Tag: Celebrities

The Redbury Hotel from “Entourage”

Last July, while doing some cyber-stalking, I came across an article on the USA TODAY Travel website about the numerous Southern California hotels and restaurants featured in the eighth and final season of the hit television series Entourage. One of the spots mentioned in the blurb was Tinseltown’s newly-opened The Redbury Hotel, which appeared in the episode titled “The Big Bang”, and, thanks to its dark crimson walls, unique architecture and old Hollywood vibe, I immediately became enamored of the place. I, of course, added the locale to my “To-Stalk” list right then and there, but, for whatever reason, did not make it out there to actually do so until three weekends ago.

And I am very happy to report that the place did not disappoint! To say that I am in love with The Redbury would be a gross understatement. The 57-room boutique hotel, which first opened in November of 2010, was the brainchild of sbe Entertainment Group founder/CEO Sam Nazarian and photographer/music video director Matthew Rolston. The 5-story structure was originally conceived as a high-end, $50 million condominium project by the Palisades Development company, but that venture was forced to be scrapped during the real estate downturn. In February of 2010, at which time the building was about 80-percent complete, it was purchased by the CIM Group, who re-envisioned the locale as an upscale hotel and hired Nazarian and Rolston to manage and design it, respectively.

The name Redbury comes from a combination of “red”, the hue that Palisades Development had already painted the building, and “bury”, in honor of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. According to an August 2010 Los Angeles Times article, the hotel’s eclectic style is a mix of “bohemian, 1960s flower power and old Hollywood”. Apparently, Rolston wanted the locale to feel “’theatrical’, a little bit like actually being in one of my photographs or music videos”. And, as you can see above, he succeeded with that vision – in spades! The Redbury is honestly like nothing I have ever seen before and absolutely does feel like a movie set come to life. I so loved it that I was even tempted to book a room while we were there for a spontaneous little stay-cation, but the Grim Cheaper was, of course, having none of that.

The Redbury staff was BEYOND friendly and, even though none of the hotel’s restaurants were open while we were stalking the place, I was allowed to go inside to take a peek at each of them and told that I could snap “all of the photographs you want” – six little words that I absolutely LOVE to hear. The areas of the hotel that we visited included the Library Bar – which honestly feels more like the ultra-cozy living room of a very stylish friend’s house than a public bar;

The Glade courtyard lounge – a huge terrace garden complete with teak decking, Moorish-style lanterns and outdoor couches and daybeds;

and Cleo – an ultra-hip Middle-Eastern-style restaurant that is dominated by a large 1917 movie poster of actress Theda Bara dressed as Cleopatra. The Library Bar, Glade and Cleo are all major celebrity hotspots. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted at the one of the three watering holes include my girl Kristin Cavallari, my man Matt Lanter (sigh!), Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Foxx, Hilary Duff, Joe Jonas, Ashley Greene, Audrina Patridge, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Sam Trammell, the entire Kardashian/Jenner family, Courteney Cox, Josh Hopkins, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Adam Brody, Neve Campbell, Carla Gugino, Nia Vardalos, Jesse Williams, Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Whitney Port, Busy Phillips, Stacey Keibler, David Beckham, Kirstie Alley, Cheryl Burke, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jessica Lowndes, Gillian Zinser, Sarah Hyland, Salma Hayek, Mila Kunis, and Ali Fedotowsky.

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In “The Big Bang” episode of Entourage, Cleo restaurant was where Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) ambushed Vanity Fair reporter Sophia Lear (Alice Eve) and tried to convince her that he was not a womanizer. And while the USA TODAY Travel article stated that the series had filmed scenes “throughout the hotel, including its Library lounge”, I did not spot any other areas of the property in “The Big Bang” or in other episodes from Season 8, so I believe that information is incorrect.

The yet-to-be released movie Between Us, which stars Julia Stiles, Melissa George and Taye Diggs, also did some filming at The Redbury.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Redbury Hotel, from “The Big Bang” episode of Entourage, is located at 1717 Vine Street in Hollywood. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

February 16, 2012
Robert Reed’s Former Home

I (along with cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!) would like to start out today by wishing all of my fellow stalkers a very happy Valentine’s Day! And now, on with the post!

A couple of weeks ago, while doing research on the Nanny and the Professor house, I happened to stumble upon an article on my friend Scott Michaels’ FindADeath website about Robert Reed, the Shakespearian-trained actor who is most famous for having portrayed architect/patriarch Mike Brady on the 1970s television sitcom The Brady Bunch. And, let me tell you, I almost fell right out of my chair when I read the portion of the article which stated that the star had lived the majority of his later years right here in Pasadena. Come again, now? How in the world had I not previously known this information?? Especially considering that The Brady Bunch is one of my favorite shows of all time! I mean, why on earth is this data not posted right there on the homepage of the official City of Pasadena website, or on a plaque on the walls of City Hall itself?? It is a pretty major claim to fame – in my eyes at least! Sheesh! Do I have to think of everything? Anyway, I was so excited about the news that I ran right out to stalk the place later that same week.

According to Zillow, Robert Reed’s former home, which was originally built in 1947 and sits on almost half an acre of land, boasts 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 4,400 square feet of living space. There seems to be a bit of a discrepancy somewhere, though, because the Property Shark website has a differing set of statistics which state that the abode measures 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, and 4,010 square feet of living space. And, unfortunately, I am unsure of which information is correct. Either way, I cannot express how incredibly cool I think it is that Robert Reed, who was a household name and an instantly recognizable star at the time, lived in a dwelling that was largely visible from the street. Love it!

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According to his death certificate, which can be viewed on the FindADeath website, Robert Reed passed away at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena on Tuesday, May 12th, 1992, and not at his home as several websites have stated. The actor was 59 years old at the time. His funeral was held at All Saints Church in Pasadena, an oft-filmed-at location that I have yet to blog about, and he is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois. According to a commenter named Rita on the FindADeath site, the home pictured above was not Robert Reed’s first Pasadena-area residence. The star, who was born John Robert Rietz, originally purchased a property located at 1210 South Arroyo Boulevard sometime during the mid-sixties. That gargantuan abode, which boasts 3 bedrooms, 5 baths, a whopping 9,218 square feet, and 0.84 acres of land, is, sadly, not at all visible from the street, though, so I did not attempt to stalk it. Reed sold his original Pasadena residence sometime around 1985, at which point he moved about a half a mile east, into the sprawling Spanish-style home where he would live out the remainder of his years.

Big THANK YOU to Scott Michaels, from the FindADeath website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Robert Reed’s former house is located at 980 Stoneridge Drive in Pasadena. The Cravens Estate, from Commander in Chief and JAG, is located right around the corner at 430 Madeline Drive in Pasadena.

February 14, 2012
The “TimesTalks” Interview with George Clooney & Alexander Payne

This past Wednesday afternoon, the fabulous Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, informed me that she had just scored two tickets to The New York Times “TimesTalks in L.A.” interview with actor George Clooney and his The Descendants director Alexander Payne. Pinky wanted me to be her plus-one for the event, which was taking place that evening at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, and, even though I have never been a huge George Clooney fan, I immediately accepted. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved Ocean’s Eleven and think GC (yes, there’s another one!) is a great actor, but, unlike most females on the planet, he has never been my end-all, be-all. I have always just kind of felt fair-to-middling about the guy. Oh, how that was all about to change! Pinky and I showed up to the event about an hour early and there were already a good 100 people in line. Thankfully though, we were able to snag some second row seats and Pinky was literally on the edge of hers the entire time waiting for the interview to begin. You see, George Clooney has long been Pinky’s “unicorn”. While almost all of her other stalker friends had managed to snag pics with him over the years, she had somehow missed him at countless events and was beginning to think the guy didn’t exist. So to make sure that this would not turn out to be yet another failed opportunity, she knitted George a scarf and wrote him a card, hoping that he would take pity on us and, in turn, pose for a couple of photos.

The interview got started right on time and when George Clooney walked onto the stage, I am pretty sure my mouth fell open about a foot . . . and I might have even drooled a little. In person, without the aid of professional make-up, lighting, and Photoshop, the guy still looked movie-star-perfect! Like WOW!

Unfortunately, the moderator for the event, who shall remain nameless, was beyond-words horrible! How he managed to make an interview with George Clooney and Alexander Payne boring is absolutely beyond me, but he did! About thirty minutes into it, I turned to Pinky and said, “I would rather stab a pen through my eye than have to sit here and listen to this guy any longer!” I swear, if Joel McHale and The Soup writers got hold of the video of the event, they would have a field day! At one point, when an audience member asked George and Alexander what movies had inspired them over the years, the moderator opted to also give an answer himself. Like, really?? I don’t think anyone was asking you! And while Alexander seemed annoyed with the guy (and rightfully so!), George (gotta love him!) was repeatedly trying to help him out. He continually attempted to lead the conversation in a much more interesting direction and gave beautifully-crafted answers to the many inanely-crafted questions. All I could think while watching him was, George Clooney is not just nice, he’s kind. I honestly do not think I would have been nearly as gracious in the same situation.

George was also EXTREMELY funny, witty, and quick to laugh, as you can see above. I can only imagine how dreadfully boring the whole interview would have been had he not been carrying it.

George also seemed incredibly down-to-earth. When the moderator opened up the interview to questions from the audience at the end of the evening and then realized there were no microphones set up in the auditorium, George immediately jumped out of his chair to help find one. Um, LOVE IT! And the tipping point for me was when a much older, slightly clueless, gentleman got up to ask a question, during which he told George that he had once submitted a script to George’s uncle, movie director Jose Ferrer, and that, in response, Jose had written him the kindest rejection letter he had ever received. He happened to have the letter with him and George immediately jumped off of the stage to accept it, then gave the guy a hug, and posed for a photograph with him for the press in attendance. The gentleman, who by that time was no longer near the audience microphone, then asked George if he wouldn’t mind moving a bit closer to him so that he could use the microphone affixed to George’s lapel to continue to tell his story (not kidding!), which went on . . . and on . . . and on. The whole thing was absolutely unbelievable, but George, once again, was beyond kind about it and never rushed the man or acted in any way uninterested in hearing what he had to say.

As soon as the interview was over, Pinky ran up to the stage and called George over to give him the scarf and card she had made. George honestly could NOT have been nicer, thanked her, and happily agreed to pose for a pic . . .

. . . which turned out ADORABLE! <3

Then I asked for a pic and George, once again, happily obliged. Pinky often says about the friendlier stars she has met over the years, “That celeb was so nice, he/she would have braided my hair if I had I asked!” Well, I am very happy to report that George Clooney was braid-your-hair nice.

Alexander Payne was also incredibly nice and down-to-earth and actually kneeled down on the stage next to me so that my picture with him would come out better. LOVE IT!

Pinky and I took the above photo as we were walking to our car after the interview, squealing like little schoolgirls the entire way! She captioned the pic on Facebook, “This is our ‘We just met George Clooney’ face!”

Watch live streaming video from nytimes at livestream.com

You can watch a video of the entire “TimesTalks in LA” interview with George Clooney and Alexander Payne by clicking above.

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Upon leaving the event, Pinky, ever the stalker, decided to search the WireImage website to see which stars were in attendance at the This Means War premiere that was taking place over in Hollywood that same night. And she just about flipped when she saw that Kristin Cavallari was there, because it just so happens that KCav is my unicorn! I absolutely LOVE the reality star and have not only missed her at several appearances, but when I did end up meeting her a few years back, the Grim Cheaper had a massive fail with our photo op. So Pinky and I immediately headed right on over to Hollywood to try to catch my unicorn! And while we didn’t end up seeing Kristin, we did get some pics with some other celebs including Holly Marie Combs (don’t we look like besties in the above photo? );

Perrey Reeves, aka Mrs. Ari on Entourage;

Melanie Lynskey – aka Rose, Charlie’s stalker on Two and a Half Men;

Ashley Jones, from The Bold and the Beautiful and True Blood;

and Francois Arnaud from The Borgias. All in all it was a FABULOUS night that I am still on a complete and total high from over 24 hours later! You can read Miss Pinky Lovejoy’s write-up of the evening on her blog here.

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event and for turning me into a huge George Clooney fan in the process!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch The Descendants in theatres now.

February 10, 2012
Charlie Babbitt’s Apartment from “Rain Man”

A couple of weeks ago, I read on fellow stalker Lisa’s Finding the Famous blog that the apartment building where Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) lived in the 1988 movie Rain Man was located somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. I, of course, immediately started trying to track down the building’s exact location and fairly quickly found the information I was seeking thanks to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory. E.J.’s website has actually been on a “hiatus” since January 8th of this year, while it is being updated from its previous database of 20,000 movie locales and celebrity addresses to one of over 90,000. And while that all sounds well and good, this stalker has been simply lost without the website, as I use it almost daily as a resource. When I emailed E.J. to tell him of my plight, he immediately sent over an extremely large Excel spreadsheet containing all 90,000 of his extensively-researched addresses for me to refer to at will. Um, how do I even begin to say thank you for that??? Needless to say, the gesture was GREATLY appreciated. And while I have to admit that I am, for whatever reason, supremely Excel-challenged, I have been using his database regularly and was able to find the location of the Rain Man apartment building with sufficient ease. Thank you, “Ctrl-F” and thank you, E.J.! So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.

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Charlie Babbitt’s apartment building shows up only once, and very briefly, towards they end of Rain Man, in the scene in which Charlie brings his newly-found autistic brother, Raymond Babbitt (Dustin Hoffman), home to Los Angeles after a long road trip across America. It is at the building that Raymond freaks out after setting off the fire alarm while attempting to cook Eggo Waffles in a convection oven.

The area of the apartment building shown in Rain Man is not the front exterior, but the west side, which, thankfully, still looks much the same today as it did when the movie was filmed in 1988, despite the fact that almost two and a half decades have since passed. The only difference I could spot is that the chain link fence which once surrounded the pool has since been replaced with a wooden fence. But otherwise, the place looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen. So incredibly cool!

The front exterior of the building is pictured above. According to fave website Zillow, the dwelling was originally constructed in 1926 and measures 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,201 square feet. And while I could not find much information about the place online, I am guessing that it is comprised of 3 separate apartment units. I also learned from E.J.’s extensive files that actor Brad Pitt once lived on the premises sometime during the ‘90s, so the property has quite an extensive claim to fame!

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the building was also used in the filming of Rain Man, although I, unfortunately, could not find any interior photographs of the place online with which to verify that hunch. And, legend has it that a lithograph of Tom Cruise, that was given to him during the production, still hangs in the property’s laundry room to this day. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to get in there to see that!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lisa, from the Finding the Famous blog, for informing me of this location and to my friend E.J., of The Movieland Directory website, for tracking it down.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Charlie Babbitt’s apartment building from Rain Man is located at 8800 Evanview Drive/1599 Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollywood Hills. The area of the building that was shown in the movie can be seen from Evanview Drive, just west of where it intersects with Sunset Plaza Drive.

February 9, 2012
Pomona College’s Harwood Court – aka Eastland School from “The Facts of Life”

Well over six months ago, my good friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, asked if I would like to do some stalking with him of Harwood Court, the Pomona College dormitory which stood in for the fictional Eastland School, attended by Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), Dorothy ‘Tootie’ Ramsey (Kim Fields), Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), and Joanne ‘Jo” Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon), in the 1980’s television series The Facts of Life. My answer, of course, was a resounding “YES!” Because both of our schedules have been a bit hectic as of late, though, we were not able to make it out there until this past Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, we were both pretty excited about the whole adventure when it finally came to pass and, a few days before we headed to Claremont, Mikey sent me an email which stated, “Wow, this is just like going scuba diving with Jacques Cousteau, or playing football with Tim Tebow, or getting a pants-dropping lesson from Marky Mark! Well, maybe not that last one!” Um, my stalking skills being compared to the scuba skills of Jacques Cousteau?!?! LOVE IT!

This location was actually found by Robert, of the Movie Locations and More website, way back in the Summer of 2010. Earlier that year, Robert had read online that the exterior of Eastland School was a building on the Pomona College campus in Claremont, but because Google Street View of that area is not particularly clear, he was unable to track down the exact structure used via the internet. So when he came to Los Angeles for a stalking visit a few months later, he drove around the 140-acre campus, screen shot in hand, and, amazingly enough, was able to track down the building fairly quickly. Thank you, Robert! In reality, Eastland School is the Harwood Court residential hall – a 68,000-square-foot unisex dormitory that was built in 1921 and currently houses 170 students. The structure, which was originally an all-female dorm, was completely renovated by the Wheeler & Wheeler architectural firm in 1990. Thankfully though, it still looks much the same as it did onscreen in The Facts of Life.

A few years ago, Mikey had actually purchased one of Molly Ringwald’s costumes from the first season of The Facts of Life, as well as a promotional lunch box from the series that he had signed by none other than Mrs. Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) herself, and he brought both items with him on our stalk to add to the fun. On our way there, he mentioned that he thought I might be able to fit into the track jacket portion of Molly’s former costume and, shockingly, he was right! I cannot tell you how nervous I was to be wearing such an amazing piece of television history, while drinking a Starbucks, no less, so I only kept it on long enough to snap a couple of pics.

Molly is pictured wearing one of the track jackets above. So incredibly cool!!

While we were there, a resident happened to walk out of Harwood Court and we stopped her to ask if she would take a photograph of Mikey and me. She obliged and afterwards I inquired if she was aware that her dorm was, in fact, The Facts of Life school. Shockingly, she had not actually been aware, and, even more shockingly, she did not seem to be too impressed by the news. Ah well, I guess not everyone is a stalker.

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Harwood Court showed up as the fictional Peekskill, New York-area Eastland School during the opening credits of The Facts of Life’s entire nine-season run.

“The Facts of Life” Filmed at Harwood Court Residence Hall at Pomona College

You can watch the series’ opening credits by clicking above. On an interesting side-note – the show’s insanely-catchy theme song was co-composed by Alan Thicke, aka Jason Seaver, the patriarch of the Seaver family on Growing Pains, and real-life father of R&B singer Robin Thicke.

While doing research before heading out to Pomona College with Mikey on Sunday, I discovered that Harwood Court had also appeared in several other productions. In 1985’s Real Genius, it was featured as the dormitory where Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret), and Jordan (Michelle Meyrink) lived.

And while some of the real-life interior of the building was actually used in the movie . . .

. . . I am fairly certain that the hallway and dorm rooms were sets.

In 1987’s Teen Wolf Too, Harwood Court stood in for the Hamilton College dormitory where Todd Howard (Jason Bateman) lived with his roommate, Stiles (Stuart Franklin).

The back side of the building appeared in the movie’s beyond-words-awful “Do You Love Me” dance sequence.

I believe that the interior scenes were all filmed on a set, though.

In the Season 1 episode of the reality series Top Chef Masters titled “Masters Get Schooled”, the Elimination Challenge, in which professional chefs Michael Schlow, Hubert Keller, Tim Love, and Christopher Lee were required to cook a gourmet meal in a dorm room, was held at Harwood Court.

You can read Mikey’s fab write-up of our The Facts of Life stalk on the Mike the Fanboy website here and you can watch a video Mikey put together of our adventure by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Robert, from the Movie Locations and More website, for finding this location and to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to stalk it with him.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Harwood Court residence hall, aka Eastland School from The Facts of Life, is located on the campus of Pomona College at 170 East Bonita Avenue in Claremont.

February 8, 2012
Café-Club Fais Do-Do from “Crossroads”

One location that I blogged about way back in March of 2009 and had been dying to re-stalk ever since – in order to snap some interior pictures – was Café-Club Fais Do-Do, the supposed New-Orleans-area karaoke bar that appeared in the 2002 movie Crossroads. (For those who did not catch my original post on the place, in the Spring of 2001 I was an extra in Crossroads and spent a full three days filming at the Fais Do-Do – a magical experience that I will never forget.) Because the club is typically only open at night for concerts and events, though, and because the Grim Cheaper has a major aversion to paying any sort of a cover charge, since the filming I had never been able to get back inside. Until last Wednesday afternoon, that is, when I tagged along with fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, on a scouting expedition. A couple of months back, Mike actually joined the Location Managers Guild of America under the title of Apprentice and, when I heard that he was in the process of building his portfolio, I immediately (and a bit selfishly) suggested that he visit Café-Club Fais Do-Do – with me accompanying him, of course. Don’t get me wrong – the place is incredibly unique and visually stimulating and I knew that he would not only shoot some incredible photographs of it, but that it would also be a highly useful locale to have in his scouting arsenal. But mostly, I just really wanted to stalk it myself.

The Art Deco building which currently houses Café-Club Fais Do-Do was originally constructed in 1930 and is actually comprised of two separate sections – The Club (pictured above) and The Ballroom. In its original incarnation, The Club was a branch of the First Citizens Savings Bank and Trust, which explains the structure’s uniquely rich and ornate interior. Sometime in the 1960s, the bank was converted into a jazz bar/underground club, but thankfully most of its architecturally and historically significant detailing was kept intact. During its years as a jazz club, such musicians as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, BB King, Pearl Bailey, John Coltrane, and Billy Preston were all said to have hung out there.

The Ballroom (pictured above) was originally constructed as the single-screen Variety Movie Theatre and was where the filming of Crossroads took place. I am unsure of when exactly the Variety ceased showing movies, but in 1990 the entire building was purchased by a new owner who, while still keeping the two distinct areas separate, decided to turn the venues into a nightclub and bar which collectively would be known as Café-Club Fais Do-Do – “Fais Do-Do” meaning “nighty-night” in French. And while this post on the Lon’s Place blog states that The Club area was sold to a new owner in 2010, according the film liaison that we spoke with, the same person who bought the building back in 1990 still owns it to this day.

While we were stalking the Fais Do-Do, I was extremely sad to discover that the huge two-story bar that used to be located in the center of The Ballroom and on which I had sat in Crossroads had since been removed. To me, that bar, which had a dance floor on top of it, was the coolest, most unique aspect of the entire club and I cannot believe the owner did away with it! So incredibly sad.

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In Crossroads, Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used for the interior of Club Bayou, where Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning) competed in a karaoke contest in order to win money to fix their car which had just broken down.

That’s me in the blue pants standing next to Ben (Anson Mount) in the above screen capture.

The Fais Do-Do dressing room, which you can see a photograph of here, was featured in the scene in which Kit, Mimi and Lucy get ready to go onstage. Sadly, a film crew was using that area at the time that we were stalking the club so we were unable to take any pictures of it.

The GC and I recently started watching fave show The O.C. again from the beginning and, let me tell you, I just about fell off my chair when I spotted Café-Club Fais Do-Do pop up in a Season 1 episode. In “The Escape”, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom stood in for “Boom Boom”, the supposed-Tijuana-area club where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) caught Luke Ward (Chris Carmack) cheating on her.

And, while scanning through “The Escape” to make screen captures for this post, I was shocked to discover that the little bar where Marissa almost overdosed on pain pills later in the episode was none other than the Fais Do-Do’s Club! The Club was remodeled in 2010 (as you can see in these photograph on the Lon’s Place blog) and looks a bit different now, but, amazingly enough, the actual bar where Marissa sat still looks exactly the same today as it did when the episode was filmed back in 2003!

After reading my original post on the Fais Do-Do back in 2009, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, figured out that The Ballroom also stood in for Delloser Hall, the reggae club where Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) got stoned after inadvertently eating a pot-laced cake, in fave movie Never Been Kissed.

In the extremely odd 2006 film The Gymnast, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used extensively as the place where Jane Hawkins (Dreya Weber) and Serena (Addie Yungmee) learned aerial fabric acrobatics.

In the flick, you can clearly see the club’s former bar . . .

. . . as well as the dance floor above it.

Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s dressing room also appeared in The Gymnast.

And in one scene, a business card featuring the club’s actual address, fax number, and website was even shown. So incredibly cool!

Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, also let me know that the Fais Do-Do had appeared in the Season 2 episode of Arrested Development titled “Queen for a Day”. In the episode, the exterior . . .

. . . as well as The Ballroom stood in for The Queen Mary, the bar that Tobias Funke (David Cross) purchased.

The Club was also used in that episode as the restaurant where Byron “Buster” Bluth (Tony Hale) took his new girlfriend, Starla (Mo Collins), out for a milkshake.

And the dressing room stood in for the Hot Cop stripper club, from which Lindsay Bluth Funke (Portia de Rossi) hired strippers to scare her husband into selling The Queen Mary.

Back in February of 2011, while doing research for my post on The Little Door restaurant, I discovered that Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Club room was used in the Season 2 episode of Entourage titled “The Abyss”, in the scene in which the boys – Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) – gather together to watch Saigon perform.

I was shocked to discover (thanks to the Ron’s Place blog) that in 1994’s Reality Bites, The Club stood in for the bar where “Hey, That’s My Bike!”, Troy Dyer’s (Ethan Hawke’s) band, regularly played. The room was heavily dressed for the filming, though, and is almost unrecognizable in the movie.

The Fais Do-Do Club was also featured in the Jane’s Addiction video for “Underground”.

As was the dressing room area.

Jane’s Addiction “Underground” Music Video–Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “Underground” video by clicking above.

The Club also appeared in the Destiny’s Child “No, No No, Part 1” music video.

Destiny’s Child–”No, No, No Part 1” Music Video Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “No, No, No, Part 1” video by clicking above.

This Is 40, the yet-to-be released sequel to 2007’s Knocked Up, also did some filming in Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom in 2011. And while the Ron’s Place blog stated that The Big Lebowski and American Gangster were also filmed at the Fais Do-Do, I scanned through both movies while doing research for this post and did not spot the place anywhere.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Café-Club Fais Do-Do, from Crossroads, is located at 5253 and 5257 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can visit the club’s official website here.

February 6, 2012
The “Pretty Woman” Party House

Over the past few weeks, fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I have been on an extensive hunt for several unfound locations from the 1990 classic romantic comedy Pretty Woman. And the locale that I was most interested in tracking down, you ask? Why, the huge, modern-style abode where Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) attended a party in the film’s opening scene, of course. You all know how this stalker absolutely loves herself some movies houses! Anyway, after doing some extensive digging online, purchasing the Pretty Woman 15th Anniversary Special Edition DVD, watching each and every one of the special features included in it, and still coming up completely empty-handed, Mike decided that we had to change our course.

Mike had noticed a smattering of tall buildings in the background of the Pretty Woman party scene and, although the view of them was not entirely clear, he had a hunch that they were located in Century City.

So using an aerial map of West Los Angeles, he drew an angled line based on those views from Century City outward and it led him straight to the hills of Bel Air. He then zoomed in on the spot where the line had pointed and immediately noticed a huge white mansion that was very reminiscent of the Pretty Woman party house. And, sure enough, upon closer inspection, he found that it was, indeed, the right place! Wahoo! So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.

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The opening scene of Pretty Woman centered around a party held at a large house high up in the hills above Hollywood, thrown in honor of Edward’s arrival in Los Angeles. I believe that the residence was supposed to belong to Edward’s lawyer, Philip Stuckey (Jason Alexander), in the flick, but that was never actually specified.

Sadly, not very much of the property is visible from the street, but, as you can see above, the bush where the valet stand was placed, the double windows located above the garage, the brick driveway, and the bent tree on the side of the driveway, all still look exactly the same as they did onscreen way back in 1990. So incredibly cool! In real life, the Pretty Woman party house, which was originally built in 1988 and sits on an almost 3/4-acre plot of land, measures 5 bedrooms, 8 baths, and a whopping 10,650 square feet of living space.

As you can see in the above aerial views, both the home and its surrounding property are absolutely ginormous!

According to director Garry Marshall’s commentary on the Pretty Woman 15th Anniversary Special Edition DVD (which I highly recommend, by the way – the special features are fabulous!), the real life interior of the home was also used in the filming. Man, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that place!

Amazingly, when Mike went to stalk the house a few days after I had, the gate just happened to be open and he was able to snap a few pictures of the front of it! WHOO-HOO!

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The party house from the opening scene of Pretty Woman is located at 650 Sarbonne Road in Bel Air.

February 1, 2012
The “Nanny and the Professor” House

Last week, fellow stalker James posted a comment on my site challenging me to find the residence where the Everett family – widowed Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long) and his three children, Hal (David Doremus), Butch (Trent Lehman), and Prudence (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Kim Richards), and their nanny, Nanny Phoebe Figalilly (Hayley Mills’ sister, Juliet Mills) – lived in the 1970s television series Nanny and the Professor. And while I had never before even heard of the Mary-Poppins-like comedy, I was immediately intrigued and added the location to my “To-Find” list. Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, beat me to the punch, though, and sent me an email in which he informed me of the address to the home less than 24 hours after James had posted the challenge! Nice! Thank you, Geoff! So this past weekend, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place.

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In the short-lived Nanny and the Professor, which only lasted two seasons and ran from January 1970 to December 1971, the Everett family lived in an idyllic white clapboard residence supposedly located at 10327 Oak Street in what, I believe, was Los Angeles.

You can see the “10327” address placard pictured in the background of the above screen captures.

Thankfully, the house is also numbered 10327 in real life, which is how Geoff was able to track it down. The Colonial-style residence, which was originally built in 1935, measures 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2,128 square feet. And, amazingly enough, it still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in 1970 when the series was taped, despite the fact that a whopping forty-two years have since passed.

Even the decorative light post which appeared in the show is still there in real life! So incredibly cool!

As you can see above, the Nanny and the Professor house truly is idyllic in real life.

So much so that the homeowners even posted a sign in the front yard which reads, “Please . . . Do Not Disturb! This House is Not For sale.” LOL I guess they had quite a few people stopping by wanting the buy the place.

Kim Richards was only five years old – and absolutely adorable – when the series began filming and, although she had already acted in over 20 commercials by that time, “Prudence Everett” was the future child star’s first major role.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Nanny and the Professor house is located at 10327 Glenbarr Avenue in the Cheviot Hills section of Los Angeles. Claire and Phil’s house from Modern Family is located just a few blocks away at 10336 Dunleer Drive.

January 31, 2012
Offshore – Liam’s Bar from “90210”

One of the many locations that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked last week while hanging out in the Redondo Beach area – and the one that I was most excited about – was Offshore, the bar owned by Liam Court (cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!) on fave show 90210. I had been absolutely itching to stalk the fictitious watering hole ever since it first appeared in the series’ Season 4 premiere episode back in September of last year. Thankfully, fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, had quickly tracked the place down and, as soon as he posted the address, I immediately added it to my “To-Stalk” list. Because the Grim Cheaper and I do not get down to the South Bay very often, though, the bar had, sadly, remained unstalked until last Wednesday afternoon. And, let me tell you, when I finally saw it in person, I could not have been more excited! I was practically busting at the seams!

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Offshore first showed up in the Season 4 episode of 90210 titled “Up In Smoke”, as the spot where Liam and his friends, Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger), Dixon Wilson (Tristan Wilds) and Teddy Montgomery (Trevor Donovan), lamented over their various end-of-the-summer blues. In the episode, the beachside watering hole was named “Salty’s Place” and it included an on-the-sand hut. And while that hut seems to have subsequently disappeared, I am sure it will be brought back during the summer months.

After Liam purchased the bar at the very end of the “Up In Smoke” episode, he renamed it “Offshore” and the place now shows up weekly as the gang’s regular hangout.

As you can see above, the Offshore building looks much the same in person as it does on TV.

Don’t go looking for the interior of Liam’s bar there, though, as it is, sadly, just a set that exists inside of a soundstage at Manhattan Beach Studios where the series is lensed.

The ground floor space that supposedly houses Offshore is, in reality, the rear entrance to a storefront that is, I believe, currently vacant. As you can see from above photograph of the back of the building, the place is currently undergoing some major construction, so I was, unfortunately, unable to venture any closer to the see what the Offshore space actually looks like in real life.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Offshore, Liam’s bar from 90210, is located at 100 Fisherman’s Wharf, at the end of the Redondo Beach Pier, in Redondo Beach. Its exact location is marked with a pink arrow in the above aerial view. You can catch a good view of the place from the spot where North Harbor Drive meets West Torrance Boulevard.

January 30, 2012
Villa Sophia from the Final Episode of “Entourage”

A couple of weeks ago, while the Grim Cheaper and I were out doing some stalking in the Hollywood area, I received an email from Constantine Vlahos, the owner of a Los Feliz mansion named Villa Sophia. Constantine was writing to let me know that his home had been featured in the final episode of Entourage and that I might be interested in stalking it. Now, I just have to say here that that was most definitely a first – a homeowner not only seeking me out to inform me of his property’s filming history, but also encouraging me to stalk the place! Oh, how I wish more people would do the same! And interested in stalking it, I surely was, so I dragged the GC right on out there later that same day.

In real life, Villa Sophia is quite breathtaking. And while the Mediterranean-revival-style mansion, which was originally built in 1927, appears to be absolutely gargantuan from the street, in reality it “only” boasts 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 4,525 square feet – which is large, don’t get me wrong, but from the looks of the exterior, I expected the place to be a whole lot bigger.

As you can see in the above aerial view, the residence seems to be massive!

Villa Sophia was originally designed by Henry Harwood Hewitt, the L.A.-area architect who also gave us The Ebell Club of Los Angeles (an oft-used filming location that I really should have already blogged about being that I have stalked it twice!), the L.A. County Hall of Justice (also an oft-used location that was featured in the television shows Dragnet and Get Smart), and Bob Hope Patriotic Hall (yet another filming location that appeared in the movies Patton and Flashdance). Villa Sophia was commissioned by Clement E. Smoot, an Olympic-gold-medalist golfer turned industrial lighting manufacturer, and his wife, Margaret Miller Smoot. During the 1930s, the property became home to James Whale, the famed British film director who made Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Show Boat, and The Man with the Iron Mask, and who was also the subject of the 1998 flick Gods and Monsters. In the late 90s, the dwelling was purchased by Constantine, my new favorite homeowner , who had spent years fantasizing about owning the place and who immediately began a massive renovation and restoration process, during which he added on a 15-foot retaining wall, a pool, a pool house, upper and lower rear terraces, a loggia, and a dining pavilion. Constantine even rents the 750-square-foot pool house out to vacationers, so if you are in the area and would like to stay at an Entourage filming location, you can book a reservation here. And you can see some fabulous close-up pictures of the home here.

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In the final episode of Entourage, which was appropriately titled “The End”, Villa Sophia was featured in the very last, post-credits scene in which Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) and his wife, Mrs. Ari (Perrey Reeves), are shown living their new life in Florence, Italy. It is at the home that Ari receives a phone call from Time Warner chairman John Ellis (Alan Dale), who announces that he is retiring and wants Ari to take over his job. Dun-dun-dun! As you can see above, the landscape of Florence was digitally added to the background of the scene.

Villa Sophia was also the site of a Victoria’s Secret “Bombshell Summer” commercial starring Candice Swanepoel, Chanel Iman, and Erin Heatherton that was filmed in May 2011.

Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Summer commercial filmed at Villa Sophia

You can watch a behind-the-scenes video of that shoot by clicking above.

Constantine also informed me that the home will be featured in the near future in a yet-to-be-released movie starring Kate Bosworth.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Villa Sophia, from “The End” episode of Entourage, is located at 4565 Dundee Drive in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. You can visit the mansion’s official website here. The Lovell Health House, aka Pierce Patchett’s home from L.A. Confidential, is located just up the street at 4616 Dundee Drive.

January 27, 2012