake fan:
Instead of turning left on Outpost continue on Mulholland as it curves to the right. Look to the left and
you will see three homes built on the hillside. The first one is sort of a pink color. The middle home is
somewhat the color of sandalwood (7218 Mulholland Dr.) This is the home of Carmen Electra.
After a few curves in the road you will see the home (7475 Mulholland Dr.) of Vinnie Jones (“Gone in
60 Seconds” “Juggernaut in X-Men: The Final Stand”) behind a black gate and straight ahead right
after curving to the right and just before another left curve.
After you curve to the left past Vinnie Jones there is a stop sign. Proceed straight ahead and the first
estate (7515 Mulholland Dr.) on the right starting at the corner where the stop sign is belongs to the
director Quentin Tarantino.
At some point within the next half a mile you will see two parking areas on the right hand shoulder with
an excellent view of Universal Studios far below as well as Burbank and the 101 Freeway. This is one of
the finest views in L.A. Now turn around and look for a yellow home halfway up the hill. (3100
Torreyson Dr.) That’s the home of Justin Timberlake and his girlfriend, Jessica Biehl. If you want to
drive up to his front gate turn left at the first street across the street (Torreyson Dr.) from the viewing area
and proceed to its end. His front gate is on the left. I just drove up there yesterday and since my last visit
Justin has had a security hut built along with full time guard just outside his front gate.
Turn around on Mulholland and head back towards Outpost to continue the tour.
5
Drive further up Mulholland, turn left on the first street winding down (Outpost) through the Hollywood
Hills. After the first stop sign continue about 50 yards then look for an orange house on the right. (2627
Outpost Dr.) That’s Orlando Bloom’s house.
The next house down and on the right as well has a driveway winding up to the garage on the left at a 45
degree angle. (2617 Outpost Dr.) This is Will Ferrell’s home. Occasionally you’ll catch him standing
outside his garage. Will Ferrell is a graduate of the L.A. improv group, “The Groundlings” (7307
Melrose Ave. 323-934-9700).
I auditioned for them in the 70’s after responding to an ad they put in the show biz paper, Dramalogue.
After auditioning for two hours they said I was accepted into their school for $250 a month. It ticked me
off that they didn’t put that in their ad but made it sound like we were auditioning to perform for the
group. So I turned them down. Perhaps, in hindsight, a mistake in the long run.
At the next stop sign there is a home on the southeastern corner hardly seen because of all the brush and
vines but that’s the home of Charlize Theron (2572 Outpost Dr.). I met her in a gas station last year. She
was hardly recognizable with her hair wet and an old T shirt on. She was buying four packs of
cigarettes. Finally I just told her she was a brilliant actress. She smiled that incredible smile.
If you spend any amount of time in L.A. sooner or later you’re going to see a celebrity. They never look
the same in person. Not only because of the makeup and lighting but more importantly the camera just
changes minute dimensions of their face. They almost always look better on film. If they looked that
good in person they’d be hookers.
My son and I were in a gun shop in Culver City about fifteen years ago. Suddenly my son, Tyson, points
to this short, average looking man and tells me it’s Charlie Sheen. I looked but didn’t think it was. Until
his bodyguard walked out to their car for something and I approached him. This guy is a multimillionaire but his running shoes were held together with duct tape. He looks so average in person. So
much better on film.
Now Charlie Sheen isn’t much taller than a fire hydrant and so I towered over him. I suppose I was
enthusiastic and he might have mistake that energy for something more evil. There was this terrified
look in his eyes. Like a deer who suddenly realizes he’s in a hunter’s rifle scope. Once I started talking
to him he relaxed but I’m guessing he really chewed out that bodyguard later. He walked around buying
one gun after another not caring how much they cost.
Two weeks later I met his dad, Martin Sheen, in a movie theater and witnessed those same startled
eyes. Of course I probably shouldn’t have started the conversation with, “I met your son in a gun shop”.
Further down the hill you’ll see two gargoyles above and on each side of the front door of a home on the
right. (2227 Outpost Dr.) This was the home of Bela Lugosi who was the most famous Dracula. Bela had
a heroin problem and used to get high and walk up and down the street dressed as Dracula.
At the next corner of Outpost and Castillian Drive is Ben Stiller’s home (2427 Castillian Dr.) behind the
tall wall of cinder blocks and shrubbery. He hates tour buses.
Jason Priestly, original “Beverly Hills 90210” lives to the right (2073 Outpost Dr.) at the next stop sign.
After the next stop sign, you will see a statue of a lion at the entrance of a driveway on the left. This is
the home of Laurence Fishbourne (2012 Outpost Dr.) from the “Matrix” movies and now a regular on
CSI. He lied about his age for the filming of his first movie, “Apocalypse Now”, because he was only
14 and too young for the shoot in the Philippines. He was known then as “Larry” Fishbourne.
At the next stop sign on the corner of Hillside and Outpost Dr. to the right, (1851 Outpost Dr.) you’ll see
the home of Bob Barker, (1the host of “The Price Is Right” for 35 years (1972-2007) and is only
second to Johnny Carson for the longevity record on TV.
6
Fans would sleep on the sidewalks circling CBS Television City, (7800 Beverly Blvd. 323-575-2458) just
to get on the show during the last two weeks of his reign.
Drive down to Franklin and turn left. Immediately on the left is a hotel now called The Highland
Gardens (7047 Franklin Ave. 323-850-0536) hotel but in 1970 it was called The Landmark. The
Landmark opened in the mid-50’s with guests including Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack and The Jefferson
Airplane.
It’s also the place where on October 4th, 1970 Janis Joplin overdosed in room 104 facing the street. She
purchased a pack of cigarettes from a machine in the hotel lobby and was found dead the next morning
with the change still clenched in her hand. She had kicked heroin before and tried to be cautious, doing
business with only one dealer who had a chemist check his dope before selling it. That night the chemist
was out of town and the heroin was 50 per cent pure and fatal.
Joplin was born on January 19th, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas and wasn’t very popular in high school. I
remember an interview with her on the Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1970 just before her 10th.
high school reunion. She thought now that she was famous starting with “Big Brother and the Holding
Company” at the Monterey Pop Festival, everyone from her old high school would treat her
differently. They didn’t.
Next to the Highland Gardens is the Magic Castle (7001 Franklin Ave. 323-851-3313). It started off as a
private home built in 1908 by banker and real estate magnate, Rollin B. Lane. After a severe drought
brought an end to his dreams and orange blossoms never filled the valley, the Lane family moved away
in the 40’s The mansion was divided into a multi-family home, then later became a home for the elderly
and was finally transformed into a maze of small apartments.
Milt Larsen, a writer on the TV show, “Truth or Consequence s” bought the complex out of love for
his father who was a renowned magician and had always dreamed of building an elegant private club for
magicians. Milt and a crew of eternally generous friends and volunteers began the extraordinary task of
returning this run-down apartment building to its glorious Victorian elegance. The Magic Castle was
born in September of 1961 with its doors opening at 5 p.m. on January 2, 1963. Penn and Teller are
members. David Copperfield another member. Johnny Carson was made an honorary member. To
join you have to pay a thousand dollars and perform three magic tricks.
High above the Highland Gardens and the Magic Castle is Yamashiro’s restaurant (1999 Sycamore Ave.
323-466-5125) built in 1911. Yamashiro (“Mountain Palace” in Japanese) boasts of having the oldest
building in L.A., a 600 year old pagoda on its north slope. You can drive up the winding driveway and
take in the incredible view of L.A. and the Hollywood Sign from there.
In the late 20’s Yamashiro’s served as headquarters for the ultra-exclusive “400 Club”. Created for the
elite of Hollywood’s motion picture industry during its Golden Age, Yamashiro gave Hollywood its first
celebrity hangout. In the post Pear Harbor paranoia, Yamashiro was mistakenly rumored to be a signal
tower for Japanese submarines.
Driving down Sycamore turn right at Hollywood Blvd. and head west towards LaBrea. On the left at the
corner of Hollywood Blvd. and LaBrea, are four silver statues. These represent the four ethnicities of
acting with Mae West for White actresses, Dorothy Dandridge for Black actresses, Anna May Wong
for Asian actresses and Dolores Del Rio for Hispanic actresses.
On top of this gazebo is a small statue of Marilyn Monroe from her famous skirt blowing scene in
“Seven Year Itch”, shot on September 14th, 1954 in front of New York’s Trans-Lux Theater.
7
It was the director Billy Wilder’s idea to turn that scene into a media circus. Every time her dress came
up and the crowd started to get excited, DiMaggio just blew up. The couple later had a “yelling battle”
in the theater lobby. Her makeup man, Allan Snyder, recalled Monroe later appeared on set with bruises
on her upper arms. She later filed for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty 274 days after they were
married.
Below the silver gazebo is the star for both Elvis and the Beatles. This is the beginning of the Walk of
Fame, which extends east to Gower and Hollywood. (Gower is the street that gives you the best view of
the Hollywood Sign.) When Hollywood was in its infancy the corner of Sunset and Gower was ground
zero for the entire film industry. (Paramount Studios is still down on Gower and Melrose.) The stars
also runs north to south on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Blvd. Created in 1958, there
are approximately 2800 stars on the Walk of Fame. The first star was awarded to Joanne Woodward
(Paul Newman’s wife) on February 9th, 1960.
Names are submitted annually by May 31st and the Walk of Fame committee meets the following month
to pick the next year‘s group of honorees. If your name is selected you then have to pay $25,000 for
“star maintenance” which means every morning at five in the morning, they steam clean the stars. This
fee is typically paid by sponsors such as film studios and record companies.
Muhammad Ali’s star is displayed on a wall of the Kodak Theater, due to Ali’s request that he did not
want to be walked on. Emblems on the stars are: A motion picture camera for contribution to the film
industry, Television set for contribution to the broadcast television industry, Photograph record for
contribution to the recording industry, Radio microphone for contribution to the broadcast radio industry
and finally Twin comedy/tragedy masks for contribution to live theater.
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce gives away free maps to where all the stars on the Walk of Fame
are. Their address and number is: 7018 Hollywood Blvd. 323-469-8311
Continue south on LaBrea. As you approach Sunset look across Sunset for two red brick buildings on
the left side of LaBrea. (1416 N La Brea Ave 323-802-1500) This was the Charlie Chaplin Studios, built
in 1917. Charlie Chaplin shot most of his movies between 1918 and 1952 here, including “The Gold
Rush” in 1925.
In 1985 it was the A&M Recording Studios where “We Are The World” was recorded. A giant
Kermit the Frog on the roof is your first clue as to who owns it now. The Henson family bought the
studio in November of 1999.
On the right just as you turn west on Sunset is the El Pollo Loco fast food restaurant where Brad Pitt,
before his first acting break, wore a chicken costume and clucked like a chicken on the sidewalk, trying
to entice people to come in and eat there.
Heading west on Sunset you’ll see on the left Parisian Florist (7528 W Sunset Blvd. 323-876-3220)
where Joe DiMaggio bought flowers for Marilyn Monroe and had an arrangement that they deliver
flowers to Marilyn’s grave until Joe died.
On the right is the Bonham & Butterfield (7601 W. Sunset Blvd. 323-850-7500) auction house where
O.J. Simpson had to auction off all his possessions after losing the civil trial.
At the next stop light at Stanley look to your right. That’s where Hugh Grant was arrested with Divine
Brown, a Hollywood prostitute. He picked her up heading west on Sunset then drove up the street to the
Bank of America ATM to get the cash. There were two LAPD vice cops eating at the All American
Burger on Sunset and they recognized Brown in the passenger seat. They jumped in their car and
followed Hugh Grant to arrest him. I wish I could have seen the expression on Hugh’s face as they
knocked on his window.
8
Turn right at Genesee and look up at the 10’O clock position on a distant hill for a huge, round, green
$85 million mansion on the highest point. Steven Spielberg originally owned this but felt it was too
easy for the public to approach his property so he sold it to Merv Griffin who owned it at the time of his
death. He willed it to his son, Tony. Lower and to the right is the gated community, Mount Olympus.
This is where Brittany Spears lives. When she was having her meltdown, the paparazzi would wait for
her to enter or exit at the gates to the community. The road up to Mount Olympus is on Laurel Canyon
just north of Sunset. My son and I used to drive our motorcycles up there just for the incredible view of
L.A. at night.
Turn left at the first street, Selma. The new concrete home on the right at the corner replaced the original
wooden house (1601 Genesee) that James Dean lived in while filming “Rebel Without A Cause”. The
man who bought the original home thought it was a fantastic investment until he discovered it was
riddled with termites and had to be torn down.
James Dean was born on a farm in Marion, Indiana on February 8, 1931 to Winton and Mildred Dean.
Winton eventually left the farming life behind for a career as a dental technician, moving his family to
Santa Monica where James would enroll in Brentwood Public School. He was encouraged to pursue a
career in law, so he enrolled at Santa Monica City College, where he would eventually transfer to UCLA
and change his major to drama. His father threw him out of the house for this decision.
James Dean was only 24 years old when in the early afternoon hours of September 30, 1955 he died near
Paso Robles while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder. He was almost decapitated, the steering column
imbedded deep in his chest. Dean was the only fatality in that accident. The studio chiefs had a
nickname for James Dean who was known to be difficult. They called him “The Little Bastard”. Dean
was so proud of his nickname that he painted it on the hood of the Porsche he died in.
Proceed two blocks to the next stop sign at Orange. If you head north the street becomes Grove. Turn
left and the grey home on the right at the corner of Selma and Orange (1557 Orange Grove) belongs to
Alan Hale Jr., the captain from “Gilligan’s Island”. His widow still lives there.
Two houses down on the left is a blue home. (1542 Orange Grove) This is where they shot “Nightmare
On Elm Street”. The writer of the movie is from the East Coast and wanted a block that looked East
Coast. The over hanging trees also made the block look spooky.
The green house across the street on the right (1537 Orange Grove) is where they shot the original
“Halloween”. Jamie Lee Curtis came running out of that front door and run across the street and into a
neighbor’s home (1530 Orange Grove) just down the block.
People are paid at least ten thousand dollars a day to allow a film crew to shoot in their homes. Down
the block on the right side is the home (1527 Orange Grove) where the reality series, “The Hills” was
shot. Turn right on Sunset and head west again.
The Arco at the corner of Fairfax and Sunset is the gas station where I met Charlize Theron. Drew
Barrymore uses that same gas station and once had a problem there with a rented Mercedes when she
couldn’t figure out how to gas it up. The attendant said Drew was laughing and very friendly to
everyone. Patricia Arquette (“Medium” – “True Romance”) and Danny Bonaduce (“The Partridge
Family” ) also use that same gas station.
I once saw a double decker bus with a camera crew on the upper deck traveling down Fairfax. As we got
closer I recognized Danny Bonaduce holding a microphone. I had only two French tourists in the van
so I turned to them and asked them if they had heard of Bonaduce. As with most Europeans, they didn’t.
When we got closer I pulled up next to the bus and screamed, “Hey Danny! I love your radio show!”
Danny jumped as though someone had finally caught up with him. Later I learned he was shooting a
documentary for VH1. I wonder if my voice was edited out. On the southern side of Sunset just past
Fairfax is the Directors Guild, a bronze colored building made to look like a movie camera.
9
Across the street is the car was used in Richard Pryor’s movie Carwash.
On the northwest corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights is The Laugh Factory. There are three main
comedy clubs in L.A. The Comedy Store (8433 Sunset Blvd. 323-656-6225), The Improv (8162 Melrose
Ave. 323-651-2583) and the Laugh Factory (8001 Sunset Blvd. 323-656-1336 ext. 1) I’ve been onstage a
hundred times at both the Comedy Store and The Improv but have never even been in The Laugh
Factory. That is where Michael Richards, Kramer from Seinfeld, used the N word and is now banned
forever from appearing there.
Across the street in the left is a mini-mall where Schwab’s Drugstore used to stand. Schwab started the
rumor that Lana Turner (Real name was Judy) was discovered in his drugstore but she was actually
discovered in 1935 at Currie’s Soda Shop, across the street from Hollywood High school where she was
a student.
Across the street from The Laugh Factory is a McDonald’s restaurant. At one time the famous apartment
building, “Garden of Allah” stood there but was torn down for the parking lot in front of McDonald’s.
Joni Mitchell wrote about it when she sang, “Paving paradise and putting up a parking lot”.
Further down Sunset on the right side just before the street curves to the left is the Chateau Marmont
(8221 Sunset Blvd. 323-656-1010) where on March 4th, 1982 John Belushi overdosed in bungalow #3.
That night Belushi, with Cathy Smith, a former back-up singer for The Band and now a strung out
addict and drug dealer, consumed large amounts of liquor and snorted even larger quantities of cocaine
at the club On The Rox, then dined next door at the Rainbow Bar & Grill. Upon their return to the
Marmont Smith injected Belushi with more drugs since he was afraid of needles. Robin Williams
popped in and snorted a few lines of coke, but was creeped out by Smith. Sometime after 3:00 AM,
actor Robert DeNiro knocked on Belushi’s door. He had been playing tag with Belushi all night. The
scene inside the room was not pretty, so DeNiro decided to not stick around.
The next morning Belushi’s personal trainer, Bill “Superfoot” Wallace found him on the bed in the
fetal position with a pillow over his head. When Wallace threw the pillow aside, he saw Belushi’s
tongue sticking out of his mouth, a horrid discoloration of his body on one side where all the blood had
settled.
James Dean and Natalie Wood first met at the Marmont, during a script rehearsal of “Rebel Without
A Cause”. Rooms start at $750 a night. It is one of the most popular hotels for celebrities to party at or
be interviewed at. The other place is the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills hotel. They’re not very
friendly at the Chateau and if you hang out in the lobby you’re likely to be asked whether you’re staying
there while anyone can stop in the Polo Lounge to drink or eat.
On the right is Miyagi’s (8225 Sunset Blvd. 323-650-3524) restaurant named after the character in “The
Karate Kid”.
Across the street is the world headquarters of National Lampoon, (8228 Sunset Blvd. 310-474-5252).
Down Sunset on the left side of the street is The Body Shop (8250 W Sunset Blvd. 323) 656-1401). In the
60’s it was the most popular strip joint in L.A. and for some reason the city declared it a Historic
Monument so now although it’s run down and sleazy, they can’t touch it.
Further down the block on the left side is the Sunset Tracadero (8280 W Sunset Blvd. 323- 856-1079)
owned by Prince.
Across the street is Cabo Cantina (8301 W Sunset Blvd. 323-822-7820). owned by Fabio who bartends
there on some Fridays.
10
Down the street on the left side is The Standard Hotel (8300 Sunset Blvd. 323-650-9090). The sign is
upside down letting you know it’s an unusual place. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz used to
own part of it. They have a huge glass cage filled with sand behind the front desk where they pay a
woman to wear a bikini and pretend she’s at the beach.
On the right side is Carney’s (8351 W Sunset Blvd. 323-203-1128). A railroad train car, where Elvis
loved to eat. It was his favorite restaurant in Hollywood.
On the right is the Saddleback Ranch Club (8371 West Sunset Blvd. 323-656-2007) where Terri
Hatcher rode a mechanical bull in “Desperate Housewives”. There’s another Saddleback Ranch at
Universal Studios.
Paris Hilton used to live a couple of blocks up Kings Road. Her powder-blue Bentley remained parked
outside her small house because she had converted her garage into a closet. It was a narrow street and
the neighbors hated her because of the paparazzi and tourists. The day she got out of jail, a TV truck
drove into a neighbor’s car and not long after Paris had been “convinced” to move out of the
neighborhood. While she was there though she would welcome the tour buses, walking over to talk with
everyone.
Immediately on the right and next to the Comedy Store is the hotel now called “Andaz”. For years it
was the Sunset Hyatt hotel. In the 60’s and 70’s it was nicknamed the “Riot Hyatt” because bands like
Led Zeppelin and The Doors would destroy their rooms, throwing furniture and TVs from their
balconies onto the street below. In the mid-70’s I working open mic nights at The Comedy Store when
the paid comics went on strike. One of them went to the roof of the Riot Hyatt and jumped to his death.
Mitzi Shore, the owner of The Comedy Store, soon came to an arrangement with the comics.
Further up Sunset on the right side is The Comedy Store, once Ciro’s, the most popular nightclub in
L.A. for all of the movie stars. When Jay Leno first came to L.A. he was so poor he slept in the back
stairwell.
I’ve been on that stage almost a hundred times and once had to follow Freddie Prinze. He was so
funny. When he sat down he just stared at the floor and although he was surrounded by people, no one
talked to him. He looked so lonely.
There are now three stages there, one just for woman comics. The names of comics who have performed
there are written on the outside walls. Amateur night is Sunday night. Pauley Shore (Son-In-Law Encino Man), Mitzi’s son, lives in the white house on the hill above and behind The Comedy Store.
Across the street from The Comedy Store is the House of Blues (8430 Sunset Blvd. 323-848-5100), partly
owned by Dan Akroyd. It cost 8 million to make it look like a shack. The food is excellent and they
have a wide variety of music there. This is where the waitress and B movie star, Lana Clarkson, was
picked up by the music producer Phil Spector then taken to his castle in Altadena, a suburb of
Pasadena. She was shot dead by the end of the night. He got a hung jury the first time around but was
convicted after the second trial.
Up the block on the left side is the Skybar (8440 Sunset Blvd. 323-848-6025), owned by Cindy
Crawford and her husband Randy Gerber. This is where George Clooney and Brad Pitt hang out when
they’re in town. You either have to be staying at the hotel there, be famous or a very hot, young lady.
The bouncers almost always let hot ladies in.
Just past La Cienega on Sunset are a series of red awnings. This is where the TV show of the 60’s “77
Sunset Strip” was shot. Halfway between the red awnings is an archway where Dean Martin’s
nightclub, Dino's, once existed.
11
On the right side of the street and just down the block is Mel’s Drive-In (8585 W Sunset Blvd. 310-8547200) where they filmed scenes of American Graffiti. The driveway looks so much smaller than it does
in the movie. It’s like the stage of the “Tonight Show” when I snuck into to see it. Everything looks so
much bigger on screen.
On the left is Ketchup (8590 Sunset Blvd. 866-588-6203), a restaurant partly owned by Ashton Kutcher.
His more famous restaurant, Bella (6639 Hollywood Blvd. 323-468-8815) is near the intersection of Las
Palmas and Hollywood Blvd.
On the right at the corner and all along the left side of the street is Restaurant Row, where if you’re
lucky you might see a celebrity dining.
Il Sole (8741 W. Sunset Blvd. (310) 657-1182) is the restaurant with red awning on the right side of the
street and just down the block. It’s Jennifer Anniston’s favorite restaurant in West Hollywood.
There are three primary rock and roll clubs in West Hollywood. Just past the next light and on the left
side of the street is a black building, The Viper Room (8852 Sunset Blvd. 310-358-1880), once owned by
Johnny Depp. This is where on October 30th 1993 the actor River Phoenix overdosed on the sidewalk
just outside the front door. He was signed to star in “Interview With A Vampire” with Tom Cruise.
After River’s death he was replaced in the movie by Brad Pitt.
River Phoenix had been doing drugs all night when a few minutes before 1:00 AM, someone in the
bathroom offered him a snort of high-grade Persian Brown. Immediately upon snorting the drug he
began trembling and shaking. He then screamed at his friend and vomited. Someone else tried to help by
giving him a Valium. He then staggered back out and into the bar and over to actress Samantha Mathis
(Broken Arrow) and his sister Rain. He complained that he could not breathe and then briefly passed
out. When he awakened, he asked Mathis to take him outside of the bar. Mathis first called River’s
friend and assistant Abby, then Mathis and River’s brother Joaquin (before he became an actor) took
him outside where River collapsed on the sidewalk. He was thrashing spasmodically, his head flopping
from side to side, arms flailing wildly. Rain came out and threw herself on him to attempt to stop the
seizures. River then became still.
It was 1:14 a.m. He was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived. They rushed him to Cedars Sinai
Medical Center where they arrived at 1:34 AM. ER physicians there did everything to revive him,
including inserting a pacemaker. He was pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m. on October 31, 1993. Official
cause of death was acute multiple drug ingestion. He was only 23 years old.
You can check out any celebrities’ death at http://www.franksreelreviews.com/morbidly-hollywood/blog
If you click on the River Phoenix page, there is a link to the 911 call Joaquin made while his brother
was
dying
on
the
sidewalk.
Or
simply
click
here
for
the
911
call:
http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/viperroom.htm The 911 operator keeps telling him that if
he can’t calm down he should give the phone to someone else. Joaquin pleads, “But he’s my brother!”
Their sister, Rain was giving River CPR but stopped when the 911 operator told Joaquin to stop.
Christine Applegate (“Married With Children”) was at the club that night and witnessed the seizures.
On Oct 1, 1996 a paparazzo in the club snapped a photo of Mick Jagger embracing Uma Thurman.
The photographer alleged that Mick’s bodyguard wrestled him to the ground and club employees
confiscated the valuable film and handed it to a member of the Stones entourage, who destroyed the film
The photographer claimed the photo would have been worth $1 million and sued both Jagger and the
Viper Room. Mick settled out of court but a jury later ruled against the club awarding $600,000 in
damages to the photographer.
Tommy Lee (Motley Crue) was convicted of battery after he pushed over a photographer (Henry
Trappler) who tried to videotape he and wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside the Viper Room on Sept.
26, 1996. Lee was fined and sentenced to a 24-month summary probation and 200 hours of community
service.
12
At the next stop light on the right is the most famous rock club, The Whiskey A-Go-Go (8901 Sunset
Blvd. 310-585-0579) where the house band in the 60’s was The Doors. Many rock bands have played
there such as Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Frank Zappa, Love. Goldie Hawn started off in show
business as a Go-Go Girl, wearing a bikini and dancing in an elevated cage before being hired for
“Laugh-In”, where she basically did the same thing.
Up the street on the right is the third club, The Roxy (9009 Sunset Blvd. 310-276-2229). Above it is a
private club called, “On The Rox” where members such as John Belushi, Robin Williams and Keith
Richards from “The Rolling Stones” used to openly do drugs. After Belushi overdosed they clamped
down on the drugs somewhat but the club is still open.
Next to the Roxy is The Rainbow Bar & Grill (9015 Sunset Blvd. 310-278-4232) originally owned by
the film director Vincent Minnelli. He proposed to Judy Garland there. Upstairs is an exclusive club
called “Over the Rainbow”.
Joe DiMaggio had his first blind date with Marilyn Monroe here. She was two hours late and lived just
down the block. John Belushi had his last meal of lentil soup at table #16. In the 1970’s, it became
known as a hangout for rock musicians such as John Lennon, Keith Moon, Ringo Star, Neil
Diamond, Led Zeppelin and even Elvis Presley.
Up the block at the northwestern corner of Doheny Dr. and Sunset is Gil Turner’s liquor store where
Halle Berry drove her car through the front bay window. Leaving her car sticking into the store she
walked two blocks up Doheny to her home (1164 N. Doheny Dr.) and went to bed. The sheriffs woke her
up the next morning and she said she didn’t remember a thing. She also drove her car through the bay
window of the Land Rover dealership down the block on the south side of the street.
Turn right on Doheny Rd. from Sunset and on the right side of the street is Sierra Towers (9255 Doheny
Rd. 310-888-3787) where Cher lives in the penthouse. Mathew Perry who played Chandler on
“Friends” lives there. Peter Lawford (Rat Pack) lived there until an earthquake swayed the tallest
building in Beverly Hills. He moved out a couple of weeks later.
At the first stop sign and on the left side of the street is the home (400 Doheny Rd.) where Joe DiMaggio
and Marilyn Monroe lived while they were married. Even after their divorce Joe was jealous of his exwife and paid a private detective to follow her, certain she was seeing someone. The private investigator
kicked down the wrong door in the apartment building and Joe was sued big time.
I was an ambulance driver for Schaefer’s Ambulance in the early 70’s. Schaefers was the company that
picked up Marilyn Monroe the night she died. The rumor among drivers who had been working for
Schaefer’s at the time of her death was that an ambulance picked her up alive and while enroute to the
hospital got a call from the dispatcher who ordered them to return Marilyn back home. It is illegal in
California to return someone home once you’ve loaded them into the ambulance so if this did happen it
would mean someone powerful had the means to contradict state law. The story then goes that a few
hours later the same ambulance was dispatched back to Marilyn’s home to find her dead.
Doheny Road is named after the Doheny family, one of the richest families in the 20’s. Edward L.
Doheny had only one son, Edward (Ned) Jr., and built a huge mansion for him as a wedding present.
The house, sitting on 22 acres of choice real estate, took three years to build at a cost of 3.1 million
dollars.
Six months after Ned moved in with his new wife, Lucy, he was shot dead on February 16th, 1929 by
Hugh Plunkett, who then turned the gun on himself. Or so the story goes.
Lucy Doheny didn’t call the cops for six hours, which fueled the Hollywood rumor mill that Plunkett
was having an affair with Ned and when Lucy found out she shot both of them in a fit of jealousy.
Plunket met the Doheny family while working a service station owned by the father of Lucy Smith, who
later married Ned Doheny. After the younger Doheny marriage Plunkett became the family chauffeur.
13
He served in the Navy during WWI, and after the war became an increasingly close confidante to Ned
Doheny, eventually serving as personal secretary. Testimony about Plunkett’s unstable behavior over the
previous six months, and Dr. Fishbaugh’s testimony about the family’s concern for Plunkett’s sanity,
reinforced the finding that he was the murderer. No formal inquest was ever held.
It is now a city park called Greystone (905 Loma Vista Dr. 310-285-2534). If you Google the park you’ll
find pages of movies that have been shot there including “Rush Hour” with Jackie Chan climbing over
the front gate. George Clooney in “Batman and Robin” drove the Batmobile through that gate.
“Witches of Eastwick” - “Tarzan of Greystone” and “X Men” were all shot here as well. As you
drive a few feet and look over the wall on the right, you’ll see the school and home of the good mutants
in “X Men”.
Down the block and after the street curves to the right was the home of Ozzie Osbourne (512 N. Doheny
Rd). where his reality MTV series “The Osbournes” was shot. While a grad student in Vancouver,
Canada I worked as a bodyguard to Ozzie for an entire evening at one of his concerts. I walked next to
him for more than three hours and he never said a word to me. Last year one of his avid fans, a young
lady from Australia, told me she wanted to see Ozzie Osbourne’s home so I drove her over here. She sat
down on that top step and just as I was taking the picture Ozzie’s bodyguard opened the door and asked,
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” It was the best photo she could ask for. Ozzie moved out not
long after although I doubt that had anything to do with his move. There are two front red doors. You
can see where a gargoyle was on each door and a missing metal plate on the right door. That plate read,
“Ignore the Dog. Beware of the Owner”.
The new owner of the home is Christina Aguilera (512 N. Doheny Rd). The next drive way gives you a
view of her two bedroom windows. She once told Ellen Degeneres that on Sundays she and her husband
have a tradition of never wearing clothes around the house.
Past the next stop light and on the left side is a long white house (612 Doheny Dr.) where Carol Burnett
once lived. After her daughter died of cancer she said the house had too many memories so she moved
out.
Turn right at Calle Vista Street as it winds uphill to the new 35 million home of Tom Cruise and
Katie Holmes. Rumor has it that Cruise paid four thousand dollars to have that street declared a fire
lane, which made it illegal for tour buses to drive on.
After the next stop light at Foothill turn left and head down towards Sunset. The last home on the right
side was Frank Sinatra’s (915 N. Foothill Rd.). Read Tina Sinatra’s book, “My Father’s Daughter: A
Memoir” (10/10/2000)
At the bottom of the hill and right at Sunset on the right side are trees with a green band around them.
Those are the new trees that had to be planted after Lindsey Lohan jumped the curb and crashed into
the small trees that were there, barely missing a huge palm tree. She ran from the scene and called her
assistant telling him to get the car. By the time he got there the Beverly Hills police had searched the car
and found cocaine. After a trial she eventually served 50 minutes due to overcrowding of the jails.
Turn right on Sunset and right again on the first block at Alpine. Just after turning there are two
mansions under construction on the left. On that same property, Mohammed al-Fassi, a Saudi Arabian
sheik owned a mansion a block long in the late 70’s. He paid $2.4 million in cash for the 38 room white
stucco home and then painted it a shade of green that one critic likened to the color of rotting limes. He
replaced the red tile roof with copper, filled the outdoor urns with plastic flowers and—most jarring—
had the classic Italian statuary surround the 3 and half acre estate painted in natural skin tones, with the
hair and genital areas painted to appear more lifelikeThe neighbors asked him to do something about the
statues but he refused. They sued him and lost. Not long after losing the suit in 1980 his place
mysteriously burned to the ground. The neighbors came out to watch the flames engulf the mansion
while chanting, “Burn, burn, burn”. Al-Fassi later died of an infected hernia in Cairo, Egypt.
14
Movies Shot At Greystone
Spiderman (2001) - Willem Dafoe, James Franco
Spiderman III (2007) – Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco
X-Men (2000) – Hugh Jackman, James Marsden, Halle Berry
Rush Hour (1998) - Jackie Chan
Air Force One (1997) – Harrison Ford
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) – Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland
Batman and Robin (1997) - George Clooney, Alicia Silverstone, Chris O’Donnell
The Bodyguard (1992) - Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston
Ghostbusters (1984) – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Ghostbusters II (1989) – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
The Witches of Eastwick (1987) - Cher, Susan Sarandon, Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer
Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle (2002) – Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Crispin Glover
Austin Powers: Goldmember (2002) – Mike Meyers
Holiday (2006) – Cameron Diaz, Jude Law
There Will Be Blood (2007) – Daniel Day-Lewis
The Big Lebowski (1998) – Jeff Bridges, John Goodman
Indecent Proposal (1993) – Robert Redford, Demi Moore
Nixon (1995) – Anthony Hopkins
Death Becomes Her (1992) – Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) – Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges
The Golden Child (1986) – Eddie Murphy
The Prestige (2006) – Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine
Rock Star (2001) – Jennifer Aniston, Mark Wahlberg
Town and Country (2001) Diane Keaton, Warren Beatty
America’s Sweethearts (2001) – Julia Roberts, John Cusack, Billy Crystal
Rules of Engagement (2000) – Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson
Marvin’s Room (1996) – Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton
The Phantom (1996) – Billy Zane
Simone (2000) – Al Pacino
The Puppet Masters (1994) – Donald Sutherland
The Marrying Man (1991) – Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin
Flowers in the Attic (1987) – Louise Fletcher
Jumping Jack Flash (1986) – Whoopi Goldberg
All of Me (1984) – Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin
Stripes (1981) – Bill Murray, Harold Ramis
The April Fools (1969) Jack Lemmon, Catherine Deneuve, Peter Lawford
Dead Ringer (1964) – Bette Davis, Peter Lawford
House of the Damned (1963) – Ron Foster, Merry Anders, Richard Crane
The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1963) – Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor, William Mims
Picture Mommy Dead (1966) – Don Ameche, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Forever Amber (1947) – Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) – Billy Connolly, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Breckin Meyer
Hanging Up (2000) – Diane Keaton, Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow
Stigmata (1999) – Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce
Mercury Rising (1998) – Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin
The Disorderly Orderly (1964) – Jerry Lewis
Megiddo: Omega Code II (2000) - Michael York
Jane Austen’s Mafia (1998) – Jay Mohr, Billy Burke, Christina Applegate
Beautician and the Beast (1997) – Bran Drescher, Timothy Dalton
High School High (1996) – Jon Lovitz, Tia Carrere, Louise Fletcher
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) – Chevy Chase, Daryl Hannah
Guilty by Suspicion (1991) – Robert DeNiro, Annette Bening
15
A few yards up the street and on the right side of the street is a white gate. That was where Katie
Holmes and Tom Cruise (918 N. Alpine Dr.) used to live. They still own the property. You can see the
garbage cans through the fence now but when Cruise lived there he had thick, black plastic material like
Hefty bags running up inside and along the entire fence so if he was standing on his property you
couldn’t see him.
Continue left on Lexington. The third house on the left side of the street is Dr. Phil’s (1008 Lexington
Rd.). He was standing in the driveway last year and waved when I honked so at least he is friendly to his
fans. His wife kicked him out last year so to work things out he took a cruise with her. While they were
gone he had the entire home remodeled as a surprise for her. It must have worked because she’s on his
show daily.
Two blocks down Lexington at the next stop light across the street and on the right side is the mansion
of the young rapper Bow Wow (1001 Beverly Dr).
Proceed up Lexington and turn right at Hartford then right again at the first stop sign which is Benedict
Canyon. You’ll see a huge castle looking mansion on the distant hill straight ahead. That was the
mansion of the silent film star Valentino.
The first stop light is Tower Rd. Look to the right to see the yellow house, which is Jay Leno’s (1151 N.
Tower Rd.). A few more feet, look to the right and behind Leno’s you’ll see the top half of a white house
with three windows facing you. That’s the home of David Beckham.
It’s difficult to slow down for photos but after you tour Green Acres Dr. a few blocks up you have to
turn around and there is much more time to slow down in the right lane in the intersection on the way
back down Benedict Canyon.
A few blocks ahead turn left on Green Acres. The house immediately on the right is Jackie Chan’s
(1705 N. Green Acres Dr.). The house on the left was the last home Michael Landon (Bonanza, Little
House On The Prairie) lived in (1700 N. Green Acres Dr.) before moving his family to Malibu where they
lived until his death. I remember hearing on the news one day that Landon had gone grocery shopping
and left the keys in his Ferrari. It was gone when he came out of the store.
Straight ahead and behind the wall of roses was the home of Bea Arthur (Maude, Golden Girls) who
recently died (1710 N. Green Acres Dr.). Across the street was the home of Betty White.
Next to Bea Arthur’s home is Kathy Bates (Misery, Titanic) house (1720 N. Green Acres Dr.).
At the top of hill is the huge estate (23,114 sq. ft. house alone on a 212,943 sq. ft. lot) of P. Diddy (1740
N. Green Acres Dr.). When he’s having one of his parties, at least twenty valets will be standing outside
the front gate and no parking is allowed along Green Acres.
Turn right on Benedict Canyon and proceed to Roxbury. If you turned left and drove about a mile up
Benedict Canyon you would see George Reeves home (TV’s Superman) (1579 Benedict Canyon Dr.)
which Toni Mannix, (married to Eddie Mannix, a studio thug) bought for George for the price of
$12,000. It’s on the left hand side of the street.
Looking up at those bedroom windows is chilling knowing Reeves either shot himself or was killed up
there on June 16th, 1959 three days before he planned on marrying new girlfriend Lenore Lemmon.
Reeves received numerous death threats after leaving Toni including phone calls, traffic accidents and
even one incident in which George would wreck his car before discovering that all of the brake fluid had
been drained from the car’s lines.
16
There has always been rumors that he was killed because the spent shell casing was found underneath
his body, no fingerprints on the gun found by his body, no powder marks found on Reeve’s body, he had
several fresh bruises and the location of the entrance and exit wounds did not line up with the path of the
bullet indicated by its entrance into the wall. A car parked across the street was heard speeding off
shortly after the gunshot.
At Roxbury turn right. At one time that street was door-to-door stars. Immediately on the right was the
home of Agnes Moorhead (“Bewitched”). The next house once belonged to Madonna. The next house
on the right was George Gershwin’s (1019 N. Roxbury Dr.) then the next house belonged to his brother
Ira Gershwin (1021 N. Roxbury Dr.).
The next house was Rosemary Clooney’s where George Clooney lived for years when he first arrived
from Tennessee. They tore down the original house Rosemary Clooney lived in and built what’s there
now.
The huge tan house around the curve and on the left side of the street is Peter Falk from “Colombo”
(1004 N. Roxbury Dr.). He has Alzheimer’s now but for a long time you would see him out walking his
dogs. The red brick house next to Falk’s was Jack Benny and Mary Livingston’s (1002 N. Roxbury
Dr.). He had it in his will that she would get a rose every day of her life. The next house (1000 N.
Roxbury Dr.) is where Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz lived when their children were very young.
Across Roxbury from Lucille Ball’s old home is a large white house where Eddie Cantor lived. Across
Lexington from Lucille Ball’s was Jimmy Stewart’s home. They tore down his house and built the
house that’s there now for the new owners, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Antony.
Turn right on Roxbury at Lexington and again right at the dead end at Whittier. Turn left at the stop sign
and you’re on Monovale Dr. which turns into Carolwood Dr. at the first stop sign. The first house on the
left (105 N. Monovale Dr.) belongs to Ricky Martin, the singer.
The house at the first stop sign on your right side is the second home of Snoop Dogg (206 N. Monovale
Dr.). He records and does all his partying there. One day I had a kid from the East Coast on the tour who
loved Snoop Dogg. Snoop’s trash cans were out and one of those mirrored disco globes was sitting on
the top of the trash. I asked the kid if he wanted it and of course he did. I got out of the van and walked
over to pick it up. Just then the gate opened at Snoops place and a guard asked me what I was doing. I
told him a kid in my tour loved Snoop Dogg. He said to go ahead and take it. I grabbed the globe and a
beach towel at the top of the trash and gave it to the boy. That sure made his day.
Elvis Presley lived at 144 Monovale Dr.
While still at the stop sign look to your left. That huge castle-like mansion belongs to Sir Sean Connery
(100 N. Carolwood Dr.). There’s a small gate on the left. A car with white walls was parked inside that
gate for almost a year. It was covered but obviously an old car since it had white walls. One day it was
gone. The large front gates are just to the left after the stop sign. Last year I was about to pull into
Connery’s driveway to turn around when those gates started to open. I thought someone was coming out
but it was Sean Connery racing past me in his Mercedes. The gates quickly closed quickly once he was
on the property. Sean Connery’s mansion was leased to Michael Jackson at the time of his death. This
is where he died and you’ll find several flowers and other mementos left by fans to the left of those front
gates.
On July 4th of 2008 I was taking a tour and about to turn left towards Sean Connery’s front gates when I
noticed a car with two very serious looking men in suits in the front seats. Something struck me as
unusual about the car and I told everyone on the tour that someone famous must be in that car. The
driver motioned for me to continue turning left.
As I passed him on the driver’s side I could see he had one of those listening devices in his ear with a
cord running down inside his suit jacket. More on that car in a minute.
17
Continue north on Carolwood and immediately to the left is a yellow house owned by Steve Martin
(225 N. Carolwood Dr.). He was married last year so you’re seeing more people visiting now. Next to
Steve Martin’s home is the house where Clark Gable lived (237 N. Carolwood Dr.). Tall wooden front
doors mark his home.
Across Carolwood from Clark Gable is a house where I saw that unusual car now parked in the
driveway. Two serious looking men in suits stood on the street just watching us as we stopped to look at
the unusual car.
We all looked right to see Secret Service agents help Nancy Reagan out of the car. No celebrity lives
there but they must be very politically powerful to get Nancy Reagan for a 4th Of July party. We
stopped and watched her for at least five minutes. She looked so frail. The two Secret Service agents on
the street didn’t say a word to us. Four or five young Canadians on the tour said they never heard of
Nancy Reagan.
The next house on the same side of the street as Clark Gable’s old home is Loni Anderson’s (“WKRP
in Cincinnati”) place (245 N. Carolwood Dr.). She was once married to Burt Reynolds. I worked as a
maintenance man for KTLA in the 70’s because I was trying to pitch a “WKRP in Cincinnati” script I
had written. Everyone in the cast was friendly to, especially Howard Hesseman, but you couldn’t get
near Loni Anderson.
Next is the most interesting mailbox I’ve ever seen on the left. A mailbox in a giant hand.
All of property on the left just past this mailbox belongs to Rod Stewart (391 N. Carolwood Dr.)
although with all the trees and high fence there isn’t much to see.
The house next to Rod Stewart was where Walt Disney lived (355 N. Carolwood Dr.) and the estate is
huge (127, 348 sq. ft.). Tina Sinatra wrote in her book, “My Father’s Daughter: A Memoir”
(10/10/2000), that before Disneyland was built she, her sister Nancy & brother Frank Jr. would walk up
to Disney’s home with Bing Crosby’s kids and Walt Disney would give them a ride on a small train
around his property.
The next house is where Gregory Peck lived (375 N. Carolwood Dr.) but after this death they torn the
house and all of the landscaping down.
Turn right at the next stop sign and down to the second stop sign at Benedict Canyon. Turn right and
right again after passing across Lexington. Turn right on Bedford, which will take you back to Sunset.
Turn right on Sunset. As the street winds west you’ll see a number of statues on the left (1000 Sunset
Blvd.). That’s the home of the director John Landis (“Animal House” - “Blues Brothers” “Thriller” video -“Twilight Zone”).
Some people mistakenly believe that’s the home of Bill Cosby because of similar statues. Judy
Garland (Birth name: Frances Gumm) lived in this house when she was in her early twenties.
Landis was at the top of his game but his career went south after Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese
children were killed when a helicopter came crashing down on them while filming “Twilight Zone”.
Landis was tried but acquitted. His career was never the same. Michael Jackson once came to visit him
at his office on Universal Studios lot.
Landis asked Michael Jackson if he wanted to go on the “Back To The Future” ride. Michael left and
came back wearing a cape, wig, hat and mask. Landis told him, “Yeah, Michael. Now you won’t stand
out.”
Just past Beverly Glenn and on the right side are the gates to Bel Air. If you turned left on Beverly
Glenn you get down to the Playboy Mansion and Aaron Spelling’s huge estate. Spelling’s place is so
huge they tore down Bing Crosby’s place just for part of this huge mansion.
18
Turn right and pass through the open Bel Air gates. Bel Air was founded by Alphonzo E. Bell in 1923.
President Reagan lived at 666 St. Cloud but had the address changed to 668 because Nancy objected to
the satanic overtones of 666. Exterior shots for the TV show “Beverly Hillbillies” were shot at 750 Bel
Air Road.
Proceed straight until the road curves uphill and to the left on Copa De Ora. Stop at the stop sign and
look to your right. The huge white mansion was used for exterior shots in “Fresh Prince of Bel Air”
(417 N. Amapola Ln.). Will Smith used to memorize not only his but the other actor’s lines as well when
he first started in the show. If you looked at his lips while other actors are speaking their lines you’ll see
his lips are moving.
Continue ahead and immediately on the right is a huge red brick castle once lived in by Dean Martin
(363 N. Copa De Oro Rd.). He sold the home to Tom Jones who sold it to its present owner, Nicholas
Cage. I’ve seen the second set of gates open only once and that was when they were having a party for
one of the kids. He married a waitress a few years ago. As of November 2009 this mansion was in
foreclosure due to massive debts Cage owed the IRS, among others. He blamed his investment
counselor.
The Hilton family house is at 380 N. Copa De Oro Rd. The driveway on the left is the scene of the
famous “Mother’s Day’ driveway theft where Paris had her bag of gifts for her mother stolen when she
was trying to get through the paparazzi and into her own mother’s home.
Turn left at the first stop sign and again at the first block. The first house you’ll see belongs to Debra
Messing (10475 Bellagio Rd.) from “Will and Grace”. A few homes down and on the left side is a huge
southern style mansion belonging to Richard Gere (10445 Bellagio Rd.). You’ll find a Buddha on each
side of his front door. The home next to Gere’s was Dabney Coleman’s mansion (10431 Bellagio Rd.) in
the movie “9 to 5” with Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda.
Turn left on Sunset. If you turned right at Sunset instead the next stop light would be Hilgard. That’s
where UCLA campus starts. It extends all the way down to Veteran. (There is a huge veteran’s
cemetery to the left.) All of the sororities are on Hilgard. Westwood Village extends from south of
campus down to Wilshire Blvd.
They used to have all the so-called Hollywood movie premieres in Westwood Village because for the
longest time nobody wanted to be in Hollywood at night. Once the Kodak Center was completed,
security was beefed up with thousands of security cameras all over the area around Hollywood and
Highland. Now they’re having movie premieres again at the Chinese Grauman Theater.
They continue to have movie premieres in Westwood at either the Fox or Bruin Theater, which are
across the street from each other. I met Barbara Streisand in a yogurt shop next to the Fox. It’s now a
Starbucks.
As you head back east on Sunset you’ll approach the residential part of Rodeo Drive. At the stop light
you’ll see the Beverly Hills Hotel on the left (9641 Sunset Blvd. 310-276-2251). It was opened on May
12, 1912 and started by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley. The Sultan of Brunei owns it now.
Howard Hughes used to live in one of the bungalows and one year spent $10 million there to house all
of his girlfriends.
Celebrity interviews are held at either at the Chateau Marmont or the Polo Lounge (310-276-2251) at
the Beverly Hills Hotel. It’s called the Polo Lounge because there used to be a polo field across the
street where Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable used to play polo. Anyone can go to the Polo Lounge and
hang out there hoping to see a celebrity. At one time legend has it that Mia Farrow and Marlene
Dietrich were banned from the Polo Lounge for wearing pants. As a side note horses were banned in the
city of Beverly Hills in 1930.
19
Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt used to meet in a bungalow at The Beverly Hills Hotel while they
were dating. The Eagles featured it in the album cover art of their 1976 LP “Hotel California”. (The
green wall with Beverly Hills on it facing Sunset is on the jacket cover). Angelina Jolie lived in a
bungalow after leaving her husband, Billy Bob Thornton. She paid a security guard to sit outside the
front door of the bungalow all night. I don’t know if that was to keep away fans or Billy Bob. Their
home was about six blocks away from the hotel. One day I had stopped at Billy Bob’s to see the gates
open and a half a dozen teenage girls come out with some of them holding maps to stars homes.
Across Sunset from the hotel is Will Rogers Park (9650 Sunset Blvd. 310-285-2536) This is where
George Michaels was arrested in the men’s room. I was there last year with a stretch limo full of
tourists. They wanted to use the bathroom but I didn’t know where it was. I saw a tall man in shorts on a
cell phone and asked him where the bathrooms were. He could have gotten angry as he was on the
phone but instead was very polite and pointed to where the bathrooms where.
I used the men’s room and was walking out of the park when the tall man walked towards me and
started talking about the limo. He was courteous and friendly and it took a few minutes before I realized
I was talking with Randy Quaid (“Vacation” & the drunken pilot in “Independence Day”)
In the past I’ve found that even if a celebrity is friendly there is still something of a wall they put up but
there was none with Mr. Quad. He is genuinely friendly. I told him my son and I had worked a kids
party at Beau Bridges home a few years ago and he wasn’t friendly at all and instead treated us like
servants. (He’s got a beautiful tennis court in his backyard.)
Randy said Beau was a friend of his and that he was always friendly to him. Of course friends are going
to treat each other differently than a celebrity will to a total stranger. The only words I shared with Beau
was when I first arrived and was a bit shocked to see it was his place (The paperwork only listed the last
name) I said I thought he was an amazing actor. He padded my back with his hand and thanked me. That
was the last time we talked.
Randy Quaid has since been arrested along with his wife for amassing huge bills and then skipping out
without paying his bill all several major hotels. I now know that the day I talked with him he was in the
process of ripping off the Beverly Hills Hotel right across the street.
Turning right at Rodeo Drive you proceed down towards Santa Monica Blvd. where the commercial
part of the street starts. You are now in the “flats” of Beverly Hills. Homes here are cheaper than north
of Sunset.
Just past the stop sign the second house on the right has a white picket fence in front of the house. At
certain times of the year roses are blooming all along the fence. This was the home (725 N. Rodeo Dr.) of
the famous dancer Gene Kelly (”Singing In The Rain” & “An American In Paris”).
Down on the block and on the left side is Carl Reiner’s home (714 Rodeo) (“Dick Van Dyke Show” “Oceans 11” - “Oceans 12” - “Oceans 13”).
There is an unusual house on the right called The Wedding Cake House (507 N. Rodeo Drive).
Designed by the famous Spanish architect, Antonio Gaudi, the home hasn’t a single 90-degree angles
anywhere except in the garage.
Next to the Wedding Cake House is the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church (505 N Rodeo Dr. 310-2715194) where Jimmy Stewart’s funeral was held. Elizabeth Taylor was married in this church for one of
her eight marriages.
Immediately across Santa Monica Blvd. on the right was a store with blue awnings. This was
Boulmiche, (9501 Santa Monica Blvd. 310-273-6443) where two scenes from “Pretty Woman” were
shot. The scenes where Julia Roberts dressed as a Hollywood hooker walks in but they snub her. It has
recently changed hands. She later returns dressed so well that they don’t recognize her. She asks them if
they work on commission. When they say, “Yes” she says “Big mistake. Big mistake.”
20
Straight ahead and at the end of Rodeo Drive is the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (9500 Wilshire Boulevard.
310-275-5200). This is where Richard Gere’s character stayed in the penthouse in “Pretty Woman”.
I’ve known a number of couples on their honeymoon who stayed there only because the wife loved the
move. Or the husband wouldn’t admit it. A couple on their honeymoon told me a single night in the
Beverly Wilshire cost them more than a week in the Caribbean.
As you proceed down Rodeo Drive you’ll see a yellow store on the left. This is Bijan’s, (420 N. Rodeo
Dr. 310-273-6544) the famous designer. You can’t just walk in his store but have to make an appointment.
An appointment will cost $1200 and if you don’t buy anything you lose the money. This is the store
where Oprah Winfrey wasn’t allowed in because she didn’t have an appointment. She was furious and
thought it was because she’s Black.
On a typical visit, Bijan's average customer spends in the neighborhood of $100,000 on men's fashions,
which range from a $50 pair of socks to $15,000 suits. If Bijan is in his store, his yellow Roll Royce
Phantom convertible, yellow Ferrari or two million dollar black and yellow Bugatti will be parked in
front of the store. His car will always be parked in the same last parking spot in front of his store.
Further down the street on the left is Harry Winston (371 N Rodeo Dr. 310-271-8554) jewelers. He loans
out multi-million dollar jewelry to actresses for the Academy Awards.
Turn left at the stop sign at Dayton. You’ll see a winding sidewalk winding up to the left across the
street. More stores including Versace’s (248 N. Rodeo Dr. 310-205-3921) are up that sidewalk.
Turn left at Beverly, which is the first block. At the end of the block on the right is The Cheesecake
Factory (364 N Beverly Dr. 323-272-5923) where the Menendez brothers celebrated after shotgunning
their parents. Kitty and Jose Menendez. They lived in a small mansion about six blocks away. Years
after they were killed, Elton John leased the mansion first then later it was rented to Michael Jackson.
As you proceed through Little Santa Monica look to the right and you’ll see the Beverly Hills City
Hall, (455 N Rexford Dr. 310-285-1000) complete with a golden dome at the top. In the Eddie Murphy
movie “Beverly Hills Cop”, they said this building was the police station because the actual police
station is a drab concrete building next to City Hall.
The Beverly Hills post office is the only post office in Los Angeles with valet service
Drive up and the second stop sign is a six-way stop intersection. Six streets meet there and it can be
tricky knowing when to proceed through. Will Rogers Park is on the left. At the next stop light (Sunset
& Beverly) you can see the Beverly Hills Hotel on the left. Turn right at Sunset and proceed east back
towards Hollywood.
After a few curves on Sunset look to your left and you’ll see the childhood home (9451 Sunset Blvd.) of
Shirley Temple lived when she was eight years old and the biggest star in the world. She paid for it
herself.
As you approach the corner of Sunset and Hillcrest look to the left just past the statue of an eagle is Phil
Collin’s (Genesis) estate (9401 Sunset Blvd). You can look up his driveway on the corner as you pass
through the intersection.
Turn right and return to LaBrea where you’ll turn left and again right at Hollywood Blvd. where those
four silver statues are under the gazebo.
Once you’re back on Hollywood Blvd., you’ll see the Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd. 323-4667000) on the right. Named for Teddy Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks
Jr., Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927. This is where the
very first Academy Awards were held in 1927.
21
When her modeling career took off, Marilyn Monroe lived in Cabana 226 which over looks the
poolside. A mirror which once hung in her room is now in the lobby and it is said that if you look at it
just right you can see Marilyn’s ghost. A number of people also claim to have seen her ghost dancing in
the ballroom of the hotel.
The hotel’s pool contains a mural painted by David Hockney. The BET Awards are held in the hotel
every year.
On the left is a restaurant with a red awning, Shelly Café (7013 Hollywood Blvd. 323-467-2233). In the
Clint Eastwood movie “Million Dollar Baby”, Hillary Swank started as a waitress before becoming a
boxer. All of the waitress scenes were shot at Shelly’s.
There is a souvenir shop with a green awning next to Shelly’s. You can buy a book of aerial photos of
stars homes there for about eleven dollars. P. Diddy’s estate is on the cover.
On the left is perhaps the most famous site in all of Hollywood, the Chinese Grauman Theater (6925
Hollywood Blvd. 323-466-6335) It first opened on May 18, 1927 with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s
“The King of Kings”.
Construction cost two millions dollars. The Chinese actress Anna May Wong drove the first rivet in the
steel girders. Sid Grauman held only a one-third interest with his partners, Howard Schenck, Mary
Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Grauman, Pickford and Fairbanks were the first to have their
footprints planted in cement.
Not that hard to get a star on the Walk of Fame. It’s much harder to get your hands in cement at the
Chinese Graumann Theater. A short interview during the September 13, 1937, Lux Radio Theatre
broadcast of a radio adaptation of A Star Is Born Grauman related another version of how he got the
idea to put hand and footprints in the concrete.
He said it was: "pure accident. I walked right into it. While we were building the theatre, I accidentally
happened to step in some soft concrete. And there it was. So, I went to Mary Pickford immediately.
Mary put her foot into it." The theater's third founding partner, Douglas Fairbanks, was the next
celebrity to be immortalized in the concrete.
If a huge star gets their hands in cement they close down Hollywood Blvd. If it’s for a major star they
put bleachers up across the street from Grauman’s the day before the ceremony for all the avid fans.
When “Oceans 13” came out they did just that because George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt
got their hands in one block of cement that day. Angelina Jolie was there with Brad.
The only other time I’ve seen bleachers was when the three young actors from “Harry Potter” got their
hands in cement a couple of years ago.
Across the street from the Chinese Grauman Theater at Orange and Hollywood Blvd. is the El Capitan
Theater (6838 Hollywood Blvd. 323-467-7674). It’s owned by Disney and is the most beautiful theater
you’ll ever see with its teak wall paneling and ornate carvings.
Most of the time there is a live stage show before every movie with actors dressed in costumes from
Disney or Pixar movies. This grand theater has been restored to its original elegance, boasting a Spanish
colonial exterior and a colorful and lavish East Indian interior designed by San Francisco architect, G.
Albert Lansburgh.
The El Capitan Theatre has undergone a museum-grade renovation. This includes the stage, which has
been restored to its original 1926 legitimate-theater dimensions, a newly installed high-speed lift center
stage, lights, recently remodeled dressing room, and state-of-the-art special effects. The theater offers
1,000 seats and a Dolby SR-D audio system.
22
Two years ago the Kodak Center was filled with kids and when I asked what was happening I was told
Hannah Montana was going to sing there. That’s because she’s a Disney star and the El Capitan is
right across the street. My granddaughter, Angel, quickly informed me of just how famous Hannah
Montana is.
The first stop light just past Highland is Las Palmas where the tour began. As you stop at Hollywood
Blvd. and Las Palmas, look left and you’ll see Bella, a restaurant owned by Ashton Kutcher.
Connected to the restaurant is Central Hollywood (1710 N Las Palmas Ave. 323-871-8022), a very
popular nightclub.
If you look just up Las Palmas on the same side as Bella, you will see the Las Palmas Hotel (1738 N Las
Palmas Ave. 323-464-9236) made famous in “Pretty Woman”. This is where Julia Robert’s character
and her roommate lived and at the end of the movie Richard Gere pulls up in his limo and climbs the
fire escape to get Julia Roberts. At the time of the filming there was a parking lot across the street but
they’re building on that lot now.
Other Attractions
Citadel Outlets
www.citadeloutlets.com
(323) 888-1724
Farmers Market
6333 W. 3rd St. Los Angeles
(323) 933-9211
Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Dr. Bel Air
(310) 440-7300
The Ivy
113 N. Robertson Blvd. B.H.
(310) 274-8303
Spagos
176 N. Canon Dr. B.H.
(310) 385-0880
23