Hollywood Plaza Hotel, also known as Plaza Hotel, was a 200-room hotel located at 1633–37 North Vine Street in Hollywood, California, just south of Hollywood and Vine. A popular venue for film, radio, and theatre stars of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, the building was converted into a retirement home in the 1970s.
Hollywood Plaza Hotel | |
 Hotel in 2015 | |
  Location of building in Los Angeles County | |
| Location | 1633–37 North Vine Street, Hollywood, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°6′3″N 118°19′37″W / 34.10083°N 118.32694°W |
| Built | 1925 |
| Architect | Percy A. Eisen Albert R. Walker |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| Part of | Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District (ID85000704) |
| LAHCM No. | 665 |
| Designated CP | April 4, 1985 |
| Designated | September 29, 1999 |
History
editThe Plaza Hotel, built in 1924 and opened to the public on October 15, 1925,[1] was one of four major hotels built in Hollywood in the 1920s.[2] Designed in Renaissance Revival style by Walker & Eisen,[3] the hotel consisted of ten stories in a T-shaped layout, was built with reinforced concrete and artificial stone, and cost $750,000 to construct, $250,000 more than was budgeted.[4]
When the hotel opened, it consisted of 198 rooms and a ground floor that included a restaurant, beauty parlor, barber shop, ballroom, two garden plazas, and a lobby designed by George G. Benedict.[4][5] Date palms surrounded the outdoor swimming pool[5] and the name "Plaza" was featured on a large neon sign atop the roof.[2]
Restaurant
editDue to the Plaza Hotel's proximity to the Famous Players-Lasky motion picture studio, the hotel's original restaurant, Klempter's Blue Plate Cafe, became a de-facto studio annex. Greta Garbo was a regular and anytime an actor could not be located at the studio, call boys were dispatched to the restaurant.[4]
In 1928, the Pig 'n Whistle Cafe, a new location in the chain most notable for its other location in Hollywood, replaced Klempter's Blue Plate Cafe. In 1933, the restaurant changed to The Russian Eagle Cafe and Garden, in 1936, to the G. Albert Lansburgh designed Cinnabar, and in 1937, to the Clara Bow and Rex Bell owned It Cafe.[4]
Considered one of Hollywood's most glamorous nightspots, It Cafe drew clientele that included Gene Autry, Milton Berle, and Pat Buttram. Despite this, the cafe closed in 1943, after the owners lost interest in it.[2][6]
Other Clientele
editBette Davis resided with her mother and dog in the Plaza Hotel when she arrived in Hollywood in 1930, and Ava Gardner also stayed in the hotel at the start of her career, but then had to move to a cheaper hotel nearby.[5]
During the 1940s and 50s, the hotel became popular with radio performers, bandleaders, and live theatre actors. Those who stayed at the hotel include Jackie Gleason, Doris Day, Joe Frisco, Edward Everett Horton, Harry James, Paul Whiteman, Hal McIntyre, and more.[6][7][8] Additionally, Johnny Grant broadcast daily from the hotel's bar,[2] Frank Sinatra frequented a barber shop in the hotel's basement,[8][9] and George Burns had an office at the top of the hotel, where he was introduced to "the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen": Marilyn Monroe.[5]
Other notable hotel guests include Joe Di Maggio, Babe Ruth, Howard Hughes, and Ernest Hemingway.[5]
Notoriety
editThe hotel had its share of notoriety. In 1937, Ern Westmore, released after a drunk-driving charge, checked into a 10th-floor room and threatened to leap out the window; his brother Frank came to calm him down.[10] That same year, an airline stewardess was found dead in her room.[11] In 1954, an Alaskan woman released on bail after being indicted for the murder of her husband committed suicide in her room,[12] and in 1959 a woman survived an 8-story fall down the hotel's stairwell.[13]
Present day
editBy the early 1970s, the hotel had become derelict,[14] and in 1972, it was converted to an apartment hotel. In 2004, it was converted again, this time to senior housing. These renovations made the building "unrecognizable from the once elegant hotel of the 1920's and 1930's."[4]
In 1984, the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with Plaza Hotel listed as a contributing property in the district.[3] In 1999, the building and its neon sign were collectively designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 665.[2][15]
In popular culture
editIn several I Love Lucy episodes, Plaza Hotel can be seen as a silhouette through Lucy Ricardo's apartment window.[16]
In the 1950s, the game show Queen for a Day set up a live remote broadcast location in the hotel's ballroom.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Hollywood Plaza Hotel, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA". The University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Early Views of Hollywood (1920 +)". Water and Power Associates. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form - Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Hollywood Plaza Hotel - Vine St. and Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood California". Our Changing Landscape. April 22, 2016.
- ^ a b "Hollywood Plaza Hotel - Hollywood Historic Site". hmdb.org. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ Wanamaker & Nudelman 2007, p. 63.
- ^ a b Cabrera, Yvette (July 16, 1998). "A Cut Above: Barber provides slice of history". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016.
- ^ Baker, David; Hiestand, Jesse (May 16, 1998). "Legions of Fans in Valley Share Stories of Pop Icon". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- ^ Williams 2005, p. 141.
- ^ "Death of Airline Stewardness Probed". Pittsburgh Press. September 13, 1937. p. 1. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- ^ "Blonde Kills Self Prior to Murder Trial". The Gettysburg Times. March 10, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- ^ "Woman Lives After 8-Story Fall". The Miami News. April 2, 1959. p. 12A. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- ^ Coleman, Terry (November 24, 1973). "Briton Seeking Glamour Finds Hollywood Dying on the Vine". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 1. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
- ^ "Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) List" (PDF). City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning. 2024-04-26. p. 25. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
[note: publication date is as of addition of HCM #1301 Venice Lifeguard Station 4/26/2024]
- ^ Treiman 2011, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Mickelson 2007, p. 174.
Bibliography
edit- Cooper, Suzanne Tarbell; Hall, Amy Ronnebeck; Cooper, Jr., Frank E. (2005). Los Angeles Art Deco. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3027-1.
- Dangcil, Thomas; Dangcil, Tommy (2002). Hollywood, 1900–1950, in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2073-5.
- McCann, Linda; Taube, Dace; Zachary, Claude; Roseman, Curtis C. (2008). Historic Hotels of Los Angeles and Hollywood. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5906-3.
- Mickelson, Ed (2007). Out of the Park: Memoir of a Minor League Baseball All-Star. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8279-5.
- Treiman, Jaak (2011). A Diplomatic Guide to Los Angeles: Discovering Its Sites and Character. Velak Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9835158-0-7.
- Wanamaker, Marc (2009). Hollywood, 1940–2008. Arcadia Publishing. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7385-5923-0.
- Wanamaker, Marc; Nudelman, Robert W. (2007). Early Hollywood. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4792-3.
- Williams, Gregory Paul (2005). The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History. www.storyofhollywood.com. ISBN 978-0-9776299-0-9.
External links
edit- History at Paradiseleased.wordpress.com
Media related to Hollywood Plaza Hotel at Wikimedia Commons