Tal Weaver’s House from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Oh man, have I been wanting to say this for years – Tal Weaver’s house has been found!  It is thanks to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, that I finally get to!  For those who have no earthly idea what I am talking about, Tal Weaver – and his house – appeared in the Season 2 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Leading from the Heart.”  In the episode, Tal, played by a very young and very long-haired Gabriel Macht (aka Suits’ Harvey Specter – my latest celebrity crush), throws a raving party at his sprawling Beverly Hills manse that is attended by Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty), her brother Brandon (Jason Priestley), and their wheelchair-bound cousin, Bobby (Gordon Currie).  Though the home’s onscreen role was brief, it was extremely memorable and I have spent the past few years trying to track it down.  I recently brought Mike in on the hunt and he managed to get in touch with Phil Buckman, aka the episode’s “Surfer Dude” – “Did you hear what that dude in the wheelchair said to me?” – who, thankfully, remembered where filming had taken place.  Come to find out not only is Tal’s house one of L.A.’s most famous, but it’s a spot I had actually stalked and blogged about previously.  As Phil informed Mike, Tal’s mansion is none other than the Cecil B. DeMille Estate located at 2000 De Mille Drive in Los Feliz.  How I never realized it is beyond me!  So, thank you, Mike and Phil!  (When Mike gave me the good news, I told him, “You’re my hero!” to which he responded, “Some heroes don’t wear capes!”  )

Though I covered the DeMille Estate’s history in my previous post on the pad, I figure a brief recap is in order here.  Built in 1914, the Beaux Arts-style dwelling was originally designed by architect B. Cooper Corbette for Homer Laughlin, co-developer of Los Feliz’ exclusive Laughlin Park community.  Homer did not live at the site long, selling the massive manse to DeMille in 1916 for $27,893.  Five years later, the famed director acquired the home next door – formerly occupied by Charlie Chaplin – and connected the two with an atrium-like breezeway, meshing them into one ridiculously large compound with the Chaplin portion serving as a screening room/offices/guest quarters.  Cecil remained on the premises until his passing in 1959.  His estate then held onto the property for the next three decades, reportedly changing nothing from the time DeMille called it home, even going so far as to put fresh flowers on his desk daily.  The compound was eventually sold to attorney Terry O’Toole and his wife, Evelyn, in 1988.  According to a few articles I dug up via newspapers.com (which I cannot link to as a subscription is needed to view them), the couple briefly updated the estate before selling it to a Japanese company in 1990.

In 1996, the hilltop abode was purchased by art consultant/curator Lisa Lyons and her husband, art consultant/writer Richard Grossman.  Prolific rehabbers, the couple enlisted architect Brian Tichenor of Tichenor & Thorp to separate and restore the two properties, first the Chaplin home (which they subsequently sold to producer/writer John Wells) and then the DeMille Estate.  The renovation of the latter took a whopping six years.  You can read a great Town & Country article about the extensive restoration here.

Grossman and Lyons put the 6-bedroom, 10-bath, 7,472-square-foot pad (which also boasts a pool, a pool house/gym, a detached studio, a rose garden, arched windows, iron balconies, molded ceilings, Doric columns, a mahogany-paneled dining room, a formal library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a whopping 2.1 acres of land) up for sale in 2008 for $26.25 million.  There were no takers, though, so the listing was removed the following year.  It then hit the market again in early 2017 (you can check out the MLS photos here), this time selling after just a couple of months for $24.5 million to none other than Angelina Jolie.  Considering Laughlin Park’s long tenure as a celebrity enclave, the purchase was not surprising.  Besides DeMille, Chaplin and Jolie, just a few of the stars to call the community home over the years include Natalie Portman, Jenna Elfman, Portia de Rossi, W.C. Fields, Carole Lombard, David Fincher, Lauren Graham, and Ellen Pompeo.  Though the neighborhood is gated and not accessible to the public, the Grim Cheaper’s best friend’s parents are longtime residents and we’ve been fortunate to visit many times.  During one of those visits, I did some stalking of the DeMille Estate, which is where the photos in this post come from.  I am so thankful I snapped them, too, because I’m fairly certain getting any pics of the place now would be virtually impossible considering its current resident.

In “Leading from the Heart,” which originally aired in October 1991, Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) takes a liking to Cousin Bobby, who is visiting from Minnesota, and invites him to a party at her friend Tal Weaver’s house.  As Kelly tells him, “Tal throws the best parties!”

When Kelly, Bobby and the rest of their group arrive, though, trouble ensues as the only way to gain entrance to the soiree is via a massive set of exterior steps that leads to Tal’s front door.

So it’s Brandon, Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) to the rescue!  With Brenda and Kelly clearing a path, the three carry Bobby up the steps.

As you can see in the screen captures below (as well as the many above) as compared to the photographs above, when 90210 was filmed on the premises 27 years ago, the DeMille Estate was enclosed with fencing mainly consisting of wrought iron.  Though the posts remain, the ironwork has since been replaced with a stucco wall and wooden gates, making the front steps much less visible – which is perhaps why I didn’t recognize the place as Tal Weaver’s pad.  (Yeah, I’ll just keep telling myself that. )

Things don’t improve much for poor Cousin Bobby upon venturing inside Tal’s residence, for which the real interior of the DeMille Estate was utilized.

Not only does someone fall onto Bobby’s lap and accidentally spill a drink on him, but Tal asks Kelly to dance, which sends Bobby into an ugly downward spiral.  It is not long before he begs Steve, Dylan and Brandon to carry him back down the steps so that he can call a cab and leave.  While re-watching the episode, I came to the conclusion that Cousin Bobby is actually kind of a jerk.  Pretty much everyone he encounters at the party is incredibly friendly, nice, and accommodating (including Tal and the girl who spilled a drink on him), but he is curt and rude (towards Brandon and Steve, too!) and seemingly does his best not to fit in, even going so far as to read Kelly the riot act when (for the first time in the history of the show!) she has not actually done anything wrong.  (I cannot believe I’m defending Kelly here!)  By the time the credits roll, though, all is good again in Walsh-land, Kelly and Bobby have mended fences, and the gang heads out for a drive – with Brenda behind the wheel (gasp!) – before Bobby’s flight back to the Midwest.

I would be remiss if I did not post a photo of Tal in all of his long-haired glory.  The role was actually Gabriel Macht’s first television job and, of the experience, he told BuzzFeed, “I remember Jason Priestley being on his phone a lot and dropping all these F-bombs.  I thought that was funny because he was like America'”‘”‘s apple pie golden boy.  I also remember having no idea what to talk about with Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth while we were hanging around the set.”  So he did what any good theatre student would do – he created a backstory.  In the episode, it is said that Tal and Kelly once attended a Sting concert together, so Macht used that as a jumping-off point.  As he explained to BuzzFeed, “I was coming from theater school, so I was coming up with backstory about our time at the Sting concert and she looked at me like I was crazy.  It was my first TV gig and I wanted him to be this sensitive guy — but I don'”‘”‘t think anyone named Tal Weaver, which is the greatest name in all of television, will ever come across like the good guy.”  (No surprise that Jennie doesn’t sound all that friendly in his story.  )

As I mentioned in my original post on the DeMille Estate, the director is reported to have shot the Garden of Gethsemane scenes from his 1927 film The King of Kings on the grounds of the mansion, but, unfortunately, due to the passage of over ninety years time and the fact that the property and its acreage have been extensively renovated, I was unable to verify that.

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A MONUMENTAL thank you to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location and to Phil Buckman for helping him to do so! 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Cecil B. DeMille Estate, aka Tal Weaver’s house from the “Leading from the Heart” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, is located at 2000 De Mille Drive in Los Feliz.  The residence is located in the gated community of Laughlin Park and is, unfortunately, not accessible to the public.

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