HOLLYWOOD PLACES – A to D

In the course of researching the Garden of Allah novels, I came across all sorts of places in and around Hollywood and the greater Los Angeles area and started to collect the information together into one location on my website. The references at the end of each entry refer to the page number of the book where I found the information. (So “2/15″ refers to page 2 of book 15 listed on my bibliography page.) Readers of these pages will note the occasional inconstancy–that is due to conflicting sources from which this information was taken. This is my long-winded way of saying that I am not presenting this information as professionally-researched, definitive, you-can-take-it-as-gospel. It ain’t. It’s just a huge pile of info I’ll pulled from a wide variety of books, websites, magazine articles. Take it, like it, lump it or leave it.

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Nightclubs customarily reaped their profits in the last wee hours of the morning, midnight to last call at 2am. (8/152)

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335 N. LA BREA AVE

335 N. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, has seen a number of different incarnations. This is what I’ve been able to piece together:

MAY 1930 – Eads Castle
1932 – Casa Brea
1935 – Three Little Pigs Cafe
1936 – El Mirador Cafe
FEB 1937 – El Mirador Cafe owner arrested
June 1938 – opened as Sebastian’s Cubanola
08 OCT 1938 – opened as the Waikiki
1940 – Pirate’s Den
08 MAR 1946 – became Charley Foy’s Supper Club, before Foy moved to Ventura Blvd.
SEE ALSO: The various incarnations of 335 N. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles

9236 SUNSET BLVD:

The Willows (early 1930s)
Club Eugene (1935)
Club Morocco (May, 1938)
Jerry’s Mandalay (October, 1938)
Neville Fleeson’s Mandalay (February, 1939)
The Sphinx Club (1940)
Garden at Scheherazade (1941)
The Little (Troc) Club (1942)
Colony House (1945)
Henri’s (1946)
Le Pavilion (1947)

Abbott’s Backstage – a bar in Sherman Oaks owned by Bud Abbott. In 1953 the IRS took it away for nonpayment of taxes. It was renamed the Hideout by a former bartender of Abbott’s. (63/12)

Academy Award Theater – “In 1946 the Academy purchased a twenty-five year old theater building, then called the Marquis Theater, from the Fox West Cost Theaters and renamed it the Academy Award Theater.” It was located at 9038 Melrose Avenue, just to the east of Doheny. Academy members viewed films in the theater during the year and especially at nominations time. All Academy operations were located in the building, including the library, and most remained there until the construction of the Academy’s headquarters at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. in 1975. That building currently houses a number of administrative offices, as well as the Samuel Goldwyn Theater and the 4th Floor Gallery. The library is now located in the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study at 333 S. La Cienega Blvd. in Beverly Hills. The film archive, the Science and Technology Council, the Linwood Dunn Theater and the new museum operations are located at the 3rd Academy building–Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study–at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood.” – Pierre Norman Sands in A Historical Study of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Academy Theater – 3141 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood. Opened on November 7, 1939, it was originally designed to host the Academy Awards but never did. It served as a major suburban theater for the Fox West Coast Theaters chain, and showed movies until 1976, when it became a church.

Ace Cain’s Cafe – 1369 N Western Ave., Hollywood. Ace Cain played heavies and villains in B-grade Westerns. He quit the cowboy acting business after Prohibition was repealed and opened up Ace Cain’s Cafe, a “legal” watering hole on Western Avenue near Sunset Boulevard right across from the 20th Century Fox Studios. It was complete with live floor shows featuring scantily clad chorus girls, singing waiters, jugglers, acrobats, animal acts, and the works. His brother Jim operated a retail liquor store right next door. Ace Cain’s was one of the top nighteries in Hollywood during World War II and he and his chorus beauties were featured in some of the early “men’s” magazines. After the War, the nightclub business tapered off and Ace sold the property to the U.S. government, which placed a Post Office where the famous Ace Cain’s Cafe had once stood.

Agua Caliente – 3131 West Eighth St, Los Angeles. Phone Dunkirk 3-0664

Ah Fong’s– Beverly Drive, Cantonese Chinese restaurant (50s?) (Vanity Fair, March 2009) Locations in Beverly Hills, Westwood, Hollywood, Encino, Anaheim

Airplane Cafe

Al Levy’s Tavern – 1627 North Vine Street. Opened Wednesday, December 17, 1930 at 7 pm across from the Brown Derby, next door to the Huntington Hartford Theater (Ricardo Montalban Theater, a.k.a. Vine St Theater.) (72/46) On July 1, 1941, a major fire swept through the tavern during the lunch hour, forcing 200 patrons to flee. On September 7, 1941 the place reopened as Mike Lymon’s Hollywood Grill. Also had Al Levy’s Grill downtown at 617 South Spring Street (below) As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “One of the oldest restaurants in town. Noted for its sea food and steaks.” As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “1623 N. Vine St. A he standby for luncheon, dinner, late supper and cocktails. Steaks and roast beef are features.”

Popular Hollywood nightspot, Al Levy's Tavern at 1627 North Vine Street, circa 1940

Alan Hale’s Lobster Barrel and Steak House, 826 N. La Cienega Blvd on Restaurant Row, Pearl Harbor 652-4702

Albert Sheetz Mission Candy Shops – at Hill and 7th Streets, circa 1948
Circa ’37 – 450 North Canon Drive
Van Nuys

Allegro Club (gay or lesbian club)

Alvarado Court– a set of 8 bungalows (each containing two apartments) in a pleasant section of L.A. favored by film industry people. (4/21)

Alexandria Hotel – 501 South Spring Street, corner of Fifth. (25/139) Opened 1906. With its ornate lobby and thick rug (called the “Million Dollar carpet: because of the deals that transpired on it) It became the afternoon meeting place. The bar offered cocktails and free sandwiches so many out-of-work actors ended up there hoping to make contacts and free food. (40/8)

American Legion building – 2035 North Highland Ave. – built in 1929 (25/28)

Ambassador Hotel – 3400 Wilshire Boulevard – Opened 01JAN21 (closed 1989) back when that stretch of Wilshire was considered “out of town”. 400 rooms and bungalows where home to zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pola Negri, Norma Talmadge. The Zinnia Grill on the Casino level of the hotel, quickly became the nighttime meeting place of hotel guests and the visiting movie crowd. With walls of black satin, hand-painted with colorful zinnias, the club was dubbed the “Black Patent Leather Room” and dancers could rest in the adjoining Parrot Porch amidst squawking canaries, parrots and blooming plants. (40/35)

The Ambassador was a deluxe resort complete with bridal paths and stables, a bowling alley, miniature golf course, Olympic-sized swimming pool, post office and furrier. The Zinnia Grill proved so popular that the hotel management converted the hotel’s ballroom into a bigger, better, 1000-seat club. … from the fake palm trees hung papier mâché coconuts and artificial monkeys with electrically lighted eyes. Stars twinkled overhead and 100s of little lamps flickered on tables around the dance floor. (49/13) the Cocoanut Grove quickly became an important meeting place – especially on Tuesday nights – for Hollywood royalty such as Charlie Chaplin, Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Lionel Barrymore, James Cagney, Jack Benny and Dorothy Lamore, while performing on stage were the country’s biggest stars such as Fanny Brice, WC Fields, Eddie Cantor and later Nat King Cole, Tony Martin, Judy Garland, Eddie Fisher and Lena Horne.(48/14)

See also 61/82

78/42 – At the Ambassador, Gloria Swanson and Rod La Rocque trysted there, as did Valentino and Pola Negri. So did Roman Novarro (whose partners were pretty-boy extras he brought home from MGM.

American Women’s Volunteer Services Canteen, on Olvera St. in downtown L.A.

Andalusia Apartments, 1471-1475 Havenhurst Drive.

Andersen’s restaurant – Sunset Boulevard

Andersen’s, 9430 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills. “Luncheon 40 to 50 cents. Dinner 60 cents to $1.25. One of Beverly Hills most delightful dinner spots. Air conditioning. Free parking.” (mid to late 1930s)

Andre’s of Beverly Hills – 8635 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills

From Mickey in Vermont:

Andre’s never once disappointed my family in the years we knew it. So these are the facts I recall.

Andre’s was the brain child of Domenic Andreone, a Cordon Bleu educated chef originally from Italy whose accent today is almost as thick as when he stepped off the boat the first time in the 1950’s, and Don Medica, long deceased, who humor made you ponder why he didn’t have his own late night television show. He was of the Johnny Carson school.

Andre’s of Beverly Hills commanded its sway over a particular clientele from 8635 Wilshire Blvd for about 25 years, including various manifestations. For years it was open for lunch and dinner, catering to a lunch crowd of drunken advertising executives from nearby west coast branches of NY advertising agencies. It was more like a “Mad Men” Day Care Center than a restaurant.

Sometime in the early 80’s, Andre’s opened a branch at the Wilshire Terrace apartments (condo?) which were chic and haute in their era, with Billy Wilder being among their most prominent tenants. Andre’s of Wilshire Terrace made Andre’s of Beverly Hills look like a soup kitchen. WT didn’t last too long, though the meals I had there, I recall, were sublime and very expensive.

Andre’s of Town and Country (Wilshire and Fairfax) was one of the first restaurants to commit to the Town and Country shopping center when it transgendered from a quaint village to the high tech for the time (but quickly seedy) mall it is today, and it is I believe the only one of the original stores still in existence. As far as I know, it still serves the same menu, you can still find the same incredible salad dressing and other delicacies, and occasionally, Domenic Andreone is still at the stove. His nephew, MIchael Gagliarducci, nephew of his late beloved wife, Angie Andreone, has managed the place since its beginning, and as it all is family, it all seems to work beautifully. (I dated Mike for exactly one date, so I don’t think that should influence my viewpoint.)

T + C seems to work because it caters to the Park LaBrea crowd. Andres of Beverly Hills faultered because, according to me, it was never expensive enough. It couldn’t accommodate the egos that drove the business in the area, on La Cienega. I know because I was often behind the desk on a Saturday night.

Suffice it to say, when I want to think of happy memories of incredible meals, Andre’s is at the top of my list. In fact, I still cook some of the recipes I squirelled away from the kitchen, and my antecdote toward any kind of depression or bad feeling is the warmth and generosity of the Andreone family.

One further thought: Jerry Caplowitz was the original bartender at Andre’s. When I went to Hawaii with my aunt in 1960, he created a drink, The Hawaiian Mickey. It was short lived, but my memory of Jerry and his spell over the clientele is as vivid as if this was still a Saturday night when I had to get on my fancy dress, and make my way over to Wilshire Blvd.

Bill B Suggests: When you get the inclination a couple more notable buildings you might check out and include sometime in the future: The Villa D’Este Apartments (maybe now condominiums) on North Laurel in Hollywood and The Andalusia Apartments on nearby North Havenhurst, both near Fountain/Sunset area where the Garden of Allah once stood near Crescent Heights. As you are probably aware, The Villa D’Este was built by Cecile B. DeMille for his daughters who resided there. I’m not certain what the history of the Andalusia is, but I almost rented a unit there that was fully furnished with the original furniture and accessories carefully preserved. The elderly eccentric architect who owned the building would not permit anyone to bring in any personal belongings other than their clothes, and I just could not live in such a museum, but I appreciated the thrilling experience of seeing it anyway. http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_20.htm

Angelino’s Restaurant, 219 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, Phone 5-7353
Also at, South Long Beach Blvd, Compton, Long Beach Blvd , Lynwood, ??? Wilshire Blvd , Santa Monica

Angel’s Flight Café and Cocktail Lounge – 501-09 West 3^rd Street, Los Angeles

Apache, 354 Aliso St Los Angeles. Phone MA-6876, VA-2883. “Opposite new Union Depot”

The Apple Pan – 10801 Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles. Phone GR 99544. 1950s

Aragon Ballroom – Ocean Park

Arizona Inn, Tucson – A favorite hideaway for Hollywood stars in the 1930s. (141/96)

Armstrong-Schroeder – 7956 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills. The Schroeder half was Pete Schroeder, originally the maitre d’ on the Santa Fe Chief who was offered partnership by Armstrong who had half-stake in Armstrong and Carlton which was the Brown Derby’s main competition on Hollywood Boulevard. (41/316) As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Armstrong & Schroeder. Salads exceptional, cheese rolls notable. Booths and counter. No entertainment.”

Armstrong-Schroeder – 7956 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills. The Schroeder half was Pete Schroeder, originally the maitre d’ on the Santa Fe Chief who was offered partnership by Armstrong who had half-stake in Armstrong and Carlton which was the Brown Derby’s main competition on Hollywood Boulevard. (41/316) As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Salads exceptional, cheese rolls notable. Booths and counter. No entertainment.”

In the 50s and 60s, we frequently had Sunday breakfast at Armstrong Schroeder’s Restaurant. It was on the southeast corner of Spalding Drive and Wilshire. My Dad just loved the kippers and scrambled eggs there. I remember it being an old-fashioned place with straight-backed wooden booths and colorful linoleum. In the mid-1960s Armstrong Schroeder’s closed, the building was remodeled, and it became the first Nibbler’s Restaurant. I remember the architecture of this new restaurant being different from the usual coffee shop/Googie style. It was brick with lots of smoked glass… very low-slung and attractive. https://www.laconservancy.org/a-culinary-tour-of-wilshire/

Armstrong & Carleton Hollywood Indian Grill – 6607 Hollywood Boulevard. Business picked for this and other places along Hollywood Boulevard after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce got together with local merchants in 1922 and decided to allow shop window to be continue to be lit after 9pm. (61/68)
Also listed as simply Armstrong’s Café

Armstrong’s Cafe at 6600 Hollywood Blvd

Au Petit Jean – Beverly Hills – French restaurant, connected with Luau, Stefanino’s, and Scam. (1960s)

Avadon Ballroom – Main and Spring Streets, downtown Los Angeles

Avadon Ballroom at Main and Spring Streets, downtown Los Angeles (1)

Bab’s Epicurean Restaurant, 734 S. Spring St, downtown Los Angeles

Bamba Club, 626 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, Circa 1940s

The Balcony – Hollywood Boulevard, a block west of Cahuenga on the north side – gay bar

Balzer’s – a gourmet market in Larchmont opened in 1937. The first of its type in California: https://larchmontchronicle.com/larchmont-village-states-first-gourmet-market/ ) In 1957, Jurgensen’s purchased the Balzer store. (Another source says it happened in 1959.)

The Barraclough’s Restaurant – 6220 West 3^rd Street. Near Farmer’s Market. Ph – WE 4-1188 – “Dining rooms: luncheon, dinner, Sunday brunch, piano bar nightly. Coffee ship: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.”- “Los Angeles’ newest million dollar restaurant.”

The Barraclough’s Restaurant - 6220 West 3rd Street. Near Farmer’s Market. Ph – WE 4-1188

The Beaver Patch, 12730 Sherman Way, North Hollywood

Billy Gray’s Band Box, 123 North Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, Phone Webster 3-38226
Costello’s Band Box, 123 North Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, Phone York 9340
Pete and Billy Snyder’s Band Box, 123 N. Fairfax Ave, Hollywood. “Biggest little madhouse in Hollywood.”

Ben Blue – Wilshire Blvd at 22^nd St, Santa Monica, Phone UPton 0-2948 EX 3-2249 – “Two entirely different shows nightly in person” – “A cast of 36 great performers plus the greatest laugh show of our time.”

Billy McGee’s Willie-Willie Club – 1904 South Robertson, Los Angeles

Biltmore Motor Inn – 11827 Ventura Boulevard, North Hollywood. Phone Hillside 9551(?)

B.B.B.’s Cellar – 1651 Cosmo St, Hollywood – (40/62) By Sept 1932, the in crowd was flocking to this newly discovered hangout. Inside it was a tiny, dark, noisy, featured a postage-stamp sized dance floor, but had the wildest entertainment in town – 10 gorgeous female impersonators. All of the patrons were given little wooden hammers. Whenever a new guest arrived, it was the signal for the revelers to pound the tables with the tiny mallets. Among the surprise patrons who came back frequently were Ethel Barrymore, Talullah Bankhead, Billy Haines and Jean Harlow. Even Howard Hughes dropped in two nights in a row. (28/48)

Had a revue of 10 boys dressed as girls. The Hollywood Reporter caught Bankhead, Haines, Barrymore and Hughes there one night. The hammer thing caused much laughter, but also kept them on their toes about any possible raid.” … “…on Oct 1, 1932 it was raided and 9 men were arrested. Next they swooped on Jimmy’s Back Yard, cuffing five men and hauling them down to the station. Variety reported it was a “drive on the Nance and Lesbian amusement places in town.” Mann notes the days of the drag clubs were numbered. Raids and arrests continued over the next months, with bail sometimes set as high as $1500 (article)

The insouciance of performers like Bourbon made the pansy clubs huge hits. Variety reported in September 1933 they were “paying off”, every one of them operating at a profit. By early 1933 there were several flourishing. B.B.B.’s Cellar run by Bobby Burns Berman, had a revue of ten boys dressed as girls. The Hollywood Reporter caught Tallulah Bankhead, William Haines, Ethel Barrymore, and Howard Hughes there one night, each guest with a hammer, instructed to pound the table every time a new guest arrived. It aroused much laughter, but also kept them on their toes about any possible raid. Bruz Fletcher ran his eponymous establishment on Sunset Boulevard later, he’d headline at Club Bali. There was also Karyl Norman, who performed under the guise of various Hollywood actresses at La Boheme, also on Sunset Boulevard. The Hollywood Reporter spotted William Haines and Joan Crawford in the audience to see Norman’s takeoff on Crawford as Sade Thompson in late 1932. Variety called Norman “a true artiste”, and singled out his backup performer, La Verde, who did “a mean rumba and is plenty of ‘hot cha’ when it comes to appearance.” (10/145)

Gays, straights, and the sexually flexible – such as Marlene Dietrich, William Haines, James Cagney, Fifi Dorsay, and Mae West – gathered together regularly in post-Prohibition nightclubs that featured gay entertainment. At B.B.B.’s Cellar the floorshow was called “Boys Will Be Girls” and Fred Monroe did impersonations of the female stars in his audience. … The L.A. police’s 1932 raid on the Cellar was described by Variety as part of “a drive on the Nance and Lesbian amusement places in town. (60/44)

The Back Yard – Hollywood café with female impersonators. (40/73)

The Bachelors – a bar on Wilshire Blvd near the corner of Gramercy Place, next door to Elizabeth Arden. (For photo, see Elizabeth Arden.)

Baker’s – excellent shoe store on Hollywood Boulevard during its heyday. (66/274)

Bal-Tavarin – 15513 S. Western Ave, Gardena
Phone: MElno 4-2325
“The House of Pagones”

Barber of Seville at Crossroads of the world http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/Crossroads2.jpg

(Baron Long’s) Ship Café, Venice Beach. Built 1905 and fashioned after a Spanish galleon – the one owned by Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo when he discovered California.

It featured high-priced cuisine and booze during Prohibition for those who could afford it. Reconstructed after a 1924 fire, renovated several times, had a name change (to the Showboat Café), and razed in OCT‘46. (16/74) (40/12)

From http://www.virtualvenice.info/visual/cabrillo.htm (also has many photos) : Baron Long’s Ship Cafe, built in 1905 alongside the Abbot Kinney pier and originally run by Carlo Marchetti, was the “in” spot to find some of this “action.” Named the “Cabrillo,” the combination hotel-restaurant was fashioned after a Spanish galleon and served up high-priced cuisine in the main dining room, or in private salons on the second deck. The staff were uniformed like sixteenth-century naval officers, and, as in most places outside Los Angeles, hootch was available to any well-heeled customer who could afford it. The Ship was available for private functions, which many of Hollywood’s rising stars preferred, and the mayhem that attended New Year’s Eve made for headline copy.

Baron Long, who had started out in the Los Angeles area organizing boxing at the Vernon Fight Arena, then teamed up with Julius Rosenfield in 1917 to purchase the Ship Café, making it the most distinct and picturesque establishments in all of Los Angeles. By the mid 20s, Ward McFadden took control of the Ship Café and made it the Brown Derby of its day, the ‘in’ place where motion picture stars mingled with Los Angeles area politicians and wealthy businessmen. The dining was intimate, the food excellent, and Ward McFadden, Ralph Arnold, who was the proprietor in 1929, and Tommy Jacobs, a decade later, were the perfect hosts.

Bars banned by the US military during WWII

A total of 62 clubs were banned. I’ve transcribed the list from Downtown and Hollywood (but not Long Beach)

Downtown:

504 Cafe, 504 S. Main
A.& C. Cafe, 323 W. Fourth
Aztec cafe, 249 S. Main
Belmont Cafe, 464 S. Main
Cafe at 120 E. Fifth
Cafe Over the Top, 531 S. Main
Chesterfield Cafe 260 S. Main
Circle Cafe, 250 S. Main
Daisy’s Cafe, 502 E. Fifth
Donald’s Cafe, 440 S. Main
Famous Five and Ten Cafe, 132 S. Main
Grand Cafe, 325 E. Fifth
Hub Cafe, 113 E. Fifth
Johnny’s Cafe 317 1/2 S. Hill St.
L.A. Cafe, 326 S. Main
Log Cabin Cafe 252 E. Fifth
Look Cafe, 384 S. Hill
Marigold Cafe, 329 W. Sixth
Michigan Cafe, 312 E. Fifth
Mike’s Barbecue, 147 S. Main
Missouri Cafe, 428 E. Fifth
Mora’s Cafe, 315 W. Sixth
Movie Cafe, 313 s. Main
The Den, 428 S. Main
Theater Cafe, 428 S. Main
Tip-Top Cafe, 259 S. Main
Topper’s Cafe, 339 S. Hill

Hollywood:

Bradley’s – 6651 Hollywood Boulevard.
The Cafe Internationale, 8711 Sunset Blvd.
The Jade Café, 6619 Hollywood Blvd.
Club Flamingo, 1027 N. La Brea Ave.
Chez Boheme, 8950 Sunset Blvd.

Bar of Music – Beverly Boulevard. Opened 1940. A long-running and successful club on Beverly Boulevard, the Bar of Music was a cozy spot for intimate chat and prolonged cocktails. Off the beaten path, the nightspot featured top cabaret entertainment and harbored a reputation as a hangout for hipsters and underworld types. (p76/117)

The Barn – 6426 Sunset Boulevard (early 1930s featured a male and female floor show. Raided MAY 1930 for the sale of beer but more likely for the floor show.) (40/73)

Le Beau Club – downtown L.A. gay and/or lesbian club

Beau Rivage (BeauRivage) – 26025 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu. Mediterranean specialties

Beckman’s – delicatessen on Sunset Boulevard opposite Schwab’s. (44/120)

Bel Air Country Club – Los Angeles’ triumvirate of golf establishments were the Wilshire Country Club, the Los Angeles Country Club and the Bel Air Country Club. (78/41)

Belle Vue, Santa Monica Blvd at Ocean Ave, Santa Monica. French restaurant.

Bella Napoli Café – 711 Vermont Ave at Melrose

Ben’s Restaurant, 12004 Wilshire Boulevard, circa 1950s

The Berries Chop House, Cahuenga Boulevard (1930s)

The Betsy Ross (candies, ice cream, pastries) – 6910 Hollywood Blvd – opposite Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

The Beverly Hills Hotel a.k.a. the Pink Palace – Opened 12MAY1912 at 9641 Sunset. Built by oilman Burton Green also the founder of Beverly Hills (2/43) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Hotel In 1956 the Persian Room was pink and white (106)

The Beverly Hills Club on Roxbury Drive. Opened 1924. A health club opened by Elmer Perry where, in the 30s, Errol Flynn, Howard Hughes, Edward G. Robinson and Tyrone Power among others, liked to work out. (41/118) Had a private dining room, as described in 68/56

Beverly Hills Tennis Club, 340 N. Maple Drive, Beverly Hills. Phone: OxXord 4178

Beverly Wilshire Hotel – 9500 Wilshire Blvd. – Opened 1928. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Beverly-Wilshire 9514 Wilshire Blvd. Dinner. Separate bar. Dancing.”

The Big House/Buddy’s Rendezvous – 5732 Hollywood Blvd. This Hollywood nightclub was a popular gathering place for LGBT persons and featured female impersonators during the 1930s.
https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/23b499c0-1f2e-49cc-842e-8744c439acf6/LosAngeles_LGBT_HistoricContext.pdf

(Canfield’s) Big Rock Beach Café, Malibu, circa 1940s

Biff’s – popular coffee shop on the corner of Cahuenga & Yucca. (66/269)

18134 Sherman Way, Reseda
6801 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys
6720 San Fernando Rd, Glendale
17018 Devonshire St, Devonshire
130 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica

Blue Palm Café – 6066 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood. Also at listed at 6124 Hollywood Boulevard

Blum’s – On the southeast corner of Beverly Drive at Wilshire was Blum’s Restaurant. The original Blum’s was in San Francisco. I really don’t remember eating any food other than ice cream at Blum’s. They were famous for their coffee-iesta treat, vanilla ice cream in a large, footed dish topped with their crunchy toffee honeycomb candy and hot fudge sauce. The interior of this restaurant was pink, white, and gold. It had a very San Francisco/turn of the century look. https://www.laconservancy.org/a-culinary-tour-of-wilshire/

Brinks Cafe – 631 S Spring St., downtown L.A. Phone: HE 4510

Brittingham’s Radio Center Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge. CBS Radiom Columbia Square, Hollywood. Telephone HO-3611

Brittingham restaurants:

CBS Studios
Selznick Studios
RKO Studios
Columbia Studios
MGM Studios

Billy Berg’s Nightclub – 1356 N. Vine St. Popular during the 1940s. http://www.streetswing.com/histclub/a1b.htm

Billy Berg’s was a club on Vine St., Hollywood. Berg ran a number of clubs in the 1940s, 50s, and into the 60s, but this one’s main claim to fame was that it was “the first interracial nightclub in Hollywood.” Billy Holiday played there New Year’s Eve 1948.

Coleman Hawkins opened Billy Berg’s with another pioneering bebop ensemble (82/55)

Also: Billy Berg’s Swing Club 6687 Hollywood Blvd and 1710 N. Las Palmas Ave

Billy Berg's, 1356 North Vine Street, Hollywood

Billy Gray’s Band Box – a popular cabaret on North Fairfax (1930s) (115/p51)

The Biltmore Bowl at the Biltmore Hotel – opened 05 APR 34 – by Baron Long, fresh from Agua Caliente and who was also the one behind the Ship Café at Venice pier. (40/92)
As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Biltmore Bowl – Biltmore Hotel, 515 S. Olive St. downtown L.A. Dinner from 7.30pm, no couvert. Orchestra; dancing. Two floor reviews nightly. Bar. Much frequented by “visiting fireman” and the football crowd during the season.”

Biltmore Hotel – the men’s bar…had been a cruising spot even before the war, uniformed soldiers would be “packed three-deep”… (60/73)

Biltmore Theater – 520 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Opened: March 3, 1924 with a Ziegfeld production of “Sally” starring Leon Errol, written by Jerome Kern, Clifford Grey and Guy Bolton. The theatre was under Erlanger circuit management. Will Rogers was the emcee and tickets were $10.00. https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/biltmore

Bimini Hot Springs Beach and Plunges – Bimini place between Beverly and 3rd Street (LAiM)

In 1903, Dr. David Edwards opened the Bimini Baths, a spa and “plunge” (public swimming pool) built on a natural hot spring. The Daily Mirror posted the original 1902 Times article on the grand opening here. Spas & bath-houses were popular in Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th Century, but much like amusement piers, they seemed to have a predilection for burning to the ground (how many of each did Abbott Kinney have to rebuild?!). The Bimini Baths were no exception, and the spa was reduced to briquettes by 1905; but Dr. Edwards promptly rebuilt a much grander facility. The Bimini Baths were located at 2nd St (coming off Vermont, behind the present-day Vons) and Bimini Place (coming South off 1st St and its LARY streetcar line). Across Bimini Place from the spa was a deluxe hotel, also developed by Dr. Edwards. This building still exists (as does Bimini Place), although now it is an apartment building dedicated to people in recovery. It is referred to in some articles as the “Bimini Inn”; however, the 1930’s-era photo above shows the rooftop sign identifying it as the Rayfield, which it is still called today:

I found an outstanding Times article here (presumably scanned, hence the weird typos), which includes details about the history of Bimini Baths, and also mentions local features like Bimini Slough and the Palomar Ballroom. Amazingly, the Bimini Baths lasted until 1951, but it seems to have disappeared from the public consciousness even more so than other Ragtime-era attractions in Los Angeles. See also Bimini Baths spa and plunge

Bird in the Basket – By the MID-1940s, Central Ave had become the jazz thoroughfare of the West…On Central itself there were dozens of legit nightclubs, including the Brown Bomber, Bird in the Basket, and the lounge at the Dunbar Hotel where pianist/singer Nellie Lutcher held court. And there were the so-called breakfast clubs – after-hour places where you brought your own booze and danced past sunrise. (82/54)

The Bistro – Canon Drive. Opened 1958. Run by the ex-maitre d’ from Romanoff’s, Kurt Nicklas. Backed by Jack Benny, Jack Warner and Otto Preminger. First of three. (49/54)

Bit O’ Scotland — Over on Westwood Boulevard, between Olympic and Santa Monica Boulevard, you could once get the best fish and chips you ever had, served by cheery older women with (mostly) British accents. The entire menu was fish and chips, shrimp and chips, chicken and chips, some kind of ham and chips, plus various combination plates. I never had the ham but I think it was the only thing in the place that wasn’t fried, except maybe the clam chowder (red), salad, beverages and shortbread. This was all served in an old house someone had converted into a restaurant that was way too small for the crowd. On weekends, the wait to dine could run upwards of an hour and for some reason, every time I found myself waiting for a table, the party ahead of me included James Coco. After Bit O’ Scotland closed, the same family opened a restaurant over on Pico near Rancho Park. It’s called John O’ Groat’s and it’s open mainly for breakfast and lunch. But at lunchtime, you can order fish and chips made with the same wonderful recipe. Alas, they don’t have shrimp, scallops or cheery older women with British accents. http://www.povonline.com/larestaurants/larestaurants01.htm

Bit of Sweden – 9051 Sunset Boulevard near Doheny. Opened in 1936, introducing the concept of the smorgasbord to Angelinos. (40/152)

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Smorgasbord with over 75 delicacies. The dinner is excellent; for dessert Swedish apple pie is featured.”

The Black Bull – 1465 Vine St, Hollywood. Telephone: HOllywood 9243

The Black Cat – By the late 1950s, despite continuing hostility and harassment of the LAPD, a number of gay establishments had sprung up: the House of Ivy, the Cherokee House, Maxwell’s, The Black Cat, the “356” bar downtown. Most gay bars had existed outside Los Angeles city limits where county sheriffs were traditionally far more tolerant. (10/346)

The Black Watch – downtown L.A. (lesbian bar, listed in the 1949 Gay Girl’s Guide)

Blimp Landing Field – where the Park La Brea housing complex is, north of Wilshire and east of Fairfax. (LAiM)

The Blossom Room – at the Roosevelt Hotel, opened 1927 and played host to the first Academy Awards dinner in 1928. (40/64)

The Blue Dot, 1235 Vine St, Hollywood. Phone Holly 9423, late 1920s

Bob Dalton’s Elbow Room, 1056 La Cienega Blvd , Phone Crestview 39689

Bob Dalton’s Elbow Room, 1056 La Cienega Blvd , Phone Crestview 39689

Book of the Day bookshop – The HUAC described the Book of the Day bookshop in Hollywood (which was a bookstore and art gallery) as a Communist Party front business. (26/348)

Boos Brothers Cafeteria

328 S. Broadway
648 S. Broadway
436 S. Hill St
530 S. Hill St
319 W. Fifth St

Boos Brothers went bankrupt during the Depression. A number of their locations were bought by and converted to Clifton’s Cafeterias.

Botwin’s – 1911 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Boureston’s, Slauson at Van Ness, Los Angeles. Phone Axminster 1-0595. “Dancing – Fine Foods – Cocktails.”

Boulevard Bowl – 5766 Hollywood Boulevard. A bowling alley listed in the 1942 Hollywood City Directory.

Bow and Arrow – at the William Tell Motel 2525 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, Phone EXbrook 3-3287 – “Cocktails – Coffee shop – Men’s Grill – Banquet Rooms”

Bradley’s – 6651 Hollywood Boulevard. Gay bar. The military would post a sign at this place, and every other place they suspected drew a gay crowd, that said “Out of bounds to military personnel.” (60/73) aka Bradley’s Five & Ten, 6651 Hollywood Blvd. (66/86) According to http://www.mussoandfrankgrill.com/ Elizabeth Short, also known as the Black Dahlia, lived at 1842 North Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood in 1946. She frequented Bradley’s 5 and 10, a bar at the corner of Cherokee and Hollywood Boulevard, half a block from Musso’s.

In 1959 it became M’Goo’s Food ‘n Fun – a fun old time Irish themed restaurant. 1959-1975, until a fire damaged the building.

Hotel Brevoort (and Tropical Gardens)– 6326 Lexington Ave, (at Vine St), Hollywood. Best known (infamously) as the first Hollywood address of Elizabeth Short. A.K.A. “the Black Dahlia”. She and Gordon Fickling lived here August 20 to 26, 1946. Previously known as the Warner Kelton Hotel and was once own by comedic actress Pert Kelton. Early television was tested in the basement – http://www.earlytelevision.org/california_television_society.html Brewer’s Café – The publicity office at Columbia had two addresses – the official one at 1438 North Gower and an unofficial one across the street at Brewer’s Café, where publicists went after work to drink and mingle with actors and wranglers. (47/144)

Brittingham’s Radio Center Restaurant, 6113 Sunset Boulevard On Sunset near Gower. Part of the Columbia Square radio broadcasting complex. Also served as the commissary for the people who worked and performed on CBS radio.

Brooks – 6666 Hollywood Boulevard & 644 South Broadway & Wilshire Blvd at Cochran – clothing store for men and women – 1940s

Brooks clothing store advertisement in LA City Directory, 1942

Brothers – The House of Ivy on Cahuenga was very popular in the 50s and 60s…There was also the Lafayette, which was just across the way from it. And then there was the Open Door, which was on the corner of Selma and Ivar…I also remember the Cherokee House in Hollywood…and Chee Chee’s on Figueroa…There were some others too like the Carousel, in Venice. That was one of the toughest….In the 30s and 40s it was considered quite chic to drop in at an after-hours “speakeasy” knows as Brothers, in the Central Ave area, near the Hotel Dunbar, where the city’s African-American nightlife flourished. (11/37) Several of our sources pointed us to Brothers, a South Central nightclub of the 1940s which clearly had a speakeasy mystique and outlaw charm. (60/4)

The Brown Bomber – By the MID-1940s, Central Ave had become the jazz thoroughfare of the West…On Central itself there were dozens of legit nightclubs, including the Brown Bomber, Bird in the Basket, and the lounge at the Dunbar Hotel where pianist/singer Nellie Lutcher held court. And there were the so-called breakfast clubs – after-hour places where you brought your own booze and danced past sunrise. (82/54)

Brown Derby Restaurants

brown derby lunch menu cover vine st 1951

Brown Derby restaurants advertisement

In 1926, the first Brown Derby opened, facing due south at 3427 Wilshire between Mariposa & Alexandria. It was designed by Ray J. Keiffer.

In 1931, a Brown Derby branch opened at 3927 Wilshire, as seen in the shot below, in the Bilicke Building (built 1930) at the corner of Wilshire & Gramercy.

This Brown Derby replaced the short-lived Hi-Hat (apparently also owned by Herbert Somborn, aka Mr. Gloria Swanson) and only lasted a year or so.

In 1934, that restaurant became the first Perino’s.

In 1937, the hat-shaped Brown Derby moved half a block east of its original location, to 3377 Wilshire, oriented to the northeast corner of Alexandria. It was designed by Carl Jules Weyl.

Original (hat-shaped) at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard, then later 3377 Wilshire Boulevard, across the street from the Ambassador Hotel. Opened 1926. Phone DUnkirk 4-4147. Stayed open until 4am and invented the Cobb Salad and the Shirley Temple. http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm . See also 61/65-67 which says the Cobb Salad was invented at the Hollywood Brown Derby.

Opened by a group of East Coasters not happy with the standard of fare in Los Angeles. Led by ex-husband of Gloria Swanson: Herbert Somborn, Wilson Mizner and silent partner Jack Warner. The name was probably inspired by the favored headgear of Mizner’s heroes: Bat Masterson and Alfred E. Smith (New York governor in the 20s). Each booth featured a signature light fixture in the shape of a derby. Rivaled the Montmartre in late night popularity; was open until 4am. Instituted the custom of paging customers and bringing a telephone to the table, at the Vine Street Derby, the custom was raised to an art form. (40/44) It was featured in “What Price Hollywood?” in which Constance Bennett plays a waitress who is discovered while working at the original Brown Derby. (49/20) Somborn died in 1934 and it was taken over by Robert H. Cobb after whom the Cobb salad was named. The salad was popular with the Hollywood stars who were continually watching their waistlines. Equally popular at lunchtimes was the more caloric pan-fried corned beef hash. Also popular was the grapefruit cake. (49/20) On top of it was a sign that said “Eat in the hat”.

MENU: http://beezone.homestead.com/insideFullBDmenu2_op_800x515.jpg

1628 Vine St, Hollywood opened Valentine’s Day 1929 and was the most popular one with the industry. Designed by Carl Jules Weyl who later, as Warner Bros art director, designed Rick’s Café in Casablanca. Louella Parson (a permanent fixture by 1928 (15/114)) sat at booth #2 and Hedda Hopper at booth #5. By 1929, Louella Parson’s informal gatherings of female newspaper reporters and fan magazine writers who covered Hollywood were now named the Hollywood Women’s Press Club and met each Wednesday at noon at the Vine Street Brown Derby. (15/114) During its heyday, Bill Chelios (not Chilios as is widely reported) was the head waiter. (25/46) (40/49) says that Nick was the headwaiter.) Had an all-male staff policy who were inspected by Somborn. Featured low-sided booths for maximum visibility. Booths became the favored spots for stars to eat and the north wall reserved for the really big guns. The fame of the Vine St. Derby as spread by a public relations firm headed by Margaret Ettinger who was a relative of Parsons. This Derby became the embarkation point for Friday night fights at the Hollywood Legion Stadium, a block behind the Derby. At 8pm the Derby would empty out, the crowd filing through the parking lot and then returning after the bouts for late-night snacks. (40/49) The most prominent customers – Katherine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Jean Harlow, William Powell and Joan Crawford – sat in booths on the desirable north side beneath caricatures of themselves. (49/19) In booth $54 Clark Gable proposed to Carole Lombard in 1939. See also 61/67

MENU: http://beezone.homestead.com/insideFullBDmenu2_op_800x515.jpg

3927 Wilshire Boulevard

brown-derby-perinos1

Corner Wilshire and Rodeo Drive. Built 1931. More popular with the Beverly Hills crowd so it was busiest on Thursday nights which was the traditional “maid’s night off”. See also 61/66. According to Vanity Fair, March 2009, in 1958 Christmas dinner at the Beverly Hills Brown Derby was $3.85, or $30 in current dollars.

Brown Derby Rodeo Drive (cnr Rodeo & Wilshire, 1960)

4500 Los Feliz Boulevard. Open 1940s. (Formerly a Willard’s.) Also included a “drive-in” called the Car Café. See also 61/66

In 1933 artist Eddie Vitch asked owner Bob Cobb if he could complete some caricature drawings of the stars in the Derby that night in exchange for a meal. Cobb liked the results and a tradition was born. (16/81) http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm

All the Brown Derbys – Beverly, Hollywood and downtown – served good food at reasonable prices. Writers, agents and reporters frequented them. In the winter of 1937, when F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham were I the Beverly Derby on a Saturday evening, we saw Hedy Lamarr dining there alone. “How typical of Hollywood,” said Scott, “The most beautiful girl in the world alone on a Saturday night. (31/78)

There were only two really good restaurants in the studios, at Warner Bros and Harry Cohn’s Columbia. Mr. Cohn hoped it would lure people from the nearby Hollywood Brown Derby. He had been insulted there, he said, which was why he built his own lunch place. (31/99)

The Fox commissary, called the Café de Paris was the setting of Shirley Temple’s yearly birthday (which consistently made her a year younger than her true age). Its head waiter, Nick, was the former headwaiter at the Vine St Brown Derby. (41/61)

http://www.povonline.com/larestaurants/larestaurants09.htm

At one point, there were several of them in Los Angeles but only one (the one on Wilshire opposite the Ambassador Hotel) was constructed so that when you walked in the front door, it looked like you were walking into a giant hat.

That was the original Brown Derby, which opened on Valentine’s Day of either 1926 or 1929 (accounts differ) and moved one block away in 1937. The other main locations were (1) near Hollywood and Vine, (2) near Wilshire and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and (3) at Los Feliz Boulevard and Hillhurst in the Los Feliz area. There were also a few short-lived ones in other spots. All served mostly American fare in a semi-plush manner with very attentive service.|

Apart from the gimmick of the name and pretty good food, they had two things going for them. One was the Cobb Salad, which was invented at the Brown Derby, which was owned by the Cobb family. As the delicacy caught on in other eateries, there was much publicity as to where it had begun, and many people wanted to go and try the original. Many people also wanted to dine where the stars ate, and that was an even better reason to dine at the Derby. Like many restaurants where the big attraction is celebrity clientele, the proprietors advertised their famous patrons by covering the walls with their caricatures.

The Brown Derby near Hollywood and Vine was situated in area from which many network radio shows were broadcast, so stars were always eating there. It was not uncommon for the cast of a program to do a performance for the East Coast, then repair to The Derby for food and libation before returning to the studio for the West Coast transmission. This caused the Brown Derby to be mentioned often on their shows. When TV shows began to emanate from some of the same studios in the fifties, there were occasional live remotes from that Brown Derby. The Ralph Edwards show, This is Your Life, always began by surprising some celebrity, often in a location very close to the studio from which the program was telecast. During the years that This is Your Life came from the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, they often used the Derby, which was right around the corner. The night Edwards surprised Harold Lloyd there, Groucho Marx was in the next booth (on a break from filming You Bet Your Life at NBC’s nearby Sunset and Vine studio) and Marx began heckling Edwards as the latter attempted to hustle Mr. Lloyd across Vine Street. Well, who wouldn’t want to eat in a place where that kind of thing happened?

The Sunset-Vine Brown Derby also had a lovely banquet room and courtyard so it was the scene of many wrap parties and show biz press gatherings. All that “in” spot mystique spilled over to the Beverly Hills location and gave it a similar rep. On I Love Lucy, when Lucy, Fred and Ethel arrived in Hollywood and wanted to go somewhere to see the stars, they went to the Brown Derby…where Lucy caused a plate of food to be dumped on the head of Brown Derby regular William Holden. That was probably good for another five years of tourists flocking to the place.

Eventually though, business declined and Brown Derbies began closing down. I was an occasional patron of the Hollywood/Vine one in its last years, largely because I was working on a TV show that taped at the Sunset-Gower Studio a few blocks away. I recall being impressed with the history but unimpressed with the food…and somewhat bothered by the obsequious service. The host and waiters fawned over everyone who walked in the door like they were royalty and it seemed awfully antiquated and phony, at least to me. In any case, it was no longer the kind of place where Groucho and Bill Holden might drop by for a bite, so its main attraction was gone.

That Derby closed in ’85, the same year the Los Feliz branch turned into a night club. In the last few decades, much effort has gone into preserving the giant hat from the Wilshire location as a historical landmark. The only remaining Brown Derby is located at the Disney-MGM Studio theme park in Florida. I don’t know why they don’t buy the big hat and just ship it on down there.

The Broken Drum, 720 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, “You can’t it – those famous hamburgers”

Bryson Apartment Hotel is an historic 110,000-square-foot 10-story apartment building on Wilshire Boulevard in the MacArthur Park section of Los Angeles. Built in 1913 in the Beaux Arts style, it was one of the most luxurious residential buildings in Los Angeles for many years. The building is also closely associated with the city’s film noir history, having been featured in Raymond Chandler’s works. The building’s stone lions and large rooftop “Bryson” sign have become Los Angeles landmarks. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and designated a Historic Cultural Monument (HCM #653) by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1998.

Bruz Fletchers’ – an early (mid-30s?) gay venue on the Sunset Strip. Bruz was a gay entertainer who sang “naughty songs.” He hoped his bar would attract a mixed crowd of gays and straights, and for a while it did but Fletcher didn’t see the success he hoped for. http://www.queermusicheritage.us/may2010h.html

Bud Averill’s Airport – 674 S. Vermont, Los Angeles. Phone DRexell 0843. Also called Bud Averill’s Paradise Cafe

Bulldog Café – 1153 West Washington Boulevard. Opened 1928. Not to be confused with
The Pup at 12728 Washington Blvd, Venice
From Gary Helsinger:
1929 – The Pup (also originally called the Bulldog) built by Joseph Maddox at 5406 West Adams Blvd
1931 – The Bulldog Cafe (with the pipe) built by Joseph’s son, Everett Maddox, at 1153 E. Valley Blvd, Rosemead
1933-4 – The Pup was moved to 12718 W. Washington Blvd, Culver City
1939-1940 – The Pup Cafe is photographed by Ansel Adam
1940-1944 – The Bulldog is moved from Rosemead to 638 East Garvey Avenue, Monterey Park
1948-1949 – The Bulldog is either moved out of Monterey Park or demolished
1969 – The Pup Cafe, now Ugly Dog Records, appears in West Magazine of the Los Angeles Times
1969-1971 – The Pup Cafe is demolished

Bulldog Café, 1153 West Washington Blvd, opened 1928

Bullock’s Wilshire Department Store – 3050 Wilshire Boulevard

Luxury department store opened on September 26th, 1929 by John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstream Bullock’s in downtown L.A.) Closed in 1993. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullocks_Wilshire

See also book: “Bullocks Wilshire” by Margaret Leslie Davis

See also 61/69

By the MID-40s, the Trocadero was welcoming black acts, like the Nat King Cole Trio and Benny Carter’s orchestra. (82/57)

http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says Back in the days when the Sunset Strip was still a dirt road, this was the site of the La Boheme Cafe. It was run by a flamboyant drag queen named Karyl Norman, who delighted his patrons with his impressions of the top female stars of the day. The hit number in his repertoire was a wicked rendition of Joan Crawford playing Sadie Thompson — it always brought down the house and even floored Crawford herself. La Boheme was a favorite destination for Hollywood “slumming” parties until it was shut down for liquor violations in 1932.

Enter Billy Wilkerson, whose first restaurant, the Vendome, was already a popular lunch spot. He bought La Boheme and hired famed designer Harold Grieve to turn the folksy Colonial-style building into an elegant French cafe. The result, the Trocadero, became the crown jewel of ’30s’ nightspots.

The Troc was inaugurated on September 17, 1934, with a luxurious private party for agent Myron Selznick, and throughout the decade it had the loudest jazz, the best food and drink, and the juiciest gossip to be found in Tinseltown. Since an appearance at the Troc was bound to be written up in Wilkerson’s trade sheet, the Hollywood Reporter, all the brightest stars came here to see and be seen. Photographers had a field day as celebrities regaled themselves in the exquisite cream and gold dining room or lounged on the rear balcony, which afforded a dazzling view of the city lights below. Those wishing to unwind away from the spotlight could repair to the downstairs bar, which was supposed to be barred to the press. The wily Wilkerson, however, always had a spy there to catch whatever tidbits fell from booze-loosened tongues.

Originally open only for dinner, the Troc later took on the lunch crowd with its Sidewalk Cafe, which introduced the now-ubiquitous concept of al fresco dining to Los Angeles. Another innovation was the club’s Sunday Night Auditions, which the studios used to showcase up-and-coming talent. It was at one of these auditions that Louis B. Mayer realized he had a find in 14-year-old Judy Garland, and Deanna Durbin, Rita Hayworth, Nat King Cole, Jackie Gleason, Martha Raye, Phil Silvers, and Mary Martin all got valuable exposure in this manner. For a glimpse of what the Troc was like during those heady times, check out the 1937 version of A Star Is Born, which was partially shot here. The film’s director, William Wellman, must have had mixed feelings about the location. While drinking at the Troc some months earlier, he made a disparaging remark about Loretta Young and was promptly flattened by her pal, Spencer Tracy.

The Troc lost a lot of its luster after Wilkerson sold it in 1938. Underworld figures like Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen began to populate the place, and in 1940 it was raided twice for hosting illegal gambling. The famous didn’t need that kind of publicity and moved on to other nightspots. In 1944, the club produced the low-budget musical Trocadero in an attempt to restore its image; watching this dreary film today, one imagines it didn’t help. After another change of ownership, the Troc closed in 1946.

From http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/category/114-1/trocadero-cafe/

In late 1936, Cafe Trocadero was completely remodeled to the delight of its many patrons. Apparently, for some reason, Wilkerson wanted to sell the Troc but as of August 1937, there were no buyers. In late 1937 or early 1938, Wilkerson, whose Hollywood Reporter offices were just west of the new entertainment area, pulled out stakes from the Trocadero. Felix Young, at some point, became involved with the Trocadero, either as a manager or part owner (probably the later). Shortly thereafter, Wilkerson began work on developing a new nightclub, down the street, which he opened in January, 1940 as Ciro’s.

The Trocadero began to lose the dominance it had held on the Sunset Strip virtually since opening. Felix Young was the sole owner and continued to run the famous nightclub. Beginning in mid-1939, Young began discussions with the landlord, Chateau Sunset Corp., to renegotiate the lease. When negotiations broke down, Young closed the nightclub on the morning of Saturday, October 7, 1939 and ordered the secretaries to telephone his decision to 400 persons who had reservations for that evening. Young said, “Until my contract is clarified to my satisfaction, The Troc will remain dark.” Three days later, The Trocadero was thrown into involuntary bankruptcy by three creditors. In mid-May, 1940, the Cafe Trocadero’s furniture and fittings were auctioned off to satisfy the creditors’ claims. Even the name “Cafe Trocadero, was for sale.

Several months later the nightclub was reopened, under new management, who renamed the simply “Trocadero”. Over the course of the next few years, the nightclub had some degree of success but was now competing with such nightclubs as Ciro’s. During the mid-1940, the club’s liquor license was suspended a couple of times, due to various violations. Finally, in 1947, the Trocadero closed its doors, for good.

California Kitchens with 5 locations:
Temple and Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles
Sixth at Hope, Los Angeles
Sunset at Gower, Hollywood
Santa Monica at La Brea, Hollywood
Brand at Colorado, Pasadena
“Grilled sandwiches (14 varieties), real hickory barbequed ribs, soups, salads, deserts, modern soda fountain service.

Camelot – 1100 Glendon Ave, Westwood. “Los Angeles Finest Steak and Chop House. Dinner, Cocktails, Atop Westwood Center Bldg. 21^st Floor. Phone Exeter 478-0555

Camp’s Bar (aka Roman Terrace) – 1708 Las Palmas Ave, Hollywood. Gay bar.
Mr. T, not the actor on TV, but an entrepreneur of gay bars at the time, had a bar next door to the Vieux Carre, called Camp’s Bar. He always had the best looking, young bartenders. And a semi-drag team, Maurice and Lamont, used to pantomime to records on stage. I said semi-drag, because in those days impersonators couldn’t wear falsies and had to have on men’s underwear under their drag costumes.
http://www.zimbio.com/HOLLYWOOD+in+1957/articles/8/Hollywood+1957+Hollywood+Theater

Canteen Club Café, 527 South Main St,, Los Angeles. “Continuous Entertainment – Where service men meet – Never a dull moment!”

Canter’s Deli – Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles. In 1953 the Esquire Theater is transformed into the current location of Canter’s (having moved from the miracle mile district where they moved to from the Boyle Heights location in 1948. http://www.cantersdeli.com/aboutcanters/

Canyon Club – in Topanga Canyon, mixed gay and lesbian club (1940s? 1950s?) who, if they saw the Vice Squad pulling up, would flash the lights which was the signal to swap dance partners to someone of the opposite sex. (60/83)

Carmel Gardens – 2^nd & Broadway, Santa Monica. Owned by Bud Averill. http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm

Carnation Ice Cream Shop – 5075 Wilshire Boulevard

Casa Manana – corner National and Washington, Culver City. A popular big dance band venue, especially during WWII. Formerly the Green Mill. (82/51, 63)

Casa Verdugo, 736 South Spring St, downtown Los Angeles – Phone Broadway 4647 – Spanish dance lessons

The Casbah – 8401 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles

(“Happy” Hacker’s) Casablanca, 6066 Wilshire Blvd, corner of Fairfax Ave

Carolina Pines “Jr.” restaurant – La Brea at Sunset. In the Heart of Hollywood. 7315 Melrose Ave, Phone WY 9122 – “Traditions of the old south. The tempting dishes, the atmosphere, the service, are Dixie thru and thru!”

carolina pines 7315 melrose ave

Carolina Pines “Jr.” restaurant – 1518 N. La Brea Ave. (at Sunset Blvd) Opened in 1955. The name was a cute nod to the original Carolina Pines, the traditional southern style 1920s restaurant and tea room on Melrose Ave.

The Carousel – The House of Ivy on Cahuenga was very popular in the 50s and 60s…There was also the Lafayette, which was just across the way from it. And then there was the Open Door, which was on the corner of Selma and Ivar…I also remember the Cherokee House in Hollywood…and Chee Chee’s on Figueroa…There were some others too like the Carousel, in Venice. That was one of the toughest….In the 30s and 40s it was considered quite chic to drop in at an after-hours “speakeasy” knows as Brothers, in the Central Ave area, near the Hotel Dunbar, where the city’s African-American nightlife flourished. (11/37)

Carl’s Drive-in restaurants

The Original Carl’s – Where Flower meets Figueroa at 38^th St
Carl’s Original – Vernon Ave and Crenshaw Boulevard
Carl’s at the Beach – One the Roosevelt Hwy, 1 mile north of Santa Monica

Harry Carpenter’s Drive In Restaurant – 6290 W Sunset Boulevard…cnr Sunset & Vine – 2^ndlocation – opened early 1930s – The drive-in restaurant where Dick Powell’s character works in the 1937 movie “Hollywood Hotel” is called “Callahans” in the film. The actual coffee shop in Hollywood was called “Carpenter’s” and was located at the southeast corner of Sunset and Vine Streets. It was one of the earliest “drive-in” restaurants in the U.S. The uniform worn is based on the actual uniforms the mostly male waiters wore. They were based on the uniforms that service station attendants wore. The reason for this new type of restaurant was to cater to the new younger movie star who wanted to be seen in their expensive automobiles. The restaurant was open all night. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029010/trivia

http://bit.ly/aNWqQA – also at Wilshire and Western, Wilshire and Vermont, Pico and Vermont, Silverlake and Glendale, Sunset and Virgil. See http://www.latimemachines.com/carp4.jpg for menu.

Cap’n Quill – 807 W. 7^th St, Los Angeles. “These matches WRITE as well as LIGHT!” – “Jot notes with these matches inside match cover.”

The Captain’s Room – Muscle Beach / Santa Monica beach gay bar

The Captain’s Table – 301 South La Cienega Blvd. – Los Angeles 48, Calif. Oleander 5-7555. “Specializes in Broiled Maine Lobster, Steamed Ipswich Clams, Bouillabaisse, Filet of Pompano en Papillote, Frog Legs Provencale, Flaming Sword and Flambé Specialties, and wild Game, Fowl, Steaks, and Chops.”

Casa D’Amore – 1644 Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood. Restaurant and pizzeria; Italian dishes a la carte.

Casa la Golondrina Mexican Café 35 Olvera St. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Mexican food, entertainment and dancing in Los Angeles’ oldest brick house.

Casino Gardens was another popular dance hall located at Ocean Park. See also: http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/venice/articles/oceanparkpier.htm

The Castle Steak House, 828 So. Robertson Blvd. Los Angeles. 1940s

The Cat & Fiddle – 6530 W Sunset Boulevard – used to be the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, that whole building. Edgar Bergen, George Burns, Lucy and Desi, they all had their offices there, around the courtyard that is still there. Bergen was there the longest. (66/270)

Catalina Island Casino – Finished construction on May 29, 1929 under the direction of Mr. Wrigley and David M. Renton at a cost of 2 million dollars. Its design, done by Sumner A. Spaulding and Walter Weber was the first to be designed specifically for movies with sound. Steel structure of the old Sugarloaf Casino can still be found in Avalon’s abandoned bird park. The bird park was conceived by Mrs. Wrigley, and, at the time, was one of the largest aviaries in the world.

Catalina John’s Restaurant – Phone: Whitney 4501 – “The Miracle Mile’s finest restaurant” – “Open 24 hours a day”

Casanova Club / Club Casanova – 8118 Sunset Blvd & 8383 Sunset Blvd

from Playground to the Stars:

1932: Seer who operates out of 8118 Sunset is arrested in a suicide extortion plot.

1933: LAT: Sep. 7, 1933: 1933: Actress Ruth Hall, 21, announces plans to marry Lee D.Garmes, 31, director at Fox, who resides at 8118 Sunset Blvd. He was the first person awarded the Oscar for photography in “Shanghai Express.”

1935: The building at 8383 Sunset is constructed, first club is there is Cafe Clement.

1936: August: Club Casanova opens in the building at 8383 Sunset, but is in business there for no more than 16 months.

1937: December 31: U-Gene’s Bagdad Cafe opens at 8383 Sunset.

1939: July: Bow’s Inn opens in the space at 8383 Sunset.

1940: Census lists tenants at 8118 Sunset as Albert Beck, his wife Charley and Charley’s mother. Occupation for all three is given as tailors. March 26: The building at 8383 Sunset is now a real estate office operated by Bob Coyne. He reports a burglary in which some saddles were stolen. He is interesting because he was part of the CIVIC anti-vice crusade — UNTIL he was charged with extortion, pleaded guilty and went to jail for 90 days in 1937. Previous to the burglary, Coyne had publicly accused Capt. Contreras of the Sheriff’s Dept. vice unit of being involved in gambling rackets.

1941: January: There’s a raid at Casanova Inc., a private club at 8118 Sunset that has about 350 members. But this is not a nightclub, not open to the public, apparently it’s a private drinking club. Whether this is an offshoot of Club Casanova, which closed in 1937, or a completely new club that appropriated the name is unknown. It wasn’t there long, apparently.

1942: According to the City Directory, 8118 Sunset was a dance studio for Anthony Capps, who was apparently something of a big deal. I don’t know how long the Capps studio was at the address but by 1955, Capps and his wife were living in Beverly Hills.

… Nothing much in the record about 8118 until …

1958: March: Pandora’s Coffee House, 8118 Sunset Blvd., will display paintings and sculpture by Albert Wein for its first exhibit, Tuesday thorugh March 31. April: Private detectives Mike Lane and James Adams were booked after a citizen’s arrest by Allen H. Adrian, 27, owner of a restaurant at 8118 Sunset. Allen told police the two told him they had acquired controlling interest in the restaurant and had ordered him to leave. When he refused, Adrian said, the men started twisting his arm. Adrian broke away and called the police.

July: [This is from the page on Noirish] “In July 1958 Tom Elwell applied for a “Cafe Entertainment” license. In September and October he had hearings before a Hearing Examiner. This worthy, after receiving testimony from vice-squad members, and neighbors, denied the application. Elwell then appealed to the Police Commission in January 1959, but the Commission agreed with the hearing officer. The Hearing Examiner had determined Pandora’s was no more or less noisy than other nearby clubs. But he decided Mr. Elwell was “unfit” for his license due his associations with three criminals: prostitute Shirley Paulos, narcotic suspect McKinley Sims, and “Homo” [sic] Don Arden (the “Busby Berkeley of Las Vegas,” creator of “Jubilee!”)

So it never got a liquor license and was a coffee house at the time of the riots, which meant kids under drinking age could go there. The riots started when the city announced plans to demolish it in order to create better traffic flow, which is what we have now.

Cave des Roys, 8054 Beverly Place, on the La Cienega’s restaurant row. This private club (you needed a gold key to enter) opened in 1959. Among the founders were Conrad Hilton, Paul Newman, Desi Arnaz, Danny Thomas, Anthony Quinn and Tony Curtis.

CBS Television City – Fairfax Ave. Built in 1952. (61/24)

C.C. Brown’s Ice Cream. 7007 Hollywood Boulevard; 464-9726. Birthplace of the hot fudge sundae and workplace of a young Judy Garland. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_n5_v192/ai_15413257/pg_263/22 says that “When a young Judy Garland used to go an a sweets binge, Brown’s was where she did it.

C.C. Brown’s began in 1906 in downtown Los Angeles where Clarence Clifton Brown invented the Hot Fudge Sauce. In 1929 he moved the business to Hollywood, where it existed in its original form until the summer of 1996. C.C. Brown’s moved to its long-term location at 7007 Hollywood Boulevard at a time when two major landmarks –Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel — had not long been built. http://www.foodingredientsonline.com/storefronts/ccbrown.html

CC Brown arrived in the early 20s, opening an ice cream parlor on La Brea before moving to Hollywood Boulevard, west of Orange in 1928. CC Brown invented the hot fudge sundae. With horsehair-upholstered booths, metal dishes to keep the ice-cream cold, and a secret formula fudge sauce served in ceramic pitchers, the business brought stars and everyone else. Judy Garland, James Cagney, Elvis, Clark Gable and Ronald Reagan were regulars. It closed its doors in 1996. (p166/113)

The Cellar – And if you looked at the downtown bars like the Waldorf, the Cellar, the 326 – it was so goddamned open. (11/36)

Centaur Café, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. The photo below is dated 1930

Cesar Romero’s Cappuccino Ristorante, 848 N. La Cienega Blvd, just south of Santa Monica Blvd. Ph 655-7722

Central Avenue – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Avenue,_Los_Angeles,_California – was the Harlem of 30s Los Angeles. (40/154) The biggest of the clubs, which billed itself as “California’s largest Harlem nightclub” was the Plantation at 108^th Street which attracted all the top black talent visiting town. (40/1207) Other places included Club Alabam and the Dunbar Hotel. “Because racial covenants prevented “persons not of the Caucasian race” from buying or renting houses in certain areas of the city, African Americans migrating to Los Angeles in the 1940s lived along Central Avenue. Stretching south for seven miles from downtown to Watts, the Central Avenue district became home to black residents, businesses, churches, and night clubs. Angelenos – rich and poor, black and white – crowded into places like Club Alabam, the Dunbar Hotel, and the Plantation to listen to jazz, blues, and other music.” http://jazzinamerica.org/student.asp?LPOrder=6&Grade=8

1942: The Plantation Club opens on 108th and Central. 1947: The Plantation Club closes. http://www.los-angeles-music-week.com/Chronology.html

The Dunbar Hotel – 4225 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles. By the MID-1940s, Central Ave had become the jazz thoroughfare of the West…On Central itself there were dozens of legit nightclubs, including the Brown Bomber, Bird in the Basket, and the lounge at the Dunbar Hotel where pianist/singer Nellie Lutcher held court. And there were the so-called breakfast clubs – after-hour places where you brought your own booze and danced past sunrise. (82/54) See also “Central Avenue”.

Dunbar Hotel was known as the Hotel Somerville in its first year of existence (1928.)

Club Alabam at Central and 23rd (?) was the place for big band performances, including Duke Ellington’s band; countless jazz and blues bars like Babe Rickey’s at 5259 Central (recently moved to Leimert Park) lined the avenue; when Fats Waller, Lena Horne, Nat “King” Cole, Fats Domino, BB King, Dizzy Gillespie frequently “rocked the house”

Central Avenue, back in the day, was the Black mecca of jazz. Central Avenue was one of the few areas of Los Angeles where Black were allowed to move, purchase property, live. Central Avenue emerged as the heart of the black community and played host to one of the first jazz scenes in the western U.S., with trombonist Kid Ory a prominent resident.

Central Avenue was the place to be between 1920 and 1955. Central was the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles, with active Rhythm and Blues and Jazz music scenes. http://femmenoir.blogspot.com/2006/07/central-avenue.html

(Photo at the LAPL documenting a 1945 ball at the Club Alabam which was in the heart of the black district, on 42^nd St at Central Ave. Gorden Dexter and Charles Mingus played in the Club Alabam’s house band, and aMae West, William Randolph Hearst, and Orson Welles listened to jazz there together with Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis. The 1945 photograph, however, shows 2 dozen young men, African American and white wearing cocktail gowns, stoles and Joan Crawford style lipstick.

By the MID-1940s, Central Ave had become the jazz thoroughfare of the West…On Central itself there were dozens of legit nightclubs, including the Brown Bomber, Bird in the Basket, and the lounge at the Dunbar Hotelwhere pianist/singer Nellie Lutcher held court. And there were the so-called breakfast clubs – after-hour places where you brought your own booze and danced past sunrise. (82/54)

Charley Foy’s Supper Club, 12915 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, at Coldwater Canyon, Phone Sunset 1-1482. One of the most popular groups in American vaudeville was an act called The Seven Little Foys. As adults,two of these children, Charlie and his sister Mary owned and operated a supper club in Sherman Oaks called Charley Foy’s Supper Club. The club, located at 12915 Ventura Boulevard at Coldwater Canyon, featured blockbuster entertainers such as: Jackie Gleason, Dan Rowan and Phil Silvers. http://museumsanfernandovalley.blogspot.com/2011/07/charlie-foys-supper-club-in-sherman.html (192/111)

Chapman Fancy Ice Creams – Chain of ice cream parlors/drugstores. By 1932, they had more than 20 locations throughout the L.A. are.

Chapman Park Hotel and Bungalows – 3401 Wilshire Boulevard – Built in 1936 and torn down in the late 60s. Their cocktail lounge was called Zephyr Room.

When first opened in June 1929, the Chapman Park Market had a three-day celebration where thousands gathered to shop in the 28 “marts,” use the post office, or watch the Russian Dancers and orchestra. Besides the markets and post office, the Chapman Plaza included the Chapman Park Hotel that has now been demolished and replaced with the Equitable Plaza office building. Like Bullocks Wilshire, the Chapman Park Market was one of the first business places built with the car in mind. The Market had a 500-car parking lot and a drive through entrance to the main square. Additionally, at it’s opening, the fact that refrigerated rooms are available to every store in the Market was considered to be one of the highest conveniences available to those in the food business.

Charochka – Russian restaurant at 8524 Sunset Blvd. May 1945 to the end of 1947. After a couple of incarnations, on March 21, 1958 it would open as where Dino’s Lodge.

Chatterbox Café – 4009 W. Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, Phone: WE 6-9680

Chasen’s – 9039 Beverly Boulevard. Opened 13DEC1936 as Chasen’s Southern Barbecue Pit. (27/128) http://www.seeing-stars.com/Dine2/Chasens.shtml by Dave Chasen and his partner Joe Cook who had been advanced $3000 by New Yorker editor Harold Ross. It had 6 tables, an8-stool counter and a 6-stool bar and dispensed chili at 25 cents a bowl and a couple of BBQ ribs for 35 cents. Regulars included WC Fields, Nunnally Johnson, Frank Capra, Buddy Ebsen, Gene Fowler, Jimmy Cagney and Pat O’Brien. Within a year the place evolved from chili parlor to full-fledged restaurant with 35 items with waiters in black and white. Inventor of the Shirley Temple after an incident when Shirley was there and got upset because she wanted a drink just like her parents. In later years it was expended to add a sauna and a barber in the back. (40/151)

Chasen’shad good steaks and garlic bread. Bill Grady – director of casting at MGM had his own table, as did Ronald Colman, Leslie Howard & Cary Grant. One of L.A.’s top three waiters – Bruno – worked there. (1/81)

Also: 41/318

From “Chasen’s” Where Hollywood lives” by Betty Goodwin (book #48)

Frank Capra came up with the name —the original structure was barely big enough to hold 6 tables, an 8-stool counter and tiny kitchen. P6

The bean field where Dave’s glorious stucco shack stood proved an inspired choice. P6

At first the menu consisted of BBQd spareribs (35c), chili (25c) and booze (35c). By comparison, drinks ran from 60c to $1.50 at the posh Trocadero. P7

As business improved, East Coaster exiles such as Nunnally Johnson, Charles MacArthur, James Thurber, Robert Benchley, Russel Crouse and Alexander Woollcott became regulars, no doubt at the urging of Harold Ross (New Yorker editor). Dorothy Parker should get one free drink a night, Ross directed Dave.) p7

Within a few months, Dave enlarged the room and his menu, since patrons had begun to tire of a steady diet of chili and ribs. P7

The menu increased to 35 items. P9

At around the same time, Harold Ross suggested a name change and it was, to just “Chasen’s”. p9

By the war years Chasen’s had attained such a reputation as a Hollywood hot spot that it was difficult to get a table. The biggest stars of the day felt welcome there, including Charlie Chaplin, William Powell,, Robert Taylor, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, James Cagney, Joan Bennett, Joe DiMaggio, J. Edgar Hoover. P11

Tommy Gallagher joined Chasen’s in 1947 as a waiter and become one of the captains of the prestigious front room. P12

In the early 1940s urbane actor Paul Henreid arrived in Hollywood and proclaimed the food awful except for 3 places: Perino’s, Romanoff’s and Chasen’s. p12…

Dave virtually lived and breathed the restaurant. He had small quarters there (his only residence) and started his days at 4am at the produce and meat markets. P14…

When the doors opened for dinner, he greeted guests in his trademark horn-rimmed glasses, bow tie and suit lined in red silk, a luxury he promised himself after admiring the red silk in a Chinese dance act. P14

Another acquaintance from Dave’s acting days, Billy Grady Jnr, a former Broadway agent, become one of Chasen’s most devoted customers, as head of casting at MGM, Grady was one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood and, for decades, he had a six-days-a-week standing reservation (Chasen’s was closed on Mondays, except for private parties). To make sure he got the table he wanted, Grady enlisted studio carpenters to build his own booth along the wall outside one of the entrances to the front room. Grady thought of it as his own private office. “I did more business there, and I signed more actors there than anywhere else,” Grady said. On the rare night he dined elsewhere, Grady made sure he patrons occupying his booth knew how fortunate they were. He hung his photograph there, along with a plaque reading: “You are using this booth through the courtesy of Billy (Square Deal) Grady. P.S. But strictly on your own.” Grady’s dinner companions naturally included stars like Clark Gable and Mickey Rooney. But about 4 nights a week, his eating partner was Jimmy Stewart, whom Grady first brought out to Hollywood. Stewart wooed his future wife Gloria there, his 1949 bachelor party there which was attended by Spencer Tracy, David Niven, Jack Benny, Lew Wasserman and others. His favorite meal was the thinly sliced Calf’s Liver and the Hobo Steak. P14… (also 68/79)

Bob Hope rode through the front door on horseback, probably to promote his western farce “The Paleface” (1948)

In 1939 soon after he arrived in Hollywood from England to direct “Rebecca”, Hitchcock was introduced to Chasen’s by Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Hitchcock and his wife were so taken with Chasen’s that their Thursday night dinners, always at booth #2 beneath a photo of their daughter Patricia, became a 40 year ritual. P21

Of all of Chasen’s regulars, Orson Welles was the biggest – he ordered double orders of everything. Sinatra was the smallest – he ordered half orders. Howard Hughes was the simplest – typically dined on tomato juice, butterflied steak and salad. P21

Chasen’s grew dining room by dining room, at various times in included a barber shop, a TV room, a steam room and shower so those arriving from the east could come directly from the train station or airport, refresh themselves, have a good meal and then go home. P25

Dave Chasen married Maude in Las Vegas on 13SEP1942 p27

It was Elizabeth Taylor while filming Cleopatra in Rome who made Chasen’s chili famous when she ordered it shipped to Rome, and was willing to pay $100 (around $700 in today’s money) for the shipping. P30

In 1942 Chasen took over the running of Saks Fifth Avenue’s rooftop restaurant on top of their Wilshire Boulevard store, changing the name from “Terrace Snack Bar” to “Chasen’s Atop Saks Fifth Avenue.” Following that he started concessions at the Agua Caliente race track in Tijuana and El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. P35

In 1939, when Howard Hughes bought Transcontinental and Western Air (the precursor to TWA) he asked Dave to make it the first airline to serve passengers hot food – on good china and linens – instead of the usual boxed sandwiches.

14FEB1946 – Howard Hughes pilots the first TWA Constellation flight from NYC to LAX. Aboard are Cary Grant, Lana Turner, Alfred Hitchcock, Bugsy Seigel, Edward G. Robinson and Paulette Goddard. (21/182)) Also William Powell and his wife Diana (aka “Mousie”), Burgess Meredith. Also aboard was Dave Chasen. About 10 minutes before landing, the plane dropped 20,000 feet because of inclement weather and flailing winds. When Hughes asked for a drink, his passengers grew even more alarmed because Hughes was a teetotaler. Dave brought out an 85yo bottle of vodka. To Dave’s horror, Hughes poured the entire bottle on a piece of cloth and used it to wipe the condensation from the windshield. (48/36)

Hughes selected Chasen’s to cater the party for the launch of the Spruce Goose for its one and only flight on 02NOV1947. p37

http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says In classic Hollywood fashion, Chasen’s rose from humble beginnings to become the quintessential Beverly Hills restaurant. In 1936, ex-vaudevillian Dave Chasen borrowed $3500 from Harold Ross, editor of the New Yorker, and opened a little barbecue shack called The Southern Pit on Beverly Boulevard. It didn’t take long for the locals to discover his legendary chili and Hobo Steak, and within a few years The Southern pit had metamorphosed into Chasen’s, an imposing two-story complex with a recreation room, a steam bath, and a vastly upscaled menu.

Chasen took good care of his regulars. When a pregnant Lana Turner had trouble squeezing into a booth, he had part of the table sawed off to accommodate her. He also had a special booth built for MGM casting director Billy Grady, who lorded over his harem of hopefuls there every night. Since Chasen’s was off-limits to autograph hounds and the press, the stars felt they could let their hair down, and the ensuing carnival atmosphere contrasted sharply with the restaurant’s conservative trappings. Rubber-legged Ray Bolger would dance around the dining room, James Cagney would sing Yiddish dialect songs, Jimmy Durante would perform some impromptu schtick, and Frank Morgan, The Wizard of Oz himself, would climb up on the bar and do a striptease. W. C. Fields and Gregory La Cava could usually be found in the back, playing ping pong and needling each other. The privileged were allowed to hang out there as long as they wanted. A poker game involving screenwriters Nunnally Johnson, Charles MacArthur, and Joel Sayre once went on until 4 AM. When a weary Chasen announced he was closing up for the night, the group tossed him out into the rain and locked the door.

Chasen’s habitue Orson Welles staged more than a few scenes here. In a notorious 1939 blowout, he hurled a flaming serving dish at soon-to-be-ex-associate John Houseman, missing his target but nearly burning the place down. On another night Welles was accosted here by Ward Bond, who was so sick of the hype surrounding Citizen Kane that he snipped off Welles’ tie with a pair of scissors. This time Welles was discreet enough to invite his nemesis into the parking lot.

When Chasen was drafted during WWII, he temporarily handed the reins over to his wife, Maude. She became a permanent fixture at the restaurant, running the place successfully long after Dave Chasen’s death in 1973. In the ’90s it seemed like the last bastion of Old Hollywood, bringing in such legends as Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Buddy Rogers, Fay Wray, Margaret O’Brien, Rod Steiger, and Ronald Reagan. (The former Prez has a soft spot for this place; it was here in 1952 that he proposed to actress Nancy Davis). When pressure from the inevitable developers forced Chasen’s to close on April 1, 1995, many of them turned out to bid the landmark a fond farewell.

Chateau Elycee – 5930 Franklin Ave. Opening in 1927 and built by Eleanor Ince, the widow of film pioneer Thomas Ince. Operated like a hotel with daily maid service and three meals were provided. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Ginger Rogers lived here while Mrs. Ince owned it. (61/81)

Chateau Marmont – 8221 Sunset Boulevard. Tel. OL. 6-1010. Opened 01FEB1929, then sold in 1931 for $750,000 to Albert E. Smith, the co-founder of Vitaphone who was very Hollywood conscious. (61/81)

Chee-Chee’s – The House of Ivy on Cahuenga was very popular in the 50s and 60s…There was also the Lafayette, which was just across the way from it. And then there was the Open Door, which was on the corner of Selma and Ivar…I also remember the Cherokee House in Hollywood…and Chee Chee’s on Figueroa…There were some others too like the Carousel, in Venice. That was one of the toughest….In the 30s and 40s it was considered quite chic to drop in at an after-hours “speakeasy” knows as Brothers, in the Central Ave area, near the Hotel Dunbar, where the city’s African-American nightlife flourished. (11/37)

Cherokee House – By the late 1950s, despite continuing hostility and harassment of the LAPD, a number of gay establishments had sprung up: the House of Ivy, the Cherokee House, Maxwell’s, The Black Cat, the “356” bar downtown. Most gay bars had existed outside Los Angeles city limits where county sheriffs were traditionally far more tolerant. (10/346)

The House of Ivy on Cahuenga was very popular in the 50s and 60s…There was also the Lafayette, which was just across the way from it. And then there was the Open Door, which was on the corner of Selma and Ivar…I also remember the Cherokee House in Hollywood…and Chee Chee’s on Figueroa…There were some others too like the Carousel, in Venice. That was one of the toughest….In the 30s and 40s it was considered quite chic to drop in at an after-hours “speakeasy” knows as Brothers, in the Central Ave area, near the Hotel Dunbar, where the city’s African-American nightlife flourished. (11/37)

Chi-Chi was in the old Sardi’s building at 6315 Hollywood Boulevard, from probably the mid-1940s. Later known as Eddie’s which featured Dixieland jazz.

Cherry Cove – 1715 N. Cahuenga Boulevard. Seafood restaurant.

Chili Bowl Restaurants, a chain of six restaurants (1930s) This photo was taken in 1937 of the restaurant located at 801 N. La Brea Avenue in the Miracle Mile.

Christie Hotel – 6724 Hollywood Boulevard (at the corner of McCadden, now owned by the Church of Scientology.) Built in 1922 to provide a luxurious inn for movie folk. Owned by the same Christies who owned the Nestor movie studios, it was the very first hotel in the community to offer rooms that each came with a private bath, an innovation that was a tremendous luxury at the time. (66/35)(108/61)

Used to be the Glidden Hotel. In 1945, became the Drake Hotel. Later still, it became theHollywood Inn.

The Chillis Club – 620 1/2 W. 6th St, Los Angeles. Phone TR 7946

Ching How Restaurant, 11386 Ventura Blvd, North Hollywood. Phone Sunset 2-8606. James Wong Howe, Hollywood’s Ace Cameraman. Jimmy serves you with the country’s most delicious Chinese food. Tropical and Chinese drinks. Five minutes from Hollywood.

Chit Chat Cocktail Lounge – 2619 West 6^th St, Downtown L.A. Phone Dunkirk 2-9432

Cinderella Roof at 6th St and Olive St, downtown LA.

Cinema Café – 5925 Santa Monica Blvd (1940s)

Circle Bar (possibly aka ‘The Nest’) – on Hollywood Boulevard, across the street from the Egyptian Theater. “At 12 o’clock, when everything had to be closed and emptied, everybody spilled out onto the street, that’s when we got the clue.” (66/193) Circle Bar – Gay bar on Hollywood Boulevard later bought by the owner of the Pickwick Bookstore. (66/260)

Circus Café – 6656 Hollywood Boulevard, below the Screen Actors Guild offices. Opened MID 30s (?) (40/133) Now a church. http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_39.htm

Cinnabar – opened in DEC’36 at the Hollywood Plaza Hotel on Vine St to compete with the Cine-Grill at the Hollywood Roosevelt. (40/150) Later became Clara Bow’s It Café (40/157)

Ciro’s – Opened 30JAN1940 by Billy Wilkerson (who also owned the Troc) on the site of the old Club Saville at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.1942 to 1957 owned by Herman Hoover. Closed 1957. Opened in 1983 as the Comedy Store. (2/34) (16/83) Ciro’s opened up a Pompeii Room featuring a Vesuvius cocktail. (22/366) George Dolenz, a rather dashing sort of chap, was a maitre d’ at Ciro’s night club some years ago when he caught the eye of Howard Hughes and made him a movie star in the swashbuckling type roles. Then when the recession hit Hollywood, Dolenz reverted to his former calling. “Even actors have to eat,” he said. He took over a well-known Hollywood restaurant, the Marquis, and could be seen nightly at the door greeting movie profiles and producers including, at times, even Howard Hughes. (22/374) Was raided when stripper Lili St Cyr’s routine became too lewd. http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htmCiro’s was run by Herman Hover. It was 10 minutes walk away from Garden of Allah. Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin, Sophie Tucker, Josephine Baker performed there. (1/81)Bugsy Seigel heir Mickey Cohen was shot in the shoulder right outside Ciro’s in 1949 by a rival gangster, who killed one of Cohen’s lieutenants and wounded the US attorney general’s agent who was guarding Cohen after he’d “flipped” to the feds’ side in a mob prosecution. (8/214)

‘Proxy patrons’ were sometimes presentable members of the Hover family who would hold tables for celebrities so that in case a star like Gable or Hepburn came in, there would be a table for them. (8/214)

In 1940, the intrepid Mr. Wilkerson opened another club, Ciro’s at 8433 Sunset, now the home of the Comedy Store. Much like the Trocadero, Ciro’s really put itself out for its film business clientele; publicists arranging photo op dates could count on a good table and just the right light. Like the other smart clubs on the Strip (and the speakeasies and gambling parlors before Them, Ciro’s attracted the local gangster crowd, star gangsters like Tony Cornero, who owned the gambling ships anchored off of Santa Monica beach, Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. Ciro’s has had the longest run of any of the old clubs; its original life plus another 20 or more years as the Comedy Store. It’s not all laughs at the Store, though. According to a number of people who worked at the Store in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, parts of the building are home to some rather unusual guys. Employees at the club have reported seeing a group of ghosts in the backstage areas. These ghosts are all men, dressed in the height of 1940’s high new-money style: wide lapels, loud ties, French-cuffed shirts and shiny wingtips. They hover in the back rooms in the early hours of the morning, after the club has closed. There are rumors that a local ‘banger, allegedly Mickey Cohen, arranged a hit on some rivals after- hours at Ciro’s. If this is true, then the shades of ‘bangers past are still very much at home. http://www.sunsetstrip.com/history/3.html See CirosText1 and CirosText2

Ciro’s followed in 1940, where the old Club Seville had been located earlier. (47/328)

“We stay less than half an hour. I wonder why we can in the first place. I learn later that Ciro’s after a preview is de rigeur.” (52/308)

See also 61/69

63/31 – Janis Paige had Sammy Davis Jnr as her opening act…And there was always one of the Ciro’s girls. Barbara Eden was one… It’s where Johnny Weissmuller tipped a table filled with food onto Lupe Velez…When Daryl F. Zanuck gave a party for his daughter at Ciro’s the production chief of 20th Century Fox swung over the heads of 400 guests on a trapeze. Sonja Henie was a regular. So was Howard Hughes…Hover always insisted that gentlemen wear coats and ties.

63/102 – In 1951 Lili St Cyr was arrested for lewdness during her engagement at Ciro’s. Jerry Geisler charged her $2000 to turn the charges into a joke in the courtroom.

In the 1940’s & 1950’s, things were a little different at the beginning of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. During that time, there was no hotter nightclub on the planet than Hollywood’s Ciro‘s. Owned and operated by Billy Wilkenson, It was the party destination for the Hollywood elite (Bogie & Bacall, George Raft & Betty Grable, you name it…). The luxurious nightclub provided the finest showgirls of the era with entertainment to match. The only problem for Wilkenson was to be able to sustain that high level of entertainment nightly for the wealthy celebrities that patronized the club. When the jungle-themed Mocambo opened its highly publicized zebra-striped doors, right across the street, Ciro’s customers were defecting in droves to the newest, trendy night spot.

Wilkenson conceded Ciro‘s #1 position to the jungle-themed upstart, and It was then that Herman Hoover took over management of the club (1942). Hoover would retain the position until Ciro’s closed its doors, ‘for good’, in 1959. Hoover returned the fading club to its previous glory, and it remained the place to see, as well as the place to be seen. for over a decade. The club would remain at that esteemed level, establishing itself as the standard for what a truly “class” establishment should be, one that Entrepreneurs would attempt to emulate in New York City, Las Vegas, and throughout the rest of the ‘civilized’ world.

Renowned as Hollywood’s finest nightclub, Ciro’s would spawn the careers of some of the biggest names in Hollywood Entertainment. This highly coveted reputation was really initiated around 1950, when an Italian crooner took the Ciro’s stage for the first time, alongside a skinny Jewish comedian, and the Pair would go on to surpass the fame of America’s greatest comedy duo, Laurel & Hardy.

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis would remain America’s top comedy act, starring in a succession of hit movies, Radio & TV shows, & live performances.

In 1951, an opening act for Janis Page -the Will Mastin Trio- tore the house down thanks, in large part, to the presence of arguably the most versatile entertainer in history, Sammy Davis, Jr. It was also the site of Sammy’s return to the stage following the car accident in which he lost his right eye. Even when giants of our culture weren’t being created on their stage, Ciro’s hosted a profusion of top entertainers

-Joe E. Lewis, Andy Williams, Xavier Cugat, Nat King Cole and on and on.

As Las Vegas grew, Sunset suffered. By the mid 50s, The glitzy lounges, fine restaurants, and nite clubs along Sunset had closed their doors for good. Because Ciro’s had been the Sunset Strip’s Landmark club, Herman Hoover struggled to stay afloat to the end. That end came when the IRS caught up with him, demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars which he owed in unpaid taxes. Ciro’s closed its doors in 1957. Hoover filed for bankruptcy in 1959, and the club at 8433 Sunset Blvd. was sold at public auction for $350,000. The sale represented the end of an era in Los Angeles. Though Sunset Boulevard remained a vital commercial artery, it would never regain the glamorous reputation it enjoyed in its glory years.

http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says Ads announcing this latest addition to the club scene proclaimed, “Everybody that’s ANYBODY wll be at Ciro’s,” and you can bet that everybody in Hollywood WAS there for the Grand Opening on January 30, 1940. A Wilkerson establishment spelled publicity with a capital P, and Ciro’s was a virtual fishbowl for Tinseltown’s finest during the war years. The club went on to even greater glory after it was acquired by a man named Herman Hover, who began spending megabucks to lure the hottest acts onto its stage. Among those who performed here were Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Marlene Dietrich, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Martin and Lewis, Edith Piaf, and Mae West with her musclemen. Some of the acts were TOO hot: stripper Lili St. Cyr’s routine nearly caused a riot and was shut down for lewdness.

Such incidents were par for the course at Ciro’s; there was something about the place that just made people want to misbehave. One salacious story had a loaded Paulette Goddard crawling under a table to express her affection for director Anatole Litvak; then there was the time that Darryl Zanuck hrew a party at Ciro’s with a circus theme. After one belt too many, the aging Fox mogul stripped down to the waist and attempted to chin himself from a trapeze that was part of the stage show. Fights broke out here so often that Hover facetiously considered replacing the dance floor with a boxing ring, and he finally had to impose a three-brawl-per-customer limit. Violators were permanently “eighty-sixed.”

On a loftier note, this was where Sammy Davis, Jr. staged his comeback after his near-fatal 1954 auto accident. Producer George Schlatter described the scene: “After Sammy came back from his eye injury, the whole town came out to see his first gig. Cooper was there. Gable and Bogart were there. Frank and Dean were playing cards at the stageside.” Confounding rumors that his career was finished, Davis danced and sang for two hours before grabbing — and playing — every instrument in the band for an encore. The star-studded audience gave him a half-hour standing ovation.

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Ciro’s, 8444 Sunset Boulevard. Dinner 7pm to 10pm; couvert charge. Orchestra. Dancing to 2am. A favorite spot with movie folks. Patrons are requested to dress formally on Saturday nights. Somewhat expensive.”

Ciro’s closed in 1957.

Clifton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria – Broadway, downtown LA. Opened 1931.
For more information, see: Spotlight on…Clifton’s Cafeteria

(Paul Mirabel’s) Club Brazil – 911 N. Broadway, downtown L.A.

The Club Car – At Wilshire Blvd and Vermont. “24 hour service at extremely popular prices” – “Cocktails at the Autograph Bar” – “Alice Fare and “Sugie” invite you”

The Cloisters (Club?) – formerly the Mocambo which was located at 8588 Sunset Blvd.

Club Cercle – La Cienega Blvd, south of Wilshire

(New) Club Alabam – Corner of 42^nd Street and Central Ave, Los Angeles. “Finest Harlem Club in America. 2 shows nightly.”

New Club Alabam – Corner of 42nd Street and Central Ave, Los Angeles

Club Continental – Sonora Ave, Glendale, Phone Kenwd-1886. Opened in 1935. Became one of the biggest and most successful (illegal gambling) casinos in the Los Angeles area during the pre-Vegas era under the guidance of (Mr.) Nola Hahn, who ran Billy Wilkerson’s gambling operations, and who later decamped to a tiny town in Nevada called Las Vegas. During WWII, it served as officers’ barracks and the building was demolished in 1966.

Club Envoy – 9103 Sunset Boulevard. Opened Dec. 21, 1935. Later known as Maxine’s from the very late 1950s.

Club Flamingo – 1027 N. La Brea. Drag club operated in the 1940s. http://www.queermusicheritage.us/fem-flamingo.html

Club Internationale – 8711 Sunset Boulevard, late 1930s/early 1940s. Run by “Tess the International Mess” but owned by her husband, Elmer Wheeler, a WWI vet. The Internationale lost its liquor license in 1942 after the Navy made it and another club on the Strip, Chez Boheme—where Rae Bourbon was performing his cross dressing show nightly—off limits. Six months after his club lost its license, Elmer died. In a previous incarnation, this place was called Mamma Louise’s and was owned by Phil Selznick.

Club Largo on Sunset Boulevard

Club LaRue – Club LaRue was on Highway 91 in Las Vegas. Opened by Billy Wilkerson in the summer 1950 and was closed by October. In 1952 was transformed by Wayne McAllister into the Sands Hotel.

Club Marcel – 8730 Sunset Blvd. Opened some time in the early 1940s. A high-end club that attracted an upscale clientele. Had previously been Jane Jones’ Little Club, a popular lesbian hangout.

Club Nite Life, at 38th Street and Western Ave, Los Angeles

Club Morocco, 1551 N. Vine St, Hollywood. Phone HO-0791

Club Saville – http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says: Few places on The Strip can boast of a more colorful past. During the Depression this was known as the Clover Club, a veritable smorgasbord of illegal gambling and drinking; high stakes addicts like David O. Selznick and Harry Cohn lost their shirts here before the vice squad crashed the party in 1938.

The Clover’s successor, the Club Seville, fared even worse. It featured a unique glass dance floor laid over a pool filled with live carp, but women objected to having fish eyes peering up their skirts, and everyone was afraid the floor would shatter. Within a year the Seville was out of business. The enterprising Billy Wilkerson took over the building, giving it a lavish makeover and a name that would soon be world famous: Ciro’s.

(Eddie Nealis’s) Clover Club – 8477 Sunset Boulevard where La Cienega ends at Sunset. – directly across the street from the Troc. Opened 14OCT1937 http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm One of the more infamous gambling joints in Hollywood (late 30s) (39/30) (40/81) The club thrived until the 1938 crack down on gambling. (39/68)

http://www.wehostar.com/2009/01/06/clover-club/ says that it opened in 1931: Many of the toniest nightclubs on the Strip offered high-stakes poker and even craps and roulette wheels in their VIP rooms, but the Clover Club was a bona fide casino that operated illegally in plain sight starting in 1931. Guy McAfee, a former cop, who is credited with coining the names Sunset Strip and, later, Las Vegas Strip. He designed the Clover Club to withstand trouble from both the law and the underworld. It was situated at the end of a long driveway, which gave the staff extra time to hide illegal activities when raiding parties arrived……… A wave of reform swept the city in 1938, and McAfee moved to Las Vegas where operated a series of casinos quite legally. The Clover remained open, presumably under new management, until at least 1944. Afterwards it became the Army and Navy Officers Club, which burned to the ground on Jan. 28, 1952. Los Angeles Times, Jan. 29, 1952: Old Clover Club Building, Strip Landmark, Burns

http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says: Few places on The Strip can boast of a more colorful past. During the Depression this was known as the Clover Club, a veritable smorgasbord of illegal gambling and drinking; high stakes addicts like David O. Selznick and Harry Cohn lost their shirts here before the vice squad crashed the party in 1938.

Starting in the mid 1930s and operating in the county territory of the sparsely developed Sunset Strip, the Clover Club was their height of exclusivity. Small and blood red, the dry-martini-and-diamond operation was unlike other Hollywood establishments, photographers were never allowed past the armed bouncers. Beyond the celebrity-packed supper club and dance floor, and behind the crimson-lacquered doors, secret panels, and one-way mirrors, was the heart of the operation: the illegal casino. At the crowded backroom gaming tables, gambling-addicted movie tycoons like David O. Selznick, and B.p. Schulberg lost immense fortunes nightly. (115/p47)

The “Bacon Club” were the gambling rooms secreted within the Clover Club premises

By February 1930 it was called the Sphinx Club.
As of March 1933 it was operating as Club Sokoloeff.
In August 1933, it was the Hahn Club according to a permit to make some alterations to the building, Nola Hahn being another gambler associated with 8477. Soon after it adopted the name by which this address is most famously associated: the Clover Club.
In January 1945 the Clover Club’s lease, stock & liquor license were sold by alleged owner Ivan Staufer to restaurateurs Nathan Sherry and Paul Kalmanoviz. On April 3, 1945, they opened 8477 Sunset as Jerry’s Joynt Hollywood but by summer had reverted to the famous Clover Club name once again.
As of March 1947, the new Hollywood Friars Club had taken it over for their first clubhouse. It was operating as the (non-military) Army & Navy Officer’s Club when it burned down, January 28, 1952.

In 1943 Sherry and Kalmanoviz owned an interest in the members-only Swing Club at 1710 N. Las Palmas. As of late 1944, their café interests included the Jerry’s Joynt Wilshire restaurant at 6594 San Vicente near Wilshire Blvd., The Jade Café at 6617 Hollywood Blvd, and the Radio Room at 1539 N. Vine. In 1945 Sherry also bought the popular Hollywood restaurant Lucey’s at 5444 Melrose Ave. and in 1948-49 was co-owner of his namesake Sherry’s at 9039 Sunset Blvd.

Newspaper advertisement for the Clover Club, Sunset Blvd

Club 52 – 1652 Cherokee Avenue. Phone Hillside-9584.

Club Morocco – 1551 Vine Street. Phone HO-0791

Club New Yorker – attached to the Christie Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard (cnr McCadden Place.) Formerly the Greenwich Village Café) (40/62) Actor Jean Malin opened his Club New Yorker on the former site of the Greenwich Village Café. The club was situated in a basement of a building adjacent to the Christie Hotel, with access from the street by a steep staircase. Malin had come from New York where he’s gained a very popular following as an MC. Marlene Dietrich and her husband Joe Seiber dined here, and Gloria Swanson was a frequent visitor. It closed in May 1933 following Malin’s untimely death at the age of 25.

Club Seville – Its location was later Ciro’s. (47/328)

Cock’n Bull – 9170 Sunset Boulevard. Opened 1937, closed 1987. A small cozy English pub. In the 1940s a cocktail invented there called the Moscow Mule became their signature: “The Drink with the Velvet Kick.” (Vodka, ginger beer and lime juice.) Errol Flynn, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis and Somerset Maugham would sit for hours at the bar which was always populated with an assortment of Hollywood agents and deal makers. A big American buffet was also an attraction, also included roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and Welshman’s Rabbit. (49/45)

The Cockpit – Cocktail lounge in the courtyard of the Grand Central Air Terminal. 1310 Air Way, Glendale

CoCo Tree Café – 1932 to 1940. Located in the Laemmle Building at Hollywood & Vine St. In 1940 restaurateur Sidney Hoedemaker of the Pig ‘n’ Whistle – Melody Lane chain leased the northwest corner Hollywood and Vine transformed it into a Melody Lane restaurantIn 1969, Sidney Hoedemaker passed away, and the Laemmle building was then leased to Howard Johnson’s which it remained to 1986.

1932 to 1940 – CoCo Tree Café
1940 to 1955 – Melody Lane
1955 to 1969 – Hody’s
1970 to 1985 – Howard Johnson’s
1987 to circa 1988 – The Brown Derby
1990 to circa 1992 – Premieres of Hollywood

inside coco tree cafe corner hollywood and vine

Cocoanut Grove – opened 21APR1921. The Ambassador Hotel’s nightclub – The Cocoanut Grove – begins its ascendancy to fame when the club’s host – Johnny Manos – heard from his friend, Valentino, that a number of the fake palm trees used in The Sheik were available for under $500. They were brought in and used until a more lavish scheme of Moorish design could be instituted. The first floorshow wasn’t introduced until a year after the opening.Tuesday nights were the big nights at Cocoanut Grove and the usual evening for special events like Charleston dance contests or Greenwich Village night (when everyone came dressed as an artist, writer or poet. (6/184) in the 1930s and 1940s big band radio performances with such greats as Freddy “Mr. Cocoanut Grove”

Martin, Merv Griffin, Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, Rudy Vallee were broadcast from there.According to 40/145, a full meal there in 1936 cost $14.50 for two, which included cover, appetizer, soup, filet mignon, wine, tax and tip. And access to the dancefloor.The Oscars were presented 6 times between 1930 and 1936 (which was the last time a banquet was held for the ceremony. (16/85) (40/37, 147)Adjacent to the Grove was The Ambassador Lounge and the Fiesta Room, decorated in gold and cerulean (deep sky blue), its entrance surmounted by a statue of Bacchus.

http://www.theambassadorhotel.com/ All the big acts played there, appearing among the fake palms trees with fake monkeys hanging from them. (47/328)Bing Crosby had his first big success crooning with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra. (late 20s? Early 1930s?)

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Dinner from 7pm.; couvert charge. Orchestra dancing. Floor show 11pm. Bar. Very popular; consistently good entertainment.

Menu: http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/fullsize/f/rb04382-01.jpg

Coffee Dan’s – on or near cnr Hollywood & Vine that catered exclusively to homosexuals, especially underage gays who lacked the proper ID to get into bars. A similar place was the Marlin Inn. (60/149) Its neon sign is generally visible in all of the great night pictures of Vine street in the 40s.

Wilshire Blvd at Camden
Hollywood Boulevard at Highland
Vine St at Sunset
Broadway at Fifth (downtown)
Eighth at Hill (downtown)

Colby’s SOS Café – 3725 Sunset Boulevard, Phone OLympia 9003

Colony Club – Western Ave at 149^th Street in what is now Gardena. Telephone Menlo 4-6693

There also seems to have been a Colony Club in Culver City – an in-spot in the early 30s where behind-the-door gambling was extremely popular. (28/74) (40/78, 82) eventually left (forced out of) Culver City and moved to a 26 room mansion on Alta Loma just south of the Strip. (40/92)

Continental Café – 7823 Santa Monica Boulevard in the 1940s and 50s. Café owned by Mickey Cohen where Johnny Stompanato worked for a while. In May 1951, Cohen sold it to help pay off debts. (115/p159 & p166)

Coty Paris Salon, 3150 Wilshire (late 1930s)

Coulter’s Deptartment Store – 5600 Wilshire Boulevard. Built in 1938

Cottage Dance – 215½ Street, Los Angeles, Dancing nightly, from 8pm to 2am. “We furnish the partners. Girls galore at Cottage Dance.”

(Frank Sebastian’s) Cotton Club – cnr National and Washington, Culver City. Opened 1926, (one source said July 1, another source said February. One of several venues run by Frank Sebastian. No relation to, but inspired by, the one in Harlem. Was previously Moonlight Gardens and Mandarin Gardens and The Green Mill. Build in 1923 as one of the Southland’s largest entertainment emporium then in 1926 became the Cotton Club and L.A.’s premier Prohibition nightspot. Also, it was the first to feature exclusively “colored” orchestras. And if you lasted all night, he served an eggs-and-ham breakfast. Later it became the Casa Manana (which became a major dance venue after OCT38’s burning down of the Palomar) and later Meadowbrook Gardens. Burned to the ground in 1948. (40/24) Frank Sebastian also owned the successful Sebastian’s Café on Windward Ave, Venice. The popular cafe, sometimes referred to as “Venice Cafe” and/or “Frank Sebastian’s Venice Cafe” was located on Winward Ave., Venice, and specialized in vaudeville and jazz. By 1926, Sebastian would open the Frank Sebastian’s Cotton Club in Culver City and close the Venice club. (More photos)

Creole chorines danced to Louis Armstrong’s band at Frank Sebastian’s Cotton Club, one of the few places that allowed black entertainers to perform, though it enforced the whites-only admission policy common at the time. Fatty Arbuckle’s Plantation Club, just down the road, invited clubgoers to share the dance floor with their favorite stars at special evenings orchestrated by a host movie studio, a tactic copied by other Los Angeles-area clubs. (from http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/21/entertainment/ca-125nightlife21)

Cooper’s Doughnuts – downtown coffee shop on a seedy stretch of Main St between two of L.A.’s gay bars, the Waldorf and Harold’s. (60/1)

Cork Room – lesbian venue (60/89 & 97)

Crescendo – Sunset Strip 1950s nightclub (17/95) – The Crescendo Club, also on the Sunset Strip was one of the more popular nightclubs at the time, along with Ciro’s and the Mocambo. (8/223) The Mocambo was adjacent to the Crescendo. (8/226)

Crescendo Club, Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles

The Crillon restaurant – 8588 Sunset Blvd, next to Mocambo. Phone CR1-6171 (circa 1950s)

(Fox) Criterion Theater – 642 S. Grand Avenue, downtown Los Angeles. 1800-seat theater opened as the Kinema in 1917 and was later renamed the Criterion (and still later, the Fox Criterion). Located at 7th and Grand — about four blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Broadway. It was razed in 1941 and replaced by an office building. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1967/

The Crown Jewel, on South Hill Street, was “discreet and elegant”, according to Fred Frisbie, an early gay activist who lives in Hollywood at the time. A driver’s license was needed to enter, “There was a code of conduct in such bars that normally prohibited any same-sex touching,” Frisbie remembered, “making it difficult at times to tell a gay bar from a straight one.” (10/147) The Crown Jewel – downtown gay bar owned by Harry Weiss, the proprietor of two other gay bars and a lawyer since 1941. (60/84)

Crossroads of the World – 6671 Sunset Boulevard, east of Las Palmas Ave. Opened 29OCT1936 featuring Italian, Turkish, French, Moorish and Spanish architecture. (2/2) (14/178) (61/31) (66/311) http://laist.com/2009/01/10/laistory_cross_roads_of_the_world.php

Crush Bar – 1743 N. Cahenga, just north of Hollywood Boulevard located at one of the better Fred Harvey Restaurants. (61/72)

Culver City Recreation – 9524 W. Washington Boulevard, Culver City, Phone – Texas 0-3220 & Vermont 8-2158. “Bowling and Billiards, Cocktails, coffee shop, Free parking”

Currie’s Ice Cream Parlor– located on the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Ave, the Curries store was one of a California chain. This Curries was in a perfect location, across the street from Hollywood High School. The signature roof billboard advertised “Mile High Cones,” only five cents. (108/127) The one in Beverly Hills opened around 1936. (p24/117)

Cyrano – Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Plaza. “Dinner, late supper, cocktails”

Dave’s Blue Room – Sunset Strip upscale Hollywood restaurant. (115/p112)

Dave’s (diner) – 1358 N. Western Ave, Hollywood

DeMille Studio – in Culver City, 5 or 6 blocks from where MGM stood. (75/50)

Dennison’s Market, 426 Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, circa 1920s

Denels Music Shop 6634 Hollywood Blvd.

Desilu Cahuenga Studios – 1035 Cahuenga Boulevard. Built in 1946 as the Equity Studios, then became Motion Picture Center Studios rental lot in 1947. Stanley Kramer make it his base in 1949 for ‘Home Of The Brave’ with Kirk Douglas and part of ‘High Noon’ in 1952. Desilu started leasing space on the lot in 1953, using it for some early episodes of ‘I Love Lucy’, ‘Our Miss Brooks’, and the Danny Thomas and Jack Benny shows. Desilu bought control of the studios in 1955 and the remaining 49% in 1957, shooting ‘The Honeymooners’, ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’, ‘Make Room For Daddy’, and ‘The Real McCoys’ on the lot and renaming it the Desilu Cahuenga Studios. When Desilu sold out to Paramount, the studio went along as part of the deal… (67/67)

Desmond’s – Hat shop in Beverly Hills (65/308). 616 S. Broadway (was on Spring St., then Main St, then Broadway. Started out as a men’s hat store then grew to become a purveyor of finer men’s clothing. http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor/socal7.html

Dincara Stock Yards – Casino run by Mickey Cohen on a farm located at 806 S Mariposa St, Burbank in the late 1940s/early 1950s.

Dino’s Lodge – 8524 Sunset Boulevard – From 1958 to 1964, Dino’s Lodge, then owned by Dean Martin, was used as a location for the tv series 77 Sunset Strip. Martin opened the restaurant around the time of his split with Jerry Lewis, and it became a choice watering hole for Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford. The handsome Tudor-style building was razed in 1989. http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml

At different times, 8524 Sunset has been:

Dino’s Lodge
Gypsy Camp Hungarian restaurant
Charochka
Tennant Auction Rooms
Asia Bazaar
Club Bayou
22 Club
New Club Trocadero
Alpine Lodge

8524 Sunset Blvd

Dinty Moore’s – 214-16 West 8^th Street, Downtown L.A., 1920s

Dolores’ Drive-In – cnr Sunset & La Brea. (66/226) “My sister’s hangout, ’cause it’s much more interesting (and she’s only 4 1/2 years my senior.) Her crowd liked Delores’ Drive-in, affectionately known as “DL’s”, one of those classic drive-ins of the fifties, where you pulled up to the spot with a mike by the window, and the carhop brought your food on a tray which attached to the partially rolled-down window. They cruised The Strip (Sunset, of course) on weekends, had burgers and fries at Tiny Naylor’s (another drive-in) and it was all terribly American Graffiti-ish.” http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?t=23157Vanity Fair, March 2009 put it at the corner of Wilshire and La Cienega

On the northeast corner of Wilshire at Le Doux Rd. was the ever-famous Dolores’ Drive-In. This place was well known way before I was born. The car hop service was legendary. I remember the building being a semi-circle, with copper walls and a copper turret in the center of the circle. We had many favorite items at D.L.’s, such as the Cherry Lime Rickey drink, along with the Jumbo Jim hamburger with extra “Z” sauce, Suzie-Q fries and their famous Frieda Schroeder cake with hot fudge sauce. https://www.laconservancy.org/a-culinary-tour-of-wilshire/

Dolphin’s of Hollywood – the neighborhood around-the-clock record store owned by Big John Dolphin, served as a center of social and musical light for the Central Ave community. (82/55)

Don the Beachcomber– 1727 North McCadden Place, Hollywood in 1933 after the repeal of Prohibition. Owner Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt’s original location was in a Hollywood hotel but he and his girlfriend Cora Irene Sund got the money together to move it to McCadden in 1937. They divorced in 1940 but continued to work together until they sold it in 1958 to Joe Drown owner of the Bel-Air Hotel. The original Don’s was demolished in 1987Invented the Mai Tai and the Zombie.http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm fhttp://www.answers.com/topic/don-the-beachcomber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_the_BeachcomberSee also 40/111, and 41/31All through the 1930s and ’40s, Sunset Strip was Ground Zero for night time excitement. The Strip, a 1.5 mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Doheny Drive, came to symbolize the Glamour and Glitz of Hollywood. The Clubs usually had a ‘tropical’ theme; among which were the ‘Zamboanga South Seas Club’ (3828 W. Slauson), ‘Don’s Beachcomber’, and Don Dickerman’s ‘The Pirates Den’. These places were populated by press agents, newspaper and magazine reporters, Power brokers, Stars and Starlets, and those who got a vicarious thrill by associating with the famous. http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm

Hollywood’s first tropical restaurant…came complete with artificial rainstorms designed to romantically pitter patter down on the corrugated iron roof. … from the outside the place was surrounded in a forest of bamboo, save for a small sign that was intentionally made difficult to read – the underlying message being that if you didn’t know where it was, you didn’t belong. Small dining rooms, which bore names like “The Black Hole of Calcutta”, and “The Cannibal Room” were decorated with palm trees, bananas, coconuts, sea shells, shields, shark’s jaws, headdresses and carved wooden gods.

At one point the restaurant included a Chinese grocery store, run shop, gift shop, and lei shop. The island-shaped dining tables were made of varnished wood, and more than a few glamorous creatures received proposals of one sort or another in the provocative, candle-illuminated rooms. Certainly helping things along were Don’s intoxicating rum drinks: Missionary’s Downfall, Vicious Virgin, Cobra’s Fang and the notorious Zombie. The food was largely Chinese oriented. (49/41)

Special ivory chopsticks with names hand etched on them were made for special customers. (p23/120)

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Beachcomber Cafe, 1727 N. McCadden Pl. Prices are slightly stiff. Specializes in Oriental food and drinks. Frequented by the many lesser Hollywood actors.”

Don Dickerman’s The Pirate Den – http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm

Don Lee Mutual Broadcasting Building, 1313 North Vine Street, Hollywood. An 118,000 square-foot building that was officially dedicated on August 18, 1948 as a state-of-the-art broadcast facility for radio and television. It was the culmination of a broadcasting dynasty begun by Don Lee, who held the franchises for California and Nevada Cadillac dealerships, fostered Los Angeles radio, and was a leading pioneer of television on the West Coast. For a more detail history of the building, see http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/newsarchive/summer01/Lee.html

mutual don lee ticket

The Downbeat – Central Ave- jazz bar, 3 doors past the Dunbar Hotel. (82/55)

Dreamland Roller Skating Rink – Corner Main St and 12^th Street

Dresden Room – 1760 North Vermont Avenue. Phone: NOrmandy 4-5170. http://blackdahlia1946.blogspot.com/2007/01/hollywood-19591963_22.html

Was the Pucci Café before that, which opened in 1937 and in the 1950s became the Dresden Room. http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_5.htm

Drucker’s Barber Shop founded by Harry Drucker in 1936, when Billy Wilkerson urged Drucker to move from NY to LA. Original location on Beverly Drive, and became known for creating the “invisible hair cut.” Drucker’s client list were Tyrone Power, Danny Kaye, Spencer Tracy, Orson Welles, George Raft, Lew Wasserman, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Bugsy Siegel, and Ronald Reagan. In 1959, moved to 9740 Wilshire Boulevard at Linden Dr, Beverly Hills. William Gornik owned the legendary barbershop, Rothchild’s, taking over in the late 1970’s. Rothchild’s clients were equally as impressive, from Danny Thomas, Tony Curtis, Peter Lawford, and Mickey Cohen. They combined the two shops in 1989 ending a long term rivalry to start Gornik and Drucker. In 2009, the store moved into the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel.

Dublin’s Irish Pub – 8240 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip

Dublin’s Irish Pub – 8240 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip

Duke’s, 10369 Santa Monica Blvd, Century City

The Dunbar Hotel – By the MID-1940s, Central Ave had become the jazz thoroughfare of the West…On Central itself there were dozens of legit nightclubs, including the Brown Bomber, Bird in the Basket, and the lounge at the Dunbar Hotel where pianist/singer Nellie Lutcher held court. And there were the so-called breakfast clubs – after-hour places where you brought your own booze and danced past sunrise. (82/54) —see also “Central Avenue”

Dyas-Carlton Café, northwest corner of Wilshire and La Brea. “Built in 1925, the Dyas-Carlton Cafe was located on the northwest corner of Wilshire and La Brea. Designed in a Spanish architectural style by architects and builders Gable and Wyant, the restaurant seated 250 people.” https://miraclemilela.com/the-miracle-mile/historical-photos/dyas-cafe/
Later became the McDonnell’s Wilshire Café.

Hollywood Places

HOLLYWOOD PLACES – A to D

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Nightclubs customarily reaped their profits in the last wee hours of the morning, midnight to last call at 2am. (8/152)

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Hollywood Places

~~ HOLLYWOOD PLACES – A to D ~~

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Nightclubs customarily reaped their profits in the last wee hours of the morning, midnight to last call at 2am. (8/152)

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HOLLYWOOD PLACES – A to D