Hollywood Studio Club 102 images Created 3 Oct 2019
One of Hollywood’s first institutions to support the film industry, the Hollywood Studio Club was formed in 1916 in response to the needs of young women coming to Hollywood to find work but having no suitable place to congregate or live. The local YWCA, studios and businessmen donated money to rent a house on Carlos Avenue with space for 20 women. Mrs. Cecil B. DeMille and Mary Pickford were active in the club's operations. The only qualification needed for admittance to the Studio Club was that the applicant had to be seeking a career in the motion picture business. The facility offered classes in various aspects of the performing arts and held social events.
With the facility at capacity in 1923, a widely-publicized fundraising campaign was held to build a new one. By 1925, a final $5,000 donation from silent screen star Norma Talmadge allowed the group to begin construction. The organization hired noted architect Julia Morgan to design the substantial new building in a Mediterranean style, including several recurring signature elements: full-length arched windows, balconies with iron ballustrades, and decorative brackets.
Located on Lodi Place, the residence opened in 1926. Some of its illustrious alumni include Marilyn Monroe, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rita Moreno, Barbara Eden, and Kim Novak. By the mid 1960s, the idea of a chaperoned dormitory became dated and the club was losing money. It survived as a transient hotel for women for a decade, but closed its doors in 1975. Re-opened in 2018, the building serves as a shelter for homeless women. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Over 100 photographs in this gallery show both locations between 1916 and 1954.
With the facility at capacity in 1923, a widely-publicized fundraising campaign was held to build a new one. By 1925, a final $5,000 donation from silent screen star Norma Talmadge allowed the group to begin construction. The organization hired noted architect Julia Morgan to design the substantial new building in a Mediterranean style, including several recurring signature elements: full-length arched windows, balconies with iron ballustrades, and decorative brackets.
Located on Lodi Place, the residence opened in 1926. Some of its illustrious alumni include Marilyn Monroe, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rita Moreno, Barbara Eden, and Kim Novak. By the mid 1960s, the idea of a chaperoned dormitory became dated and the club was losing money. It survived as a transient hotel for women for a decade, but closed its doors in 1975. Re-opened in 2018, the building serves as a shelter for homeless women. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Over 100 photographs in this gallery show both locations between 1916 and 1954.
