GARDEN OF ALLAH HOTEL

The Garden of Allah Hotel on Sunset Blvd. at Crescent Heights Ave. was, not only famous, but also infamous for the publicity it received as one of Hollywood’s hotels. 

Built in a Spanish-Moorish style of architecture, it derived its name not from Islam but from stage and screen actress Alla Nazimova, its original owner. Originally known as The Garden of Alla, it was a mansion at 8080 Sunset Boulevard, built in 1919. It became notorious for the wild parties allegedly held there by the openly lesbian Nazimova.

As her acting career declined, Nazimova built a complex of 25 villas around the main building in 1927 and was located at 8152 Sunset Boulevard. Though Nazimova later sold the property, she continued to live in one of the villas on the grounds.

The Garden of Allah became home to many celebrities...

Hollywood Sign Facelift

With its paint flaking and rust marring its letters, the non-profit Hollywood Sign Trust decided it was time to attack the problem.

"It's going to give it more life, it's going to protect it from rust and other challenges," said Tom LaBonge. "It will give it a lot of years. It's getting a facelift."

That work began Oct. 2 and now, more than a month later, the painting crew says they're about finished with the last few letters.

Original Sign

The Hollywood Sign was built back in 1923 and it originally read Hollywoodland. After several renovations, the old sign was town down and a new one built in 1978. Now, 10 guys, strapped into scaffolding, are trying to get nearly 35 years worth of paint off the corrugated metal letters.

Scraping and painting...

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre will become

TCL Chinese Theater.

Schwab’s Pharmacy – An American Icon

Not all icons last forever!  I wish they did, but they don’t.  One of Hollywood establishments, that is as close to an American icon was Schwab’s Pharmacy.  Started in Hollywood in 1932, Schwab’s became an immediate success with, not only, movie stars , but also local residents.  Located at the corner of Sunset Blvd. & Crescent Heights Ave., Schwab’s most popular attractions was its lunch counter.  It was not unusual to see several celebrities having lunch or dinner at the stool lined counter.  One of the largest collections of Schwab’s Pharmacy photographs is hollywoodphotographs.com.  

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C. C, Pierce

For 100 years,  pictures of  Hollywood have been taken by hundreds of photographers.  One of the earliest Hollywood photographers was C. C. Pierce.  Charles Chester Pierce was born on November 22, 1861 in Springfield, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Pierce migrated to Southern California in 1886. Pierce began his photographic career in the thriving city of Los Angeles, first in partnership with Albert H. Lohn, and then successively with J.B. Blanchard and A.E. McConnell. He established his own studio around 1900 at 313 Spring Street.

Early Hollywood Photos

Some of the earliest photographs take in Hollywood were panoramic photos taken from the hills above the Cahuenga Valley (now called Hollywood) . One of the most popular is a photo, looking south onto...

Pass Hotel

The Pass Hotel, in the Cahuenga Pass, was one of the first hotels in, what is now, Hollywood.  Originally known as the Cahuenga Valley, Hollywood was a very small community that was located just south of the Cahuenga Pass, which served as the access to the San Fernando Valley.  Because the Pass Hotel was centrally located, it was a popular stopping off point for travelers going north and south through the Cahuenga Pass.

The Hollywood Hotel

One of Hollywood’s first and most popular hotels was located on the northwest corner.  Known as the Hollywood Hotel, the first structure was built...

Early Hollywood Studios

The first studio to arrive in Hollywood was Nestors Film Company, who rented the Blondeau Tavern at Sunset Blvd. & Gower St. in October 1911.  It wasn’t long before there were scores of small motion picture companies moving to Hollywood.  All of the companies migrated from the east coast or around the city of Chicago.  Because this industry was in it’s genesis, all these film companies were very small. Some of these small companies included, among others, the California Film Co., Quality Film Co., and Christie Comedies.  As the industry grew, consolidation began to take place and as it did, many of the small companies were either acquired or went out of business.

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Hollywood Walk of Fame Honorees

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was the site for this years Hollywood Chamber of Commerce news conference to announce the 1913 Hollywood Walk of Fame inductees. These individuals, of the entertainment industry, are skilled in the category for which they were nominated.  These categories include, motion pictures, television, radio,  recording and live performances.  These recipients were among hundreds of celebrities, whose names had been placed in nomination, over the past several months .

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Republic Studios

Republic Studios was an small motion picture studios located in Studio City, California.  The studio, which specialized in westerns, serials and B type movies. The studio had a list of stars that included John Wayne, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and many other drugstore cowboys.

Started in 1935 by Herbert Yates, Republic Studios was the amalgamation of Monogram Pictures, Mascot Pictures, Majestic Pictures and other studios with which Yates had a connection.

Some of the best western movies were made at Republic Studios, in the 1930s and 1940s. John Wayne made amny movies there but then moved on to other studios. Gene Autry, known as the singing cowboy and Roy Rogers, who was the King of the Coyboys, were unquestionably the most popular of the actors at Rebpulic Studios. Serials were also popular at the studio. 

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Grauman's Chinese Theater

Grauman’s Chinese Theater is the most popular and well known theater in the world and is also one of the most visited tourist attractions in the World.  After having C.E. Toberman build the Egyptian Theater, Sid Grauman asked Mr. Toberman to build him another theater, this one with a Chinese motif.  

After months of construction, Sid opened  his Chinese Theater on May 18, 1927 with the world premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s King of King.  In attendance were several of the movie stars that acted in the movie, including William Boyd, and Ernest Torrence, who played Peter in the movie.  The oriental architectural style made it one of the most unique theaters in the world. Oriental antiques were purchase and incorporated into the oriental theme of the theater....

Sid Grauman and Hollywood

Sid Grauman and Hollywood Sidney Patrick Grauman was born in Indiana in 1979 and passed away in 1950.  He and his father first started in the theater business by purchasing The Unique vaudeville theater and then bought The Lyceum theater in San Francisco.

In 1917, he moved to Los Angeles and built a showplace called the "Million Dollar Theatre" located on South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. Built at the then astounding cost of one million dollars, the elaborate Gothic baroque theatre contained 2,345 seats and soon was the site of many motion picture premieres. Sid moved out of Los Angeles to nearby Hollywood. His next theatre, "The Egyptian" located on Hollywood Boulevard, opened on Oct. 18, 1922, with the premiere of "Robin Hood" starring Douglas Fairbanks. 

Hollywood Walk of Fame Repairs Continues.

Repair work continues in the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. The work, which began in September, 2012, is led by the Hollywood Historic Trust. The first area to be repaired is on the north side of Hollywood Blvd. west of Highland Ave.  The work proceeds west to the area in front of the Dolby Theater (formerly the Kodak Theater). The first couple of phases are scheduled to be completed before the end of the year. The third phase is going to be delayed until March 2013 so as not to interfere with the holiday season and the Academy Awards, which are held at the Dolby Theater.

First Hollywood...

Charles Edward Toberman

One of Hollywood’s most prominent pioneers and citizens was Charles Edward Toberman.  Born in Seymour, Texas, on February 23, 1880, he was educated at Texas A & M College and Metropolitan Business College.  Five years after his marriage to Josephine Bullock, on March 15, 1902, the moved to Hollywood, where his uncle, James R. Toberman resided. James was a former mayor of Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Toberman into the real estate and insurance business with B.C. Edwards. Two months later, the partnership was desolved and Mr. Toberman formed the C.E. Toberman Company, which immediately acquired a 10 X10 foot building for $100 at the southeast corner of Prospect Avenue (now Hollywood...

Original Brown Derby

The original Brown Derby restaurant opened in 1926 by Herbert Somborn (a former husband of actress, Gloria Swanson). The building, located at 3427 Wilshire Blvd., was in the shape of a derby hat.  The fod was good and it was received very well by the residents of Los Angeles.   It served a few simple dishes meticulously prepared from the finest ingredients. The service was swift and flawless. The restaurant stayed open 24 hours a day, which was unusual in Los Angeles and it was a huge success. In the beginning, most of the Derby’s customers were men – actors, writers, artist, etc. It was a clubroom for the old Hollywood circle headed by Wilson Mizner, writer Gene Fowler, and the Barrymore brothers, John and Lionel. Other patrons included C.B. DeMille. Will Rogers, Mary Pickford,...

The Reporter

W. R. (Billy) Wilkerson published the first issue of the Hollywood Reporter on September 3, 1930. This periodical reported on movies, studios and celebrities. Billy Wilkerson became one of the town's most colorful and controversial figures. He began each issue with an editorial entitled "Tradeviews," which exposed corrupt studio practices. It went on to become one of the most widely read daily columns in the industry. The publisher also used hard-ball tactics to solicit advertising. Studios were being blackmailed into giving their support. If they refused, he ordered a editorial blackouts on all their material.  This included press releases to film reviews. The corporate moguls eventually banded together to deal with The Reporter. They stopped all  advertising support and deprived him of news from their studios.  After a while, the studios and Wilkerson buried the hatchet. His first venture onto the Sunset Strip was the ...

Hollywood Walk of Fame Repairs

After several years of wrangling and negotiating with Los Angeles’ Board of Public Works, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is finally able to spearhead the repair of several areas of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The area that is need of the greatest amount of repair is on the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave. For several years, the Walk of Fame Terrazzo in front of the popular Hollywood and Highland shopping center as been in terrible disrepair. Most of the damage was caused, several years ago, when the Metro system was installed below the streets of Hollywood. Over the course of the past few years, patching was done but it never was permanent. An terrazzo expert, Fritz Iselin, was brought in to analyze the problem and make suggestions for a permanent repair solution. Work is to begin within the next few weeks.

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The Best of Hollywood Images

The best of Hollywood images is on the web site, hollywoodphotographs.com. There are more than 8,000 photographs on the web site and are categorized into 90 categories.

All photos are available for purchase for personal or commercial use. Here, we highlight three categories.

Hollywood Boulevard

Originally, Hollywood Blvd. was named Prospect Ave. and was simply a dirt road that ran east and west through the small community, then known as the Cahuenga Valley. Almost all the building on the street were single family residences. There was some commercial buildings at the intersection of Prospect Ave. and Cahuenga Ave.  In 1903, the residents of the Cahuenga Valley voted to incorporate their community and they called it Hollywood. When the residents of Hollywood, elected to be...

Egyptian Theater

Movie Palaces is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.  Hollywood’s first movie palace was Grauman’s Egyptian Theater located on Hollywood Blvd. at Las Palmas Ave. The Egyptian's grand opening was also the occasion for Hollywood's very first movie premiere in October of 1922. The movie that opened the new theatre was "Robin Hood" staring Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Berry.) Staged in typical Grauman fashion with bright lights, stars and a red carpet, that initial gala inspired countless subsequent movie premieres a Hollywood tradition...

Hollywood Radio

The only rival movies had in the in the ways of mass entertainment was radio, which by the 1930s, had come a long way from its crystal set beginnings.  Hollywood acquired its first three radio stations in 1922; KNX, KHJ and KFI, all marked by unreliable equipment and uncertain programming.

KNX

KNX began mainly as a promotion for the Los Angeles Express, when promotion manager, Guy C. Earl gave away 1000 crystal sets in a circulation campaign.  In tow years, KNX was broadcasting of a regular schedule from a Studebaker Sales Building at 6116 Hollywood Blvd. Earl brought the hustler’s promotion expertise to KNX. He provoked feuds with other radio stations and newspapers to gain publicity, sold advertising time to whoever wanted it,...

The Hollywood Canteen Book

The book, "The Hollywood Canteen" has been out six months. The book, which chronicles the history of the Hollywood Canteen, has over 225 pages and contains 170 photos, many of which have never been seen by the public. Photographs of such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Ken Murray, Jane Russell, Faye McKenzie, and Loretta Young are just a few of the scores of pictures that appear in the book.

Founding The Hollywood Canteen

The Hollywood Canteen was founded in 1942 by Bette Davis and John Garfield and was  Hollywood’s finest contribution to the war effort.  From 1942 to 1945, over three million servicemen came through its doors on their way to fight in the Pacific...