Golden-Era Hollywood Landmarks Still Exist
Famous Spots Where Film Legends Ate, Slept, and Made Deals
Jul 15, 2009
The Polo Lounge in The Beverly Hills Hotel - iconic watering hole and deal making spot for most of the '70's and '80's. A fixture for the Old Guard in Hollywood for decades. The number of stars who have passed through the restaurant door probably rivals and studio in town.
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - the site for the first Academy Awards. Rumored to be haunted (!) by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe who lived in Suite 1200 for months. The second level of the hotel has a fabulous walkway with photos of Hollywood in the twenties and thirties.
Mann's Chinese Theatre - Built in 1927, this cinema landmark may be the most celebrated movie theater in the world. The famous parade of hand and foot prints in front of the building reads like a who's who of Hollywood history. Continue down the sidewalk and across the street to view the legendary Stars on the Walk of Fame.
The Holy Trinity of Eternal Rest - (Forest Lawn, Hollywood Forever, and Westwood Memorial Park) - Cemetery gazing may not be for everyone but a here will be the only opportunity in your life that you have to get that close to Errol Flynn or Marilyn Monroe.
Studio Tours - Paramount Studios prides themselves as being the only operating movie studio left in Hollywood. Tours generally last one to two hours and are reasonably priced. Some studio tours were discontinued after 9/11 and never reinstated.
Knickerbocker Hotel - built in 1923, the exterior has retained the original Spanish Colonial facade but the interior was renovated in the '70 to transform the hotel into senior apartments. Everyone from Valentino to Elvis stayed at the Knickerbocker. Various films including The Graduate have filmed on location over the years. Located at 1414 Ivar Avenue in Los Angeles.
Famous Eateries
Two famous restaurants are still standing that stars once frequented.
Musso & Frank Grill - the restaurant has been open for over ninety years and has earned bragging rights as the oldest continuos operating restaurant in Hollywood. During the studio era, the famous clientele included Greta Garbo, Mary Pickford, Bette Davis, and Claudette Colbert. A back room was once a writer's haven where literary notables including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe liked to hang.
Canter's Deli - fabulous food and fabulous prices. Real deli that hasbeen enjoyed by the likes Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier, Mel Brooks, and Marilyn Monroe. Located on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles many stars enjoyed dropping after a hard day of filming at the studios. Opened in 1931.
Star Tours - Maps are available everywhere to walk, bus, or drive it yourself. See the homes where the famous lived (past tense because most of the maps show homes where stars once lived). Perhaps the most famous address is 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood. This home is so important to Hollywood legend that a book has been written about the abode. It has the distinction of being the only home that Marilyn Monroe owned and the place where she died. There is a wall around the house (which can be peeked over but it is not recommended because you can technically be arrested for trespassing or contacting the residents).
The Missing Icon
The one landmark that you cannot visit (and it is a lowdown, dirty shame) is a museum that houses famous props, costumes, sets, and photos from Hollywood's bygone era. The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. is home to many famous cinema items such as the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Archiving famous Hollywood items in the nation's capital makes as much sense as laying Marilyn Monroe to rest in New York City. She lived there, she studied acting there, and she had great friends there but in the end, Hollywood belongs to Hollywood.
