Tag Archives: Nightclubs
Aerial shot of Ciro’s nightclub on a deserted Sunset Strip at night, West Hollywood, July 19, 1957
In this aerial shot of the 8400 block of the Sunset Strip, the building in the center isn’t of any great consequence. It’s the building behind it that was one of the most famous nightclubs in Los Angeles: Ciro’s, at … Continue reading
Looking north from 3rd Street toward Vermont Ave and the neon signs for the Belmont Theater and the Rainbow Gardens ballroom, Los Angeles, 1931
In this nighttime panoramic shot, we’re Looking north from 3rd Street toward Vermont Ave. The two main hotspots along Vermont was the Fox Belmont Theatre (opened 1926) and the huge Rainbow Gardens ballroom. The Rainbow Gardens opened in 1925 as … Continue reading
Color photo of the Ambassador Hotel advertising the Cocoanut Grove’s house bandleader, Freddy Martin, Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, circa 1950s
Over the decades of its lifetime, the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd had many bands and many singers play the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub, but for the longest time its house band was led by Freddy Martin. His career started … Continue reading
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Tagged Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Color photo, Hotels, Nightclubs, Wilshire Blvd
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The Players Club and Chateau Marmont, Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, circa 1940s
Without a motorcar to help us, it’s hard to pinpoint when this photo of The Players Club and Chateau Marmont on the Sunset Strip was taken. Movie director, Preston Sturges, opened the nightclub in 1940, so I’m guessing it’s not … Continue reading
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Tagged Chateau Marmont, Hotels, Nightclubs, Restaurants, Sunset Blvd
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A crowded dance floor at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Ambassador Hotel, Wilshire Blvd , Los Angeles, 1949
I don’t know what was going on at the Cocoanut Grove this night in 1949, but oh boy, look at that dance floor—it’s packed. Considering those palm trees had been standing there since the place opened in 1923 (having been … Continue reading
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Tagged Ambassador Hotel, Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Hotels, Nightclubs
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Club Seville, 8433 Sunset Blvd, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, 1938
Don’t let the rather innocuous looking building that housed the Club Seville on the Sunset Strip fool you. It started out life as the Clover Club, where high-stakes gamblers like David O. Selznick and Harry Cohn lost their shirts before … Continue reading
Fatty Arbuckle’s Plantation Club, 10920 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, circa 1928
Poor ol’ Fatty Arbuckle. In the early 1920s, a series of highly publicized rape trials in which he was found innocent irreparably damaged his reputation and he was held up but the more conservative elements as an example of the … Continue reading
Nat King Cole plays Ciro’s nightclub, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, 1945
The Hollywood Reporter’s Billy Wilkerson opening Ciro’s nightclub in January 1940 heralded the era of the great Hollywood nightclubs (Mocambo opened a year later.) At one point Ciro’s had a Pompeii Room featuring a Vesuvius cocktail. Almost immediately, the place … Continue reading
Popular Hollywood nightspot, Al Levy’s Tavern at 1627 North Vine Street, circa 1940
One of the places around Hollywood that pops up often in the course of the research I do for my novels is Al Levy’s Tavern at 1627 North Vine St, Hollywood, opposite the Brown Derby. Al got his start with … Continue reading
I don’t normally post photos of LA outside the golden era (1927 to 1959) but this was so colorful that I couldn’t resist. Earl Carroll’s theater opened on 6230 Sunset Blvd on December 25, 1938. In 1953 it became the … Continue reading