I sure wish my gym looked this classy! This is the Hollywood Athletic Club at 6525 Sunset Blvd. When it was built in 1924 (by Meyer & Holler, the architects who built Grauman’s Chinese Theater) it was the tallest building in Hollywood. During those early years, its membership included last-name-only luminaries: Gable, Disney, Flynn, Chaplin, DeMille, Fairbanks, Valentino, Crawford, Pickford, Harlow. The building later became the University of Judaism, and today it’s an event space and filming location. This photo is from 1933.
- Home
- BOOKS
- “All the Gin Joints” – a novel of World War II Hollywood
- “Chasing Salomé” – a novel of 1920s Hollywood
- “Selznick’s Girl Friday” – a novel of 1939 Hollywood
- “Thank Your Lucky Stars” – a novel of World War II Hollywood
- “The Heart of the Lion” – a novel of Irving Thalberg’s Hollywood
- “You Must Remember This” – a novel of World War II Hollywood
- Book 1 – “The Garden on Sunset”
- Book 2 – “The Trouble with Scarlett”
- Book 3 – “Citizen Hollywood”
- Book 4 – “Searchlights and Shadows”
- Book 5 – “Reds in the Beds”
- Book 6 – “Twisted Boulevard”
- Book 7 – “Tinseltown Confidential”
- Book 8 – “City of Myths”
- Book 9 – “Closing Credits”
- The Hollywood’s Garden of Allah trilogy #1
- The Hollywood’s Garden of Allah trilogy #2
- The Hollywood’s Garden of Allah trilogy #3
- About The Author
- Hollywood Places
- Places – E to K
- Places – L to P
- Places – Q to T
- Places – U to Z
- Spotlight on…Bullocks Wilshire
- Spotlight on…Cafe Montmartre
- Spotlight on…Cafe Trocadero
- Spotlight on…Ciro’s
- Spotlight on…Clifton’s Cafeteria
- Spotlight on…Don the Beachcomber
- Spotlight on…Grauman’s Chinese Theater
- Spotlight on…Mocambo
- Spotlight on…Romanoff’s
- Spotlight on…Schwab’s Pharmacy
- Spotlight on…the Earl Carroll Theatre
- Spotlight on…the Hollywood Canteen
- Spotlight on…the Hollywood Hotel
- Spotlight on…the Hollywood Palladium
- Spotlight on…The Players
- The ‘Hollywood Garden of Allah Novels’ companion map of Los Angeles and Hollywood
- Hollywood Timeline
- Photo Blog
- Bibliography
- Store
- Contact
I remember Ben Mankiewicz talking about this club on TCM. Apparently John Wayne used to frequent the Hollywood athletic club, which had pool tables on the roof of the building. One time Wayne was so wasted that he was throwing billiard balls at cars on the street below. He had mentioned another story of Wayne passing out at Formosa Cafe. So, the owner left him there asleep in the booth and in the morning when they opened up John Wayne was cooking up some fried eggs to eat.