Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to wish all my fellow stalkers a very Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying time with family, friends, and loved ones.
Until next time, happy stalking! 🙂

Tavern on the Green

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One of my favorite places in New York to grab a drink is a restaurant called Tavern On The Green. So, on Monday night I immediately recognized the Tavern as the location where The Hills Finale Live From NYC was held. Oh, how I wish I could have been there! 🙂 The Tavern has long been a New York institution. In 2007, over 500,000 people dined there, grossing it over $38 million in revenues. According to Wikipedia, it is the second highest grossing independently owned restaurant in the U.S., second only to Tao in Las Vegas!. But the Tavern actually had very humble beginnings. The structure now known as Tavern on the Green was first built in 1870 and served as Central Park’s Sheepfold, a shelter for the many sheep who called the park home. In 1934 New York City’s Commissioner of Parks Robert Moses renovated the building and turned it into a restaurant. Forty years later, in 1974, Warner Leroy, the son of Wizard of Oz producer Mervyn Leroy and Doris Warner (Harry Warner’s daughter), purchased the restaurant and began a $10 million renovation turning the Tavern into the ornate crystal and glass masterpiece it is today.

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Tavern on the Green is no stranger to the big or small screen. Besides The Hills Finale Live From NYC (which was filmed in the Crystal Room), the Tavern has also appeared in Ghostbusters (Rick Moranis fights with the “terror dog” outside the restaurant’s Crystal Room), Rich Girls (MTV’s really, really dumb reality show about Tommy Hilfigers’s daughter and her best friend), New York Stories (where Woody Allen shares a meal with his mother), Misery (the site of James Caan’s novel release party), Hitch, Yo! MTV Raps, ElimiDATE, Only When I Laugh, Stella, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Eddy Duchin Story, Made, Portrait of Jennie, The Out-of-Towners, and Wall Street. And I am about 99.9% positive that Carrie and Big dined in the Tavern’s lantern covered outdoor garden in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City entitled “The Caste System” (pictured above), but I haven’t been able to confirm that yet. And according to the latest issue of People Magazine, Tavern on the Green is where my girl Jennifer Aniston ate Christmas Eve dinner every year as a child. 🙂

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Tavern on the Green is a beautiful place to grab a drink or a bite to eat. Although a few tour books have labeled the restaurant tacky, I would have to disagree. The Tavern’s gaudiness and over-the-top decor are exactly what make it so appealing. Where else, but New York can you dine in a crystal ballroom complete with glass walls, hand-painted and hand-carved ceilings, brass and copper mirrors, walls decorated with 52-foot murals, and thousands upon thousands of twinkle lights? It is one of the most unique, special restaurants I have ever visited in my life. I absolutely LOVE IT! 🙂 And while the Tavern is pricey, it is worth saving your pennies to experience its rare ambience at least once in your life. I absolutely love the Tavern’s small cocktail bar (pictured above), but during the summer months nothing beats its outdoor garden, which is lit by hundreds of colored paper lanterns. It’s absolutely beautiful.

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But the most magical time of year at the Tavern is Christmastime. The interior of the restaurant is covered with countless wreaths, ribbons, and candy canes. But it is actually the Tavern’s outside that is the most awe-inspiring.

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Coming upon the Tavern from Central Park, it is almost like a beacon in the night. The trees in the front and the back are completely covered in twinkle lights – thousands upon thousands of them. I’ve honestly never seen so many in my life! Tavern on the Green gives Clark Griswold a run for his money! Pictures truly don’t do the light display justice – it must be seen in person to truly be appreciated.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Tavern on the Green is located at Central Park West at 67th Street. You can visit their website here. Reservations are highly recommended! The bar is first come, first served, but arrive early. It’s standing room only even on weekdays.

The Seven Year Itch Apartment

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In Vanity Fair’s October 2008 cover story, photographer Mark Anderson asks “Who ever forgets the first time they saw Marilyn Monroe?” Such a great quote! I remember exactly where I was the first time I saw Miss Monroe – sitting in my apartment watching The Seven Year Itch just a few short months ago. As soon as I watched the scene where Marilyn leans out the window of her New York City summer sublet, hairdryer in hand, and exclaims “I just washed my hair!”, that was it for me! I was a goner! 🙂 So this past week, while in New York, I just had to stalk the apartment building where that scene was filmed.

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Needless to say the apartment building featured in The Seven Year Itch looks extremely different today than it did back in 1955 when filming took place. But thankfully it is still, for the most part, recognizable as the residence where Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe spent one hot summer in Manhattan. In The Seven Year Itch, MM’s character, “The Girl”, moves into a non-air-conditioned apartment for the summer. That apartment just happens to be located directly above married man Tom Ewell, whose wife and son are spending their summer in the country. “The Girl” befriends Tom and spends many an evening in his apartment, which is equipped with an “air conditioner in every room!” Hilarity ensues, of course, as Tom tries, very unsuccessfully I might add, to avoid falling under Marilyn’s spell.

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The apartment building is featured several times in the film. It’s most notable appearance is at the very end of the movie when Tom realizes how very much he loves his wife and spontaneously decides to spend the rest of the summer with her in the country, leaving his air-conditioned pad to MM. How cute is that! Anyway, in the pandemonium, Tom runs out his front door, barefooted, and heads towards the train station. The ending shot of the movie is of Marilyn leaning out of Tom’s first floor window as she tosses him the forgotten loafers. 🙂

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I was SUPER excited to stalk this location! The Seven Year Itch building was pretty much the top “must-see” locale of my New York vacation. It was amazing to realize that movie magic been made at this very spot a little over fifty years ago. And that Marilyn Monroe herself had once leaned out the window of the small, non-descript building I was now staring at.

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For those of you in the market for a New York apartment, The Seven Year Itch building currently has a vacancy. 🙂 Let’s hope the apartment for rent has air conditioning! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Seven Year Itch apartment is located at 164 East 61th Street in New York.

I Heart New York!

Tonight I am taking the red eye to New York City, leaving behind the land of tank tops and cutoff shorts for the land of down parkas and thermal underwear. My family and I are taking our annual winter vacation to my favorite city in the world – the Big Apple! So today, before my flight, I thought I’d blog about a location I stalked on my last trip to NYC.

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I have long been a fan of a series of mystery novels that take place in and around the island of Manhattan. The series is written by former New York District Attorney Linda Fairstein, who worked in the Manhattan D.A.’s office for over thirty years before retiring in 2002. Linda first served as assistant district attorney for four years before being promoted to the head of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit where she spent twenty-six years prosecuting perpetrators of sexual assault and trying numerous high profile cases. In 1996 Linda began writing mystery novels based on her experiences in the D.A.’s office. Her first novel was entitled Final Jeopardy and it centers around heroine Alexandra Cooper, who, like Linda herself, is head of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit. Mark Twain did say to “Write what you know.” 🙂 Since her writing debut, Linda has gone on to publish nine other mysteries in the series, each one better than the last. I absolutely love Linda’s novels, not only because they are great reads, but also because Alexandra visits real life New York locations in the course of her travels. Not wanting to restrict my stalking solely to movie locations, on my last trip to NYC, I set out to stalk some of the sites featured in Linda’s books.

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The first location I set out to stalk was PJ Bernstein’s Delicatessen and Restaurant, a favorite stomping ground of Alex Cooper’s. In the series, Alex lives just upstairs from the deli and visits it in each and every novel. Apparently they make fabulous matzo ball soup. So, last December, I just had to drag my boyfriend there. I was absolutely floored to see that the Upper East Side deli was exactly as Linda had described it in her books. The owner was extremely nice, although somewhat baffled at the fact that I was taking photographs out front. When I explained to him why I was doing so, a lightbulb went off in his head and he started laughing. He couldn’t believe I was actually stalking a location from a fictional book. LOL He told me that he knew Linda very well and that she visits his deli almost daily, but sadly we did not see her during our visit.

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The next location I dragged my boyfriend to was Alex Cooper’s swanky Upper East Side apartment building. I was happy to see that the building was also exactly as described in the books – long curving driveway with a drop-off area, two doormen out front, and a little gated garden. I didn’t get very good pics of the building, though, as the doormen looked a bit unhappy at the fact that I was posing for pictures out front. LOL

I must say that it was very cool stalking these locations from Linda’s mysteries; almost as much fun as stalking movie locations. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend checking out the Alex Cooper mystery series, you won’t be disappointed!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: PJ Bernstein is located at 1215 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. Alexandra Cooper’s apartment building is located just around the corner at 211 East 70th Street.

A Drink with the Dearly Departed

This past Saturday night, thanks to E.J. over at The Movieland Directory who made the introduction, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, his fiance, my boyfriend, and I met up with Scott Michaels, creator and founder of both the Find-A-Death website and the Dearly Departed Tour Company. Scott’s tours and website both focus on famous Hollywood death and scandal locations. (The bathroom stop on his tour is the very same bathroom where George Michael was caught with his pants down a few years back! LOL) You might remember Scott from a Season 2 episode of The Girls Next Door, entitled “Girls Will Be Ghouls”. In the episode, Bridget arranged to take the girls on Scott’s Dearly Departed tour right around Halloween. Ever since viewing that episode I have wanted to take the tour for myself, but have yet to get around to it. So I was especially excited to meet up with Scott this weekend! Besides The Girls Next Door, Scott has also been featured in the book “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” and on E!’s 20 Most Horrifying Hollywood Murders special.

Scott suggested we meet up for drinks at Vitello’s Restaurant in Studio City. Quite a fitting locale to meet up with the man who calls himself the “Director of Undertakings”, dontcha think? 🙂 For those not in the know, Vitello’s is the restaurant where Robert Blake’s wife Bonnie Lee Bakley ate her final meal before being murdered in her car which was parked just a block and a half away. At the time of her murder, Blake claims he had run back to Vitello’s to supposedly search for his lost gun. Nice alibi! I’ve eaten at Vitello’s a few times and it is a GREAT restaurant. One of my faves in all of L.A. And we had a blast hanging out with Scott. It was very cool to chat with him about Hollywood history and scandal locations.

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After drinks, as morbid as it may sound, I asked Scott if he wouldn’t mind showing us the exact spot where Bonnie Lee Bakley’s murder took place. I knew it was just a block and a half away from Vitello’s, but I was never sure of the exact location. So after we finished our drinks, Scott led us over to the spot. It was very cool to be given a little mini-tour and history of the murder from the founder of Dearly Departed and Find-A-Death himself! : ) And now, I really can’t wait to take his tour! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Vitello’s Restaurant is located at 4349 Tujunga Avenue in Studio City. Bonnie Lee Bakley’s murder site is located a block and a half from the restaurant, just off the corner of Kraft Avenue and Woodbridge Street. Look for the large green electrical box on Woodbridge, just east of where it meets Kraft. Bonnie’s car was parked just in front of it when she was killed. You can visit the Dearly Departed website to book a tour with Scott here. Tickets run from $35 to $50, depending on the tour.

The Formosa Cafe

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This past weekend I dragged my boyfriend out to West Hollywood to grab drinks at a Los Angeles staple that I had yet to stalk – the legendary Formosa Cafe. The small cafe, located on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Formosa Avenue in West Hollywood, was opened up in 1925 by former prizefighter Jim Bernstein. The original restaurant, which served only lunch, was built inside a former Red Line trolley car and went by the name of “The Red Spot”. In 1932 Bernstein partnered up with a man named Lem Quan, expanded his little cafe, and changed the name to its current moniker – “the Formosa Cafe”. Due to its close proximity to what at the time was known as the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios (now the studio is simply called “The Lot”) which was located right across the street, the Formosa quickly became host to a bevy of Hollywood stars. Today the restaurant, now owned by Vincent Jung (grandson of original partner Lem Quan), is still popular today with many Hollywood A and B listers.

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Just a brief list of those who have frequented the Formosa over the years: everyone from movie stars of yesteryear like Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Clark Gable, Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen (the outline of a safe he used to keep in the floor of the restaurant is still visible to this day), Johnny Stompanato, Elizabeth Short aka the Black Dhalia, Eva Gardner, Natalie Wood, and Jane Russell, to the celebs of today like Laura Flynn Boyle, Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty (who used to be a regular), Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Jodie Foster, Johnny Depp, Matthew Perry, James Woods, and Christian Slater (who is reportedly a bad tipper). Literally anyone whose anyone has eaten at this tiny cafe. The Formosa has also been the site of a few celebrity scandals. It was just outside the Formosa that Eddie Murphy picked up a transvestite prositute on the night of May 2, 1997. Just minutes before Eddie had been hanging out at Jones, a club across the street, when he spotted Ken Atison Seiuli just outside the Formosa Cafe and decided to give her/him a ride. Shannen Doherty also had a run in with the law outside the famous cafe when she was arrested for hitting a fellow patron’s car with a beer bottle in the Formosa parking lot a few years back. Besides being a celeb hot-spot, the Formosa has also appeared in several movies, the most famous of which being the “A hooker cut to look like Lana Turner is still just a hooker” scene in L.A. Confidential. The Cafe also appeared in Swingers, The Majestic, and Still Breathing.

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I absolutely LOVED being at the Formosa. The restaurant has managed to preserve an old Hollywood vibe and you can feel it the second you walk through the doors. It’s like magic! All I could think while sitting in that old train car was that Marilyn Monroe had once sat in the very same restaurant. I was absolutely mesmerized looking at the 250 plus signed black and white headshots which wallpaper the restaurant. It’s amazing to think about all the history held within the red painted walls of the small hang-out. I must say that the food was excellent, too – especially the chicken pot-stickers! The service was also great, too, without any of the typical L.A. pretentiousness.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Formosa Cafe is located at 7156 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit their website here.

Halloween 2008

For Halloween this year, I desperately wanted my boyfriend and I to dress up like Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. I know, total shocker. 🙂 It all ended up coming together quite perfectly, too, as earlier this summer I found a white dress a la Marilyn’s subway grate ensemble, that was super inexpensive. I also happened to have an appointment to get my hair cut on Halloween morning, so I asked my amazing hair stylist, Martina, if she could do me up Marilyn style. She happily obliged and even offered to do my make-up for me. Without even looking at a picture of the starlet for reference, she was able to whip my hair into a full-on Marilyn ‘do and apply my make-up perfectly! I was shocked! When I asked her how she did it without using a photo, she said “Honey, that’s what I do!” LOL I actually think the effect may have been too good, though, because I had FIVE people stop me and say “Has anyone ever told you that you look EXACTLY like Marilyn Monroe.” Even though it was Halloween, no one seemed to realize I was wearing a costume – they thought I just looked like Marilyn naturally. LOL That actually might be good news, though – as maybe someday I’ll get to play MM in a big screen biopic of the star. 🙂

Anyway, since we couldn’t find anything to do in L.A. for Halloween (we were literally all dressed up with no place to go!), I dragged my boyfriend to Downtown Palm Springs. We spent the evening walking around Downtown, barhopping, hanging out, and watching all the other people in costumes. We had a blast! And I even got stopped by a Japanese tourist who wanted her photo taken with me. 🙂

We ended up spending most of our evening at the Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa – a legendary Palm Springs hot spot from back in the 50s and 60s. The resort recently underwent a complete rennovation and has been closed down for the past year. It only just reopened two weeks ago and it is a very cool, very hip spot to hang out. The hotel has a 50s-modern style vibe to it, made complete with a large picture of Marilyn made out of Guatemalan coins hanging in the lobby, so, of course, I had to snap a photo of it. 🙂 And the Riviera is even a filming location! It was featured as the hotel where Connie Stevens stayed in the 1963 flick Palm Springs Weekend.

The poolside Bikini Bar, where we hung out all night, is fabulous with its large firepits and ultra-comfy lounge chairs. While there we ran into 90s actor Jeff Prettyman, who is currently retired and living in Palm Springs. Jeff acted in the movies Young Guns and Cheerleader Camp, so of course I had to take a pic with him. 🙂

The following morning, I was reading a Palm Springs magazine in our hotel room and I happened to spot a photograph of Marilyn Monroe posing at the Racquet Club of Palm Springs (pictured above), a place I had never heard of. So, of course, on our way out of town I had to drag my boyfriend to stalk it.

But unfortunately, when we arrived there wasn’t much to see as the area is currently a large constuction zone. The once legendary resort and Hollywood playground is currently closed and undergoing a $50 million rennovation with the surrounding land being turned into luxury condominiums and lofts. That was the plan, anyway. In 2004, architect Van Scott Jones and financial handler Michael Mueller purchased the land with big plans to restore the resort to its former grandeur. However, just a few days ago the property went into forclosure and the fate of the Racquet Club is now left up in the air. I truly hope someone comes in to rescue this piece of Hollywood and Palm Springs history. Oddly enough, for some reason the construction area was not entirely fenced in, and since there weren’t any “no trespassing” signs posted, my boyfriend and I ventured in for a little looksie.

It was very, very cool to be walking around a piece of property that holds so much history. While there, I could just imagine the screen legends of the day lounging poolside under the desert sun. You can see the now empty pool behind me in the above photograph.

The Palm Springs Racquet Club was opened up on Christmas Day of 1933 by actors Ralph Bellamy and Charlie Farrell, who wanted a place in the desert where they could play tennis. The resort became enormously popular with the celebs of the day – a playground to the stars, compete with tennis courts, a large swimming pool and a legendary bar named the Bamboo Lounge. The bloody mary cocktail was actually first concocted in that lounge. Apparently, Racquet Club guests needed a little “hair of the dog” each morning to cure their budding hangovers, so the Lounge chefs mixed together a few ingredients and, voila, the bloody mary was born. The owners of a New York bar named the 21 Club often stayed at the Racquet Club and fell in love with the new cocktail. They ended up bringing the drink back to their New York bar and the rest, as they say, is history. The Racquet Club didn’t fare quite as well as the cocktail created there, though, and due to dwindling profits, it was sold several times and quickly fell into dilapidation and disarray.

Among the stars who hung out at the Racquet Club in its heyday – Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Jane Russell, Bob Hope, Jayne Mansfield, Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn, John Kennedy, Bing Crosby, Lana Turner, Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Ronald Regan, and, of course, my girl Marilyn Monroe, who spent New Years of 1948 there with her agent Johnny Hyde (pictured above). Rumor has it that Marilyn was actually discovered by photographer Bruno Bernard while lounging poolside at the Club, but I am not sure how true that story is.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Raquet Club of Palm Springs is located at 2743 North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. The Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Spa is located at 1600 North Indian Canyon Drive, also in Palm Springs. If you need your hair styled like Marilyn – or if you just need a new ‘do in general – you can visit Martina Maina at T-Birds Salon, located at 1808 West Olive Avenue in Burbank. You can visit T-Birds website here. T-Birds is located right across the street from an oft used filming location – the Safari Inn – which was featured in True Romance and Apollo 13 .

Michael Jackson’s Thriller Zombie Dance Location

Last week, while cyber-stalking the theatre used in Michael Jackson’s Thriller , I read that the final dance sequence in the video was filmed on a street in Los Angeles named Union Pacific Avenue. So, of course, I immediately called up Mike from MovieShotsLA to let him know. Unfortunately, Union Pacific Avenue is a very long street and the two of us had no idea where the exact spot was that Thriller was filmed. But, as usual, Mike worked his magic and within about ten minutes he had found it! He is so my hero!! So, with only two days left to go of my Haunted Hollywood theme, this morning I dragged my dad out to Union Pacific Avenue to do some Thriller stalking.

I was EXTREMELY excited to see that the street looks EXACTLY the same today as it did back in 1983 when Thriller was filmed! The wall that MJ and his fellow zombies dance in front of is still standing and looks just the same as it did in the Thriller days. In fact it was that wall that Mike used to figure out the location of the filming. Using Google Maps Street View, he went up and down Union Pacific Avenue on his computer looking for the wall, hoping it was still standing. And it was! I am absolutely amazed (and thrilled!) that the wall is still there for us stalkers to appreaciate all these years later.

It also looks like the very same company that inhabited the building where the dance sequence took place twenty five years ago, is still, in fact, stationed there. As you can see in the above screen captures, the company signage is still in the exact same spot and looks pretty much identical to how it did in the video. 🙂 I can’t tell you how excited I was to be standing in the exact spot where MJ danced twenty-five years ago! There were a few workers standing around eating breakfast at a food truck while my dad and I were taking pictures and they thought we were absolutely crazy! They were looking at me while I was doing my Thriller poses as if I was stark raving mad. LOL Love it!

Had to do it! 🙂

You can watch the Thriller video here. On a side note, this year is the 25th Anniversary of Thriller and Michael Jackson released a 25th Anniversary Special Edition Album for the occasion. How did I not know about this???? I mean Thriller is my favorite album of all time! The Anniversary Edition contains seven bonus tracks with special guest artists including Fergie and Kanye West, a promotional booklet, and a DVD of music videos including Michael Jackson’s legendary “Billie Jean” performance at the Motown 25 television special.

Big THANKS as always to Mike for finding this location – just in time for Halloween, too! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Thriller main dance sequence location can be stalked at 3701 East Union Pacific Avenue in Los Angeles, just outside the City of Commerce. The area is highly industrial and not in the safest part of town, so please exercise caution – especially if you visit it at night.

They’re Here!

A few weeks ago I sent Mike from MovieShotsLA out to do a little Haunted Hollywood stalking for me. I had read online that the house from the original Poltergeist movie (another horror flick I have yet to see!) is located in Simi Valley, and since Mike was in the area, I asked him to run by and snap some pics for me. As you can see from the above screen capture, the home looks exactly the same today as it did 26 years ago when the movie was filmed. The house actually looks like an average, everyday home that could be located on any street in America, and I think that is exactly why producers chose to use it. In fact, the voiceover in the trailer for the movie says this: “The house looks just like the one next to it, and the one next to that, and the one next to that. A couple lives in it with their three children . . . and something more.” The normalcy of the house makes the movie all the more scary.

Even though I have never actually seen Poltergeist, the movie has always intrigued me due to the rumored curse that has long been attached to it. Four actors from the Poltergeist trilogy passed away at fairly young ages causing many to believe the movies are cursed. The most tragic of the Poltergeist deaths were, of course, the deaths of the two young girls who played the Freeling family daughters. Dominique Dunne, who played Dana Freeling in the movie and who was the real life daughter of author Dominick Dunne, was strangled to death by her former boyfriend in the driveway of her West Hollywood home on November 4, 1982, just a few months after Poltergeist premiered. She was 22. Child star Heather O’Rourke, who played younger daughter Carol Anne, passed away on February 1, 1988 due to complications from cardiopulmonary arrest and intestinal stenosis. She was 12. Ironically both girls are buried at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood. The other two Poltergeist actors who passed away at fairly young ages both starred in the second movie in the trilogy. Julian Beck, who played Kane, passed away from cancer at the age of 60, and Will Sampson, who played Taylor, passed away at 53 due to complications from surgery. Curse or no curse the untimely passing of so many of the trilogy’s stars definitely adds an amount of grim allure to the movie.

Big THANK YOU to Mike for taking the pics and stalking this location for me! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Poltergeist house is located at 4267 Roxbury Street in Simi Valley.

The House Where Britney Spears and Kevin Federline Got Married

Happy, Happy, Happy Halloween, everybody! As I have mentioned many times before, Halloween is my favorite holiday, so today I thought I’d post some pics of one of my favorite Halloweens ever – the year my boyfriend and I dressed up like Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.

This was back in 2005, the same year that Britters wore the now famous “I Have the Golden Ticket” tank top over her pregnant belly to the Willy Wonka premiere. Of course, I became totally obsessed with that tank top and got to scouring Ebay, where I found an exact replica and also some urban loungewear (yes, it’s actually called that!) a la KFed’s wedding ensemble. And voila – a costume was born. 🙂 For my pregnancy “bump” I just stuck a semi-blown up beach ball under my shirt. And it was so realistic that a lady in the bar I was at on Halloween night actually yelled at me for drinking while pregnant. LOL!!!! 🙂

Today I decided to stalk the house where Miss Spears and Mr. Federline tied the knot back on September 18, 2004. I realize that tying this location in with my Haunted Hollywood theme is a bit of a stretch, but I can justify it by saying that the union of Britney Jean Spears and Kevin Earl Federline was downright scary. 🙂 After watching BritBrit and Kevin interact with each other on their Chaotic reality TV series, I absolutely could not believe that two such complete morons managed to find each other. It’s almost as if they were tailor-made for each other. I’m actually really surprised the marriage didn’t last!! Anyway, I decided I just HAD to stalk the home where their marriage took place.

On September 18, 2004 Britney and Kevin invited 25 of their closest friends and family members to an impromptu wedding ceremony at the Studio City home of their wedding planner, Alyson Fox. The couple had planned on getting married at Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara, but due to the media frenzy surrounding the event, they decided to celebrate their union at this modest home in Studio City a few weeks earlier than expected. Stalking this location proved to be a tough one, though, as the only info I had on the house was the owner’s name and the general location. But thanks to master stalker E.J. over at the Movieland Directory, who offered me his help, I was able to located the address of the house and yesterday I ran right out to stalk it. 🙂 Thanks, E.J.! (The above scan was taken from the 2004 issue of People Magazine that covered BritBrit and KFed’s union.)

The home where Brit and KFed got married is a super cute, very picturesque, but also very normal looking house. Not at all the type of place I’d envision the pop princess tying the knot. But I also could have never pictured her walking into a gas station bathroom sans shoes – so go figure! Anyway, after doing some cyber-stalking yesterday, I discovered that Brit’s wedding house is currently for sale! For a mere $1,999,950, you can have the priveledge of owning the home where this blessed ceremony took place. 🙂 You can see interior pics of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking and Happy Halloween! 🙂

Stalk It: Britney and Kevin’s wedding house is located at 4053 Farmdale Avenue in Studio City.