Ghosts of Hollywood: In Search of Old Tinseltown

Fast-food chains, Scientology centers, Michael Jackson facsimiles: today’s Hollywood is a far cry from the Tinseltown of old. While the closing credits rolled on big-studio glamour many decades ago, the ghosts of Hollywood’s Golden Age linger on. You’ll find them everywhere, from Art-Deco makeup rooms and landmark hotels, to a martini-swilling Hollywood grill. To channel the Hollywood of long-gone pin-ups and moguls, make a pilgrimage to the following classic haunts.

Hollywood Museum  

You can almost hear the industry gossip inside the makeup rooms of the old Max Factor Building. Now the Hollywood Museum, it was right here that cosmetics king Max Factor launched his celebrity beauty parlor in 1935. The Polish-Jewish émigré found fame with his revolutionary, camera-friendly cosmetics, used on the skin of Hollywood’s screen queens. From eyeshadows and lipsticks to coats, the building’s four makeup boudoirs remain strewn with the personal possessions of clients including Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Lucille Ball. The rooms – labeled ‘For Blondes’, ‘For Redheads’, ‘For Brunettes’ and ‘For Brownettes’ – were customized to complement the stars’ varying complexions and hair colors. The museum also hosts a rotating collection of other Hollywood memorabilia, including iconic costumes, props and autographs. Among the treasures is Cary Grant’s 1965 Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce, perfect for a cruise down Mulholland.

Musso & Frank Grill 

The only thing better than the dry martinis at Musso & Frank Grill are the anecdotes. Raymond Chandler penned scripts in the high-backed booths, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio sipped at the mahogany bar, while William Faulkner felt so comfortable here that he mixed his own mint juleps behind the bar. It’s common knowledge that Charlie Chaplin loved his vodka gimlets, guzzled at his favorite booth by the front window. Jack Nicholson’s booth of choice remains the one closest to the vintage phone booth. And while Hollywood Blvd may have changed dramatically since the neighborhood’s halcyon days, this 1919 veteran remains faithful to the past, from its red-jacketed waiters to the lobster thermidor. Best of all, it’s still frequented by silver-screen royalty, who come to dine, swill and absorb the local lore. Is that Johnny Depp? Probably.

Hollywood Roosevelt

Another old timer is the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, worth a pilgrimage for its handsome Spanish Colonial Revival interiors, bespoke Library Bar cocktails and celebrity pedigree. The very first Academy Awards were held in its Blossom Ballroom in 1929, while a young Shirley Temple honed her tap dancing skills on the stairs off the old lobby. Since opening in 1927, the hotel has hosted no shortage of stars, some of whom apparently never checked out. Reputed resident ghosts include Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. Marilyn shot her first print ad by the hotel pool, itself decorated by artist David Hockney in the late 1980s. Montgomery crashed here while shooting From Here to Eternity and it’s said that his bugle can still be heard on occasion. Some say the late star also enjoys tapping the odd guest’s shoulder in his old room, 928. Aptly, the Hollywood Roosevelt is a hub for the four-day TCM Classic Film Festival, held annually in April.

Whitley Heights

Before Beverly Hills there was Whitley Heights. Rising a few blocks north of Hollywood Blvd, this was Hollywood’s first celebrity enclave, its proximity to silent-era movie studios making it popular with the day’s stars. Among these was Rudolph Valentino, whose abode on Wedgewood Pl was razed to make way for the 101 freeway. Other famous former residents include Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich and Bette Davis. The estate’s designer, architect AS Barnes, drew inspiration from the villages of the Mediterranean and the neighborhood’s leafy, winding streets remain peppered with covetable villas that channel Moorish, Renaissance and Italianate styles. Oscar-winning actor Marie Dressler lived at 6809 Iris Circle, Jean Harlow reputedly called 2015 Whitley Ave home, while Gloria Swanson used 2058 Watsonia Tce as her pad while shooting Sunset Boulevard. The latter street is one of the estate’s most beautiful: Villa Vallombrosa at number 2074 once housed lauded American composer Leonard Bernstein.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

For one-on-one time with departed superstars, take a stroll through Hollywood Forever Cemetery, located behind the historic Paramount Pictures studios. While not the only star-studded cemetery in town, it’s one of the most beautiful and easily accessible, with verdant grounds, an ornamental lake and no shortage of VIP tombstones and mausoleums. A map of the grounds is sold at the flower shop by the entrance, marking the final resting places of actors including Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power and Mickey Rooney. A more recent arrival is Judy Garland, whose remains were interred from Hartsdale, New York, in 2017. The larger West Coast plot means there’s room for Liza (Minnelli) and Judy’s other children when their own time comes. Other Hollywood royals buried here include directing heavyweight Cecil B. DeMille and fellow Oscar-winning director and screenwriter, John Huston. If it’s summer, don’t miss the cemetery’s alfresco screening series of classic films.

Guided Tours

While many buildings have been razed or altered since Hollywood’s Golden Age, the era’s tales and scandals drive a number of commendable guided tours. The self-guided, free-to-download Pride Explorer LGBTinsel Town audio tour dishes the dirt on Hollywood’s oft-hushed queer history, from secret pansy bars to anecdotes about closeted stars and queer icons. The rich history of Downtown LA’s early movie palaces is showcased on the Broadway Historic Theatre and Commercial District Walking Tour, usually run on Saturday mornings by the Los Angeles Conservancy. Downtown is also home to the iconic Millennium Biltmore Hotel, whose decadent Crystal Ballroom is where the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded in 1927. MGM production designer Cedric Gibbons reputedly sketched the first Oscar statue on one of the hotel’s napkins. The awards themselves were held here eight times between 1931 and 1942, and the hotel’s Historical Corridor houses a hypnotic collection of photographs of the ceremonies and their idolized guests. Many, many years later, their enigmatic legend continues to cast a strange, delicious spell.

Originally published by Lonely Planet

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