Haunted Hollywood – Page 10

October 1, 2015September 29, 2017

New “L.A.” Mag Post and BIG NEWS!

Don’t forget to read my latest Los Angeles magazine article! It’s my first Haunted Hollywood post of the season, about the Hanging Tree from Phantasm – one of the prettiest locations I have ever stalked!

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And BIG NEWS that I have been waiting to share. I recently taped a segment about Beverly Hills, 90210 filming locations for HLN. It is going to be airing tomorrow, Friday, October 2nd, between 10 and 10:30 a.m. on The Daily Share. Be sure to tune in! For those who don’t get HLN, the segment will also be available to watch online. I’ll post a link to it as soon as it is published. 🙂

July 10, 2015September 29, 2017

The Bates Motel

Today’s location would be better suited for a Haunted Hollywood post, but because it is set to be torn down by the end of the year, I figured time was of the essence. While spending the week in L.A. last month with my good buddies Kim and Katie (that’s Katie pictured above), a friend named Becky mentioned that I should stalk the abandoned Sunset Pacific Motel in Silver Lake. The property is more commonly known as the “Bates Motel” thanks to both the fact that it sits at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Bates Avenue and that it has been in a decrepit state for decades. The 3-story, 37-room structure was recently painted white as part of a temporary art exhibit, which only serves to make it all the more eerie. Becky thought I would enjoy seeing it in person and she was right! The place did not disappoint!

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From what I can gather from the Historic Aerials website, the Sunset Pacific Motel was built sometime between 1954 and 1964. While the property provided a home away from home for tourists in its early years (it even had a pool that has since been cemented over), by the 1980s it had fallen into a serious state of disrepair and had become a haven for drug use, prostitution and violent crime. A 2002 Los Angeles Times article described it as “one of the city’s most dangerous properties.” Concerned neighbors had been trying to get the facility shuttered for decades, to no avail. Finally, in December 2000, longtime owner Edward Eng was charged with two dozen housing code violations at the property and was eventually forced to close it in March 2002 when the city revoked his operating license. The Sunset Pacific Motel has sat boarded up ever since. You can check out what it looked like during its boarded up phase here and here.

In September 2009, the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Building and Safety voted to raze the motel. Before the demolition took place, though, the site was purchased by Frost/Chaddock Developers with the intent of building a large mixed-use project on the site. Those plans have met with some opposition, though, and while on hold, Frost/Chaddock decided to allow French artist Vincent Lamouroux to paint the property as a temporary art instillation.

In mid-April, Lamouroux began his instillation which he titled Projection. He and his crew used sprayers and hoses to coat every square inch of the Sunset Pacific Motel with an eco-friendly lime wash.

Lamouroux also painted the back of the motel’s billboard;

its sign;

and its palm trees.

It really is a sight to see!

The lime wash will fade over time (it has already begun to disappear from the palm trees) and the motel is slated to be demolished at the end of the year, so if you would like to see it in all of its blindingly white glory, I would get over there as soon as possible.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Becky for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Sunset Pacific Motel, aka the Bates Motel, is located at 4301 Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake.

November 5, 2014September 29, 2017

A Tour of Rockhaven Sanitarium

Well, here it is – my final Haunted Hollywood post of 2014. Sad day! Sad smile Last September, I stalked an abandoned mental health institution named Rockhaven Sanitarium where Marilyn Monroe’s mother, Gladys Baker Eley, spent almost a decade and a half of her life. Due to the fact that the place was gated and boarded up, I only got to see the outside of it, though. So when Friends of Rockhaven contacted me last month to ask if I wanted to attend a tour of the property, I jumped at the chance! And what better time to do it than the day after Halloween?

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I covered Rockhaven’s history extensively in my post about the place last October, so I will just give you the CliffsNotes version here. The sanitarium was founded in 1923 by a nurse named Agnes Richards. Agnes wanted to create a home-like sanctuary to treat women suffering from mental illness and found the perfect spot to start it in Montrose. She leased a two-story residence with a stone edifice and dubbed it “Rockhaven.” (Sadly, that original building was damaged in the Sylmar earthquake and was replaced by the one-story Spanish Colonial Revival-style structure pictured below in 1972.) Agnes originally took in 6 patients, but by the next year that number had grown to 24.

As her patient list grew, Agnes began to purchase neighboring dwellings and to construct new buildings on adjacent plots of vacant land. By 1940, the expanded 3.3-acre site was comprised of 15 structures, with facilities to treat over 100 patients, a small hospital, a dining hall and a professional kitchen.

Agnes believed that idyllic surroundings would aid in her patients’ healing processes, so she made sure that Rockhaven’s grounds, which boasted gardens, trees, ponds, fountains, flowerbeds, patios, and walkways, were meticulously landscaped.

Even today, after sitting vacant for eight years, the place still shows shades of its former tranquility and beauty.

Upon Agnes’ retirement in 1956, her granddaughter, Patricia Traviss, took over operation of the site. When Patricia subsequently retired in 2001, Rockhaven was purchased by the Ararat Home of Los Angeles and was transformed into a nursing home. Ararat found the property too difficult and expensive to maintain, though, so it was shuttered in 2006 and has been left vacant ever since. In April 2008, the city of Glendale purchased Rockhaven and there were plans to turn the site into a community center and public park, but as funds dried up, so did the plans. The facility’s fate is currently up in the air. Thankfully, the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley and Friends of Rockhaven stepped in to care for the place. Friends of Rockhaven also conducts monthly tours of the premises, which is what the Grim Cheaper and I embarked upon this past Saturday.

The tour, which lasted 90 minutes and consisted of about 25 people, was everything that I hoped it would be – and more! Our group got to walk through every square inch of the property – even through indoor areas, which I absolutely loved.

And yes, due to the peeling paint and stillness of the place, being there was definitely spooky, even in broad daylight.

When Rockhaven was shuttered in 2006, its buildings were left furnished. Seeing them in such a state was absolutely eerie.

Many patients’ belongings were also left behind. Clothes were still reportedly hanging in closets and framed photographs arranged on nightstands. When Glendale purchased the site, city workers put the mementos in storage, but Friends of Rockhaven retrieved several items to display, which made the experience of being there all the more creepy. Patients’ rooms appear to be frozen in time, still awaiting the return of their occupants eight years later.

Seeing notes to the Ararat staff still taped to the walls was particularly eerie . . .

as was seeing the former patients’ names written on closet shelves . . .

. . . and on beds.

During its Rockhaven days, Agnes had all of the patients’ rooms decorated by interior designers and many of those embellishments are still in place today, such as the curtain valances and colorful wallpaper border pictured below.

The bathrooms, which were all extensively wallpapered, were particularly enthralling.

Some areas of the property are still set up as they were when Ararat was operational, such as the hospital . . .

. . . while others are now used as storage for the various equipment that was left behind.

During the tour, we were also shown a dilapidated porch;

Murphy beds still in working condition;

eerily quiet hallways;

and the commercial kitchen . . .

. . . with its humongous walk-in refrigerator . . .

. . . and stove, which was in desperate need of a good scouring.

I was most excited to see The Pines building, though, where Gladys lived during her time at Rockhaven.

Gladys, who suffered from mental illness her whole life, was admitted to Rockhaven Sanitarium on February 9th, 1953. Marilyn paid the tab with a $5,000-a-year trust fund she set up in her mother’s name. And yes, the starlet would often come to Rockhaven to visit Gladys. (Pictured below is the hallway leading from the front door into The Pines building.)

The Pines’ green-hued common area is pictured below.

Gladys’ former room is located in the northeast corner of the building.

During her stay at Rockhaven, Gladys escaped from the facility numerous times. In 1963, she tied bed sheets together and climbed out of the 18-inch closet window pictured below. She then scaled a fence and walked 15 miles to Lakeview Terrace Baptist Church in Pacoima, where she was found the following day.

Our tour guides were very accommodating and allowed me to pose for a photograph in front of Gladys’ escape window. In a bit of an eerie twist, when the GC originally snapped my picture, he checked it and said it turned out fine. It was not until we left The Pines building that he looked at it once again and noticed that it had become mysteriously dark. Maybe Gladys did not appreciate the fact that I was photographing her closet!

Our guides found the whole thing very amusing and kindly took me back inside to pose for a second picture.

While in the closet, I noticed what appeared to be handprints leading up to the window and on most of the walls. SPOOKY!

Gladys was released from Rockhaven in 1967 and went to live with her daughter Berniece Baker Miracle, Marilyn’s half-sister, in Florida. She passed away in Gainesville 17 years later, on March 11, 1984, at the age of 81.

The guides also shared some tales of mysterious happenings at Rockhaven. The piano pictured below apparently moves to various locations on the property of its own accord. In fact, when one of the docents opened the garage during the tour, he was shocked to see that the piano was standing in the middle of the room.

Apparently, the previous evening it had been stationed against a wall, barricaded by three very heavy pots, which had also since been moved. The guides reported that most of the ghosts people have witnessed on the property appeared to be happy ones, though – spirits who obviously enjoyed their time at Rockhaven and want to remain there in the afterlife.

All in all, the tour was a fabulous experience and I could not recommend it more. You can find out information about Friends of Rockhaven’s monthly tours here.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Rockhaven Sanitarium is located at 2713 Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. You can find out more information about Friends of Rockhaven’s monthly tours here.

November 4, 2014September 29, 2017

Halloween 2014

I do realize that it is November 4th and that the Halloween season has, by now, sadly ended, but you are going to have to bear with me for a couple of more days because I still have two more Haunted Hollywood posts to write. This Halloween was one for the record books! Per usual, the Grim Cheaper and I headed out to L.A. to celebrate, this year dressed as Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell.

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The night beforehand, my buddy Mikey, of the Mike the Fanboy website, texted me to let me know that Dan Aykroyd was going to be doing a signing for his Crystal Head Vodka line at the Costco in Burbank on Halloween. Now what could be cooler than getting a photograph with an actual Ghostbuster on All Hallows’ Eve? So as soon as we arrived in L.A., I rushed right on over to Costco. Several other members of the Fanboy crew were there, as well, including Chris, Suddenly Susan, and Pinky, from the Thinking Pink blog. In honor of the occasion, one of the actual Blues Brothers cars was parked out in front of the store. How cool is that?

I am very happy to report that Dan could NOT have been nicer. He took time with all of the fans who showed up, was willing to personalize autographs, signed memorabilia from his movies and, best of all, posed for photos.

He was even nice enough to take a second picture with me because my camera did a funky flash thing with his hat on the first one.

I have been obsessed with Dan’s vodka line ever since first laying eyes on the bottles, which are shaped like skulls, several years ago. I was always tempted to buy one to be used as a Halloween decoration, but because they are pretty pricey, I resisted. At the signing, though, Costco was selling gift sets with small Crystal Head Vodka bottles and two matching skull shot glasses for $40! Um, count me in! I am absolutely in LOVE with the set. Pretty much the best Halloween decoration I’ve ever bought! Huge THANK YOU to Mikey for telling me about the event! You can read his write-up of the signing here.

After the signing, the GC and I headed to Descanso Gardens to experience its RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns extravaganza. I had read about the event, which hit California for the first time this year, in Westways magazine and immediately started drooling! What better way to spend my favorite holiday than by walking through a quarter-mile display consisting of over FIVE THOUSAND intricately carved jack o’lanterns?

The event did NOT disappoint! RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns takes place in the Descanso Rose Garden, which is transformed into a magical Halloween wonderland. (Sadly, due to the darkness and my lack of a tripod, I had a hard time taking clear pictures of the pumpkins, as you can see below.)

The exhibition features over 5,000 themed jack o’lanterns hand-carved by professional artists and sculptors. We got to see one of them at work and it was absolutely mind-boggling how fast he carved.

Now I should mention here that while the RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns website implies that the vast majority of the pumpkins are real, truth be told, that is not the case. Very few are actual gourds. Most of the carvings are done on craft foam pumpkins. But that did not deter from the experience at all – for us, at least.

I was absolutely in awe of the entire pageant and had to keep picking my jaw up off the floor while looking at the various sections, which included exhibits on Dinosaurs;

Dia de los Muertos;

The Wizard of Oz;

horror movies;

animation;

The Big Bang Theory;

and the stars who passed away this year.

My favorite area was the Hollywood Walk of Fame, though (duh!) . . .

. . . which featured pumpkins carved in the likenesses of various celebrities, situated atop smaller pumpkins carved with Walk of Fame stars depicting their names.

The Hollywood exhibit also had a special Kardashian section – or “Karvedashian” section, as the guides were calling it.

Interestingly, while the display did include a Kayne West jack o’lantern, Bruce Jenner was mysteriously missing.

I was especially enamored with the tree pictured below. What I wouldn’t give to have a tree like that in my yard that I could decorate with hundreds of lit jack o’lanterns each Halloween!

We had a fabulous time at RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns and I honestly cannot more highly recommend a visit there come next October.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns is held during the month of October at Descanso Gardens, which is located at 1418 Descanso Drive in La Cañada Flintridge. You can find out more information about the event here.

October 31, 2014September 29, 2017

The Knickerbocker Hotel

I don’t think there is any property in Los Angeles, perhaps the world, that has seen as much glamour and as much tragedy as the former Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Today, the Renaissance Revival/Beau Arts-style structure, which was once dubbed “The Hotel to the Stars,” serves as a retirement home. And oh, if those walls could talk!

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The Knickerbocker was constructed from 1923 to 1925 and was designed by architect E.M. Frasier. The 11-story property was the definition of grandeur, featuring wood-beamed ceilings, arched entryways, marble flooring, stained glass and antique furnishings. You can see what the hotel looked like in its early years here. The Knickerbocker became an instant hit with celebrities of the day, including Gloria Swanson, Mickey Rooney, John Wayne, Gene Autry, Rudolph Valentino, Roy Rogers, Bette Davis, Dick Powell, Errol Flynn, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Mae West, Laurel & Hardy, and Cecil B. DeMille. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio even honeymooned there after their January 1954 wedding in San Francisco.

In 1955, the property changed hands and underwent an extensive renovation, during which the vast majority of its beautiful detailing was, sadly, removed. While still an upscale destination for travelers, the hotel had become a shadow of its former self.

As Hollywood began to get seedy in the 1960s, The Knickerbocker suffered a decline in patronage. In 1963, it changed hands once again and quickly became a haven for the homeless and drug-addled. At some point, the hotel went into bankruptcy receivership and was eventually purchased in 1972 by the real estate development firm of Goldrich, Kest, Hirsch and Stern, who turned the site into housing for senior citizens. It remains retirement housing to this day.

The Knickerbocker has long been reported as being haunted, which is no surprise considering the many macabre events that have taken place there over the years. In January 1943, police famously dragged actress Frances Farmer, kicking and screaming, from the hotel lobby for failing to pay a fine on a recent drunk driving arrest. Thing only got worse the following morning at her hearing. An out-of-sorts Frances knocked down a policeman, threw an inkwell at the judge and wound up being dragged away, kicking and screaming once again – this time to the psychiatric ward of L.A. General Hospital. Shortly thereafter she was transferred to Kimball Sanitarium in La Crescenta to begin what was the first of many asylum stays during the actress’ tragic lifetime.

On July 23rd, 1948, famed director D.W. Griffith, who was a long time resident of the Knickerbocker, collapsed of a cerebral hemorrhage in the hotel lobby. He passed away a few minutes later in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

And yes, there’s more. On November 15th, 1962, MGM costume designer Irene Lutz downed several bottles of alcohol and then jumped to her death from her 11th floor room at the Knickerbocker.

Still more. On March 3rd, 1966, William Frawley, who was best known as I Love Lucy’s Fred Mertz, was walking by the Knickerbocker when he suffered a heart attack. His nurse dragged him into the hotel, where he passed away a few minutes later.

And finally, on the night of Halloween 1936, Harry Houdini’s widow, Bess, conducted a tenth and final séance, in an attempt to make contact with the former magician, on the rooftop of the Knickerbocker.

The Knickerbocker is also a filming location! The building was seen in the background of the 1950 movie 711 Ocean Drive.

In 1954, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were bombarded for a surprise taping of This Is Your Life in Room 205 of the hotel.

You can watch that episode by clicking below.

And while many websites state that The Knickerbocker was where Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) and Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) initially met up to conduct their affair in The Graduate, that information is incorrect. The couple actually met up at The Palm Bar inside of the now defunct Ambassador Hotel.

You can watch a Mysteries & Scandals episode about The Knickerbocker by clicking below.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a safe and fun Halloween! Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Knickerbocker Hotel is located at 1714 N. Ivar Avenue in Hollywood.

October 30, 2014September 29, 2017

Latest “L.A.” Mag Post – About the “Thriller” House

Be sure to check out today’s Los Angeles magazine post – about the house from Michael Jackson’s Thriller – which is, sadly, my last Haunted Hollywood column for CityThink until next October. My articles typically get published in the late morning/early afternoon hours. And you can also check out my friend Owen’s post about a rather hilarious typo on the Thriller house’s Zillow page here.

October 29, 2014September 29, 2017

The Silent Movie Theatre

I am very excited to announce that I recently started writing for the L.A. Tourism & Convention Board website, Discover Los Angeles. I have done two posts for the site so far – one on iconic horror movie locations and another about area hotels that have been immortalized onscreen. Before I was given my first assignment, my editor emailed me a few articles to use as examples, one of which was written by my buddy Scott Michaels, of the Find a Death website. The 2013 column, titled The 13 Scariest Places in Los Angeles, had me practically foaming at the mouth. The vast majority of locations mentioned I had never even heard of before, let alone stalked, and one in particular had me especially intrigued – the Silent Movie Theatre in Beverly Grove, where owner Lawrence Austin was shot to death in 1997.

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The Silent Movie Theatre was originally constructed in 1942 for silent film buff John Hampton and his wife, Dorothy. John, an Oklahoma native, had collected silent movie reels and showcased them at his home from the time that he was a young boy. In 1940, the couple headed west and settled in Los Angeles. The following year, they purchased a vacant plot of land and commissioned a small, two-story silent movie theatre to be built on the premises. The upstairs floor served as their apartment.

The theatre opened for business in February 1942. By that time, silent movies were a thing of the past and John wanted to pay homage to the almost-forgotten genre. You can check out what the property looked like in its early days here. According to the Dead History Project website, a 1943 Los Angeles Times article described the 250-seat movie house as having “staggered seating,” a “bowl-shaped floor,” and “acoustical sound.” The theatre proved extremely popular and such celebrities as Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith were even known to stop by from time to time to catch viewings of their early films.

John had long been in the habit of restoring and redeveloping old films in his bathroom. The Dead History Project states, “Mr. Hampton transformed his bathtub into a film lab, dyeing and redeveloping old, nitrate film. His Phantom of the Opera, probably the best version of the original in existence, took acquiring eight separate prints over five years. Then, for over two months, he rebuilt the film – spliced the best parts of each print into a single version and meticulously dyed the frames to make sure they matched.” Sadly, in 1980, the harsh chemicals used in the process caught up with John and he developed cancer. He closed the theatre during his long battle with the disease and eventually passed away in 1990. A friend of John and Dorothy’s named Lawrence Austin purchased the theatre shortly thereafter and and renovated the space. He also changed the wording on the marquee from “Old Time Movies” to “Silent Movie.” The space re-opened for business on January 18th, 1991. You can check out a photo of what the property looked like after Austin took over here.

During the renovation process, Austin had hired a man named James Van Sickle to paint the Silent Movie Theatre. Despite a forty-year age difference (Austin was 67, Van Sickle was 27), the two hit it off romantically. Van Sickle eventually moved into the upstairs apartment with Lawrence and began working as the theatre’s projectionist.

On the evening of January 17th, 1997, the theatre was set to air a showing of Sunrise, proceeded by two short films. During one of the shorts, an audience member left the theatre and headed to the lobby, where Austin was standing behind the candy counter with Mary Giles, a concessions clerk. The man pulled out a .357 and first demanded that Lawrence hand over the money in the cash register. After he complied, the man shot him in the face. Lawrence died immediately. He was 74. The man then shot Mary twice in the chest, before turning back to Austin and shooting him two more times. Thankfully, Giles survived and was able to describe the shooter to the police, which eventually led them to a 19-year-old named Christian Rodriguez. It did not take long for Rodriguez to cave and inform detectives that he had been hired for $30,000 to kill both Austin and Giles and make the scenario look like a robbery. The person behind the scheme? None other than James Van Sickle, whom Austin had just recently named his beneficiary. Van Sickle was set to inherit the Silent Movie Theatre and over a million dollars in cash. Both James and Christian were eventually convicted of murder and are currently serving life sentences.

After the murder, the Silent Movie Theatre was put up for sale. A man named Charlie Lustman happened to pass by the property in 1999 and became intrigued. Though he knew nothing about silent films, he decided to purchase the theatre at a cost of $1.3 million. He remodeled the space and added a new marquee. The cinema re-opened its doors on November 5th, 1999. Besides showcasing films, Lustman also offered the theatre for special events. It proved to be a popular venue. In 2006, after falling ill, Charlie sold the property to Dan and Sammy Harkham. The brothers then formed Cinefamily, a “nonprofit organization of movie lovers devoted to finding and presenting interesting and unusual programs of exceptional, distinctive, weird and wonderful films.” The group currently showcases about 14 films a week at the Silent Movie Theatre. Last year, over 50,000 people attended screenings on the premises, none of whom were scared off by the ghosts of John Hampton and Lawrence Austin, who have been known to regularly haunt the historic venue.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Silent Movie Theatre is located at 611 North Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles’ Beverly Grove neighborhood. You can visit the official Cinefamily website here.

October 28, 2014September 29, 2017

The Joshua Tree Inn & Motel

I had never heard of Gram Parsons or the Joshua Tree Inn & Motel, where the musician met his untimely end in 1973, until being interviewed by the “Valley’s favorite talkers,” Bill Feingold and Kevin Holmes, for their radio show on 94.3 KNews this past August. During the show, Kevin asked me if I had stalked the hotel at any point or if I would ever be interested in spending the night in the supposedly haunted Room 8, where Parsons took his last breaths. I told them that heck yeah, I was interested (if there was a large group participating, that is!) and also made a mental note to add the place to the Haunted Hollywood section of my To-Stalk list. While I never made it out there to spend the night in the Parsons room, the Grim Cheaper and I did briefly stalk the motel just a few weeks later.

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Gram Parsons was born Ingram Cecil Connor II on November 5th, 1946 to a wealthy family in Winter Haven, Florida. He became interested in music at an early age, mainly as a way to cope with the 1958 suicide of his father and the subsequent death of his mother from cirrhosis of the liver in 1965. It was not until he was exposed to the sounds of Merle Haggard while spending a semester at Harvard University, though, that Gram realized his true passion was country music. In 1966, he founded the International Submarine Band, but the group broke up before their first album had even been released. Parsons then joined The Byrds in February 1968 and helped to record the popular album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. He didn’t last long with them, though, either. By the summer of that same year, he had cut bait. In 1969, he and former Byrds band-mate Chris Hillman formed the group The Flying Burrito Brothers. Despite recording two albums, they were unable to find commercial success and by 1970, Gram had embarked upon a solo career. His ever-increasing drug habit made producing any new music a rather impossible task, though. At some point, Parsons travelled to England and met up with British rocker Ric Grech, an old friend who managed to help Gram kick his heroin habit. Upon returning to the U.S., a rejuvenated Parsons partnered up with Emmylou Harris and, in 1973, released his first solo album, GP, which was a mild success. He stayed relatively clean from drugs, at least while working on his music, and began recording a second album, Grievous Angel, that was shaping up to be better than his first.

On September 17th, 1973, Parsons decided to head to Joshua Tree, one of his most beloved vacation spots, for a brief stay before embarking upon a tour that was scheduled for the following month. Joining him on the trip were Parsons’ girlfriend, Margaret Fisher, his assistant, Michael Martin, and Martin’s girlfriend, Dale McElroy. The group checked in to Parsons’ favorite area property, the Joshua Tree Inn & Motel.

The quaint, hacienda-style inn, which was originally built in 1950 and sits on 3.37 acres, consists of ten rooms, two of them suites, that surround a large central courtyard with a pool. The charming hotel has been popular with celebrities since its inception and John Barrymore Jr., Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Robert Plant, Keith Richards and John Wayne are all reported to have spent time there.

Parsons booked two rooms for his stay – Rooms 1 and 8. Room 8 is pictured below.

The morning after their arrival, Parsons sent Martin back to Los Angeles to buy drugs. He then headed to the airport for lunch with Fisher and McElroy, during which he drank copious amounts of Jack Daniels. On the return drive to the motel, he stopped in town to purchase heroin and then snagged some morphine from a drug connection who also happened to be staying at the inn.

A few hours later, a panicked Fisher summoned McElroy, claiming that Parsons had overdosed. The two woman proceeded to give him an ice cube enema (yeah, I don’t get it either), which seemed to cure him. At about 10 p.m., Fisher once again summoned McElroy, this time asking her to stay with Parsons, who was asleep, while she went to get food. At some point thereafter, McElroy noticed that Gram’s breathing had become labored and she started administering CPR. She continued trying to revive him for 30 minutes or so until Fisher returned and called 911. Paramedics took Parsons to the Hi-Desert Memorial Hospital in nearby Yucca Valley, where doctors attempted to save the musician. They were unsuccessful and Gram was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m. on September 19th. He was 26.

Gram’s story doesn’t end there, though. His step-dad, Bob Parsons, quickly made arrangements to fly the body to New Orleans, where he lived. Gram’s road manager Phil Kaufman had other plans, though. A few months earlier, Gram had made Kaufman promise that upon his death, he would cremate his body in Joshua Tree. Using a borrowed hearse, Phil and a friend kidnapped Parson’s body from LAX and took it back to Joshua Tree National Park, where they proceeded to pour 5 gallons of gasoline on it and light it on fire. Kaufman and his friend split as soon as the coffin was set ablaze. Its charred remains were discovered the following morning by hikers and what was left of Gram’s body was shipped to New Orleans.

Though he did not achieve much commercial success during his lifetime, today Gram is looked upon as one of history’s most influential country-rock musicians. In 2003, the Americana Music Association awarded him the “President’s Award” and Rolling Stone magazine placed him 87th on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” in 2005. Grievous Angel, which was released after Parsons’ death, is now considered a classic.

The owners of the Joshua Tree Inn have since embraced their connection to Parsons, as tragic as it may be. A large guitar-shaped memorial to the musician currently stands outside of Room 8 and a sign on the door of the front office states “Joshua Tree Inn, Home of Gram Parsons’ Spirit.” Most significant of all though is the fact that the very same mirror that was hanging on the wall of Room 8 on the night he passed away is still displayed there to this day. Supposedly, Parsons’ presence is often felt in the room and numerous guests have reported small belongings being moved around in the night.

Despite the macabre circumstances of September 19th, 1973, the Joshua Tree Inn & Motel is an absolutely charming little place. Now that I have wandered the grounds and experienced its tranquility, I would not hesitate to stay there overnight – even in Room 8.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Joshua Tree Inn & Motel is located at 61259 Twentynine Palms Highway in Joshua Tree. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

October 27, 2014September 29, 2017

Pete Duel’s Former House

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. That adage rings true for today’s story, about actor Pete Duel who shot and killed himself at his Hollywood Hills home in the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve 1971. I had Duel’s address written down in the Haunted Hollywood portion of my To-Stalk list, though I cannot for the life of me recall how or where I obtained it. I am unsure if a fellow stalker gave me the information or if I came across it in a book. I really need to start keeping notes on my sources. Regardless of how the address came my way, I was thankful for it and stalked the residence a couple of weeks ago while in L.A.

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Pete Duel was born Peter Ellstrom Deuel in Rochester, New York. He started acting as a child and, in 1959, moved to Manhattan to try his hand at stage productions. Deuel landed a role in a touring production of Take Her, She’s Mine in 1962, which brought him to Hollywood. Once there, he decided to stay. Peter gave himself five years to “make it” in the biz and make it he did. He quickly landed guest roles on several television shows which eventually led to him being cast as John Cooper on the series Gidget. When that show was cancelled after one season, he won a starring role in Love on a Rooftop. That series did not fare well, either, and was also cancelled after its inaugural season. It was at that time that Peter Deuel shorted his name to “Pete Duel.” He moved on to films shortly thereafter and was successful. Then, in 1970, he was cast in a leading role in the western-themed television series Alias Smith and Jones. It was a quick hit. The long hours proved hard on Pete, though, and he fell into a depression. He also developed an alcohol habit. Despite finally achieving the fame he had sought for years, he was not happy. A do-gooder by nature, Pete felt that he should be bettering the world and that his acting in Alias Smith and Jones was too trivial to accomplish that. The man who seemingly had it all wanted more.

In the summer of 1971, Pete and his girlfriend, Diane Rey, moved into a brown-shingled two-bedroom residence in the Hollywood Hills. At the time, the home was a small bungalow set back from the road. It has since been remodeled and a large front portion, which sits perpendicular to the original structure, was added. You can see what the property looked like when Pete lived on the premises here.

The large addition is pictured below. Today, the pad features four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 2,401 square feet of space. I believe that the property may currently be a multi-family home.

December 30th, 1971 began like any other day for Pete. He worked on his series and then, when shooting wrapped, was dropped off at home. Diane and Pete settled in for the evening to watch the latest episode of Alias Smith and Jones. Pete apparently was not pleased with it, which was not unusual. Diane went to bed shortly after, while Duel stayed up to watch a Lakers game. At around 1:30 in the morning, he walked into the master bedroom and grabbed his .38 revolver. A few minutes later, Diane heard a gun shot and ran into the living room where she found the actor lying nude underneath the Christmas tree. At the tender age of 31, Pete Duel was dead by his own hand – though whether it was an accident or on purpose the coroner couldn’t say. Duel’s blood alcohol level at the time of the shooting was 0.31, so it might very well have been accidental. The fact that shortly before his death he had scheduled his answering service to give him a wakeup call for 6:30 the following morning also lends credence to that scenario. There is a third possibility, as well, though, which many online truth-seekers believe – that Diane actually murdered Pete and altered the scene to make it look like he had killed himself. While Rey was questioned by the police, Pete’s death was officially ruled a suicide.

It took less than 12 hours for producers to recast Duel’s role on Alias Smith and Jones with actor Roger Davis. Audiences never warmed to him, though, and the series, which had been so popular prior to Pete’s death, was cancelled the following year. It is said that money does not bring happiness. Apparently, neither does fame.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Pete Duel’s former house is located at 2552 Glen Green Street in the Hollywood Hills.

October 24, 2014September 29, 2017

William Desmond Taylor’s Former House

Last Saturday, my mom, the Grim Cheaper and I attended a book signing for William J. Mann’s latest tome, Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood. My mom had heard about the event on our favorite desert radio show, The Bill Feingold Show Featuring Kevin Holmes, and thought I would be interested in the book as it is about the 1922 murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor, which remains unsolved. Ironically enough, I had just stalked Taylor’s former home two weeks beforehand, though at the time I knew little about his killing and the ensuing scandal. The signing, which featured a talk by Mann (that’s him in the rather blurry pic above), turned out to be intriguing and I cannot wait to delve into Tinseltown – and hopefully discover some new stalking locations along the way.

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William Desmond Taylor was born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner in County Carlow, Ireland on April 26th, 1872. He began acting in school productions as a youngster and then, in 1890, headed to America, first to Kansas and then to the Big Apple, with dreams of becoming an actor. His marriage to Ethel May Hamilton, the child of a wealthy broker, in 1901, and the birth of their daughter two years later put his acting plans on hold. Things appeared to be going well for the family, though. William opened up an antiques store and he and Ethel became well-known members of New York society. Then, on October 23rd, 1908, Taylor disappeared. While his wife surmised that he might have gotten lost during a bout of amnesia, the truth was that William had simply abandoned his family. Upon leaving New York, he traveled with an acting troupe around Canada and parts of the U.S and decided to try his hand at directing. He arrived in Hollywood in late 1912, armed with a new passion and a new name, William Desmond Taylor. He directed his first movie in 1914 and became wildly successful after that, going on to direct over 60 films.

In 1922, William was living at the Alvarado Court Apartments in Westlake. The upscale complex was comprised of eight, two-unit Spanish-style bungalows situated in a U-shape around a central garden. A 1948 view of Alvarado Court is pictured below.

William’s bungalow is denoted with the orange arrow below. He lived in the eastern side of the structure, in Apartment B.

Sadly, the Alvarado Court Apartments were bulldozed in the 1950s. Today, the site where they once stood is a parking lot for a Ross Dress for Less store.

Taylor’s apartment was located in what is now the northeastern portion of the parking lot . . .

. . . in the area pictured below.

On the morning of February 2nd, 1922, William’s butler, Henry Peavey, arrived at the bungalow and discovered his boss laying dead on the living room floor. Police were called, but before they appeared, Charles Eyton, the General Manager of Paramount Pictures, entered the home, went into Taylor’s bedroom and removed several letters and documents. The papers were never to be seen again and what was contained within them is anyone’s guess. William’s death had occurred during the midst of the Fatty Arbuckle rape trial, the fallout from which had hit Hollywood hard financially. It was a perilous time for the industry and the last thing studio executives wanted was another scandal, so they had come to “clean up.”

The first doctor to arrive on the scene surmised that Taylor had died of natural causes. It was not until the body was later turned over by the coroner that a bullet hole was discovered. It is believed that Desmond was killed at around 8 p.m. the evening prior. He suffered a single gunshot to the back. Though suspects were plentiful, his death remains unsolved to this day. One commonly-held theory is that William was killed by Charlotte Shelby, the mother/manager of actress Mary Miles Minter, with whom the director was romantically involved. Williams was almost thirty years older than the 20-year-old ingénue and if rumors of the illicit affair were to get out, it would have derailed Minter’s career. Being that Mary was Shelby’s very-valuable meal ticket, the momager was against the romance from the start. Some believe she killed William to put an end to it once and for all. (As it turns out, Shelby had been correct in her fears. Word of the affair quickly got out after Taylor’s murder and Mary’s career did not recover from the fallout.) While we may never know for sure who killed Taylor, William J. Mann claims to have solved the case during his research for Tinseltown and I am chomping at the bit to read his theory.

On a side-note – I also had the pleasure of meeting legendary Hollywood photographer Michael Childers at the Tinseltown signing. He and William J. Mann are close friends and when Mann mentioned his name, I recognized it immediately and raced over to get a picture as soon as the reading was over.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: William Desmond Taylor’s former home was located at 404-B South Alvarado Street, in the Alvarado Court Apartments, in Westlake. Today, the site is a parking lot for a Ross Dress for Less store.