Drew Barrymore filming locations

September 10, 2012September 9, 2012

Tom Bergin’s Tavern from “Duplex”

Two weeks ago, while doing research on Molly Malone’s (which I blogged about here), I came across a website for another historic Irish pub also located on South Fairfax Avenue in L.A.’s Fairfax District. The bar is named Tom Bergin’s Old Horseshoe and Thoroughbred Club (or just simply Tom Bergin’s Tavern) and not only was it originally founded over seven decades ago (y’all know how much this stalker absolutely loves herself some historic restaurants), but the place is also a filming location AND a big-time celebrity hangout! So I, of course, immediately added the address to my To-Stalk list and could hardly wait to drag the Grim Cheaper right on over there, which I finally did last Saturday evening. And, amazingly enough, this was one location that he did not mind being dragged to.

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Tom Bergin’s Tavern was first founded on February 12th, 1936 by a 46-year-old lawyer named – you guessed it – Tom Bergin. The bar was originally named the Old Horseshoe Tavern and Thoroughbred Club in honor of a Boston-area watering hole owned by Bergin’s uncle. And while the establishment first stood at 6110 Wilshire Boulevard, when the lease on that location expired in 1949, Bergin built a new eatery, named Tom Bergin’s Horseshoe Tavern, just down the street at 840 South Fairfax Avenue. Employees and customers alike carried the pub’s legendary horseshoe-shaped bar three blocks south to its new home. And amazingly enough, not only is Tom Bergin’s still located in that very same spot on Fairfax – over six decades later! – but that very same horseshoe-shaped bar is still in use to this day!

In 1973, Bergin sold the tavern to T.K. Vodrey and Mike Mandekic. And while Mandekic ended up leaving to pursue other endeavors in 1998, Vodrey stayed on for more than another decade. In 1999, Vodrey changed the pub’s name once again, this time to Tom Bergin’s Tavern, as it is still known to this day. When Vodrey retired in 2011, Warner Ebbink thankfully stepped in, purchased the site and set about restoring it. Ebbink, who owns Little Dom’s (one of my favorite L.A. restaurants, which I blogged about here) is no stranger to historic eateries, having also purchased and restored both the 101 Coffee Shop (another fave that I blogged about here) and Dominick’s (a 1940s-era establishment where Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack used to hang out, which I have sadly yet to stalk). Ebbink immediately set about giving Tom Bergin’s a much-needed 7-month face-lift, of which he said in a May 2012 The Hollywood Reporter article, “It’s more restoration than renovation, keeping with what was true of Bergin’s. We just replaced and repaired what needed to be replaced and repaired, then distressed them so people won’t even know.” Um, LOVE IT!

Ebbink truly is a man after my own heart. In an April 2012 Los Angeles Times article about Tom Bergin’s, he is quoted as saying, “L.A. doesn’t respect its history. Back when this was built, you could build places with themes. The architecture alone was worth saving, and it has this super-rich history. We knew it was a special place.”

And I am very happy to report that Tom Bergin’s Tavern did indeed look old and weathered, but I mean that in the best way possible. The place just oozes history and walking through its front door is like stepping back in time.

Tom Bergin’s even serves champagne in old-school, Marilyn Monroe-style coupes! Love it, love it, love it!

The pub’s now legendary tradition of honoring regular customers by displaying a green shamrock with their name on the ceiling was started in 1950 by longtime manager Jake Ohlsen. It was not long before the bar’s entire ceiling was covered in the shamrocks and today there are over 7,000 on display.

During the renovation, each shamrock was removed, cleaned and then re-hung. Love it!

Tom Bergin’s Tavern has countless ties to Hollywood. Just a few of the celebrities who have been spotted there over the years include Kiefer Sutherland, Tommy Lasorda, Julia Roberts, Ronald Reagan, Cary Grant, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Lee Majors, Glenn Ford, Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien (the actor, not the The Insider host), and, my personal favorite, Luke Perry. Cary Grant’s favorite booth is pictured below and his shamrock is currently in the process of being framed to hang nearby.

Longtime regular Kiefer Sutherland’s shamrock is pictured below. When the two were a couple, Julia Roberts’ shamrock hung right next to Kiefer’s, but he had it removed shortly following their break-up.

Legend has it that producers Glen and Les Charles got the inspiration for their long-running hit television series Cheers while at Tom Bergin’s and that the character of “Coach” was based on Bergin’s longtime head bartender Chris Doyle.

In 2003’s Duplex, Tom Bergin’s Tavern stood in for the supposed Brooklyn-area bar where Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) holed up during a rainy day in order to finish writing his book, and where his wife, Nancy Kendricks (Drew Barrymore), later met him for a drink. In the movie, both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior were used.

In the Season 2 episode of Top Chef Masters titled “Pub Food”, contestants were challenged to create an upscale version of a traditional pub dish at Tom Bergin’s. In the episode, both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of Tom’s were used.

A photo shoot for House of Pain’s eponymous first album was also held at Tom Bergin’s in 1992 (pictured below). And while episodes of 24 and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia were also supposedly lensed at the bar, I was unable to verify that or figure out which episodes specifically.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Tom Bergin’s Tavern is located at 840 South Fairfax Avenue in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

February 6, 2012February 3, 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. Winking smile

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. Smile

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.

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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! Smile

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.

October 7, 2011September 29, 2017

The “Doppelganger” Mansion

Another location from the 1993 thriller Doppelganger that I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk this past weekend was the mansion where Holly Gooding (aka Drew Barrymore) grew up in the flick. I found this locale, once again, thanks to Tony, my friend and fellow stalker who has the amazing Flickr photostream which I mentioned yesterday. Incredibly enough, Tony has somehow managed to track down almost every single location featured in Doppelganger and he was kind enough to share them all with me so that I could blog about them during my Haunted Hollywood month – well, every location that is except for the supposed-Arcadia-area Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute which I have now become just a wee bit obsessed with finding. But I digress. Anyway, last weekend, after stopping by the apartment building featured in the movie, the GC and I headed a short two miles north to Los Feliz to do some stalking of the mansion.

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The Doppelganger mansion is featured twice in the flick. It first pops up in the scene in which Holly and her new roommate, struggling mystery writer Patrick Highsmith (aka George Newbern), meet with Holly’s family lawyer, Mike Wallace (aka George Maharis), in order to get the keys to her former home which has been locked up and sealed since her father’s murder four years prior. While there, Patrick says that the abode is “right out of a Bette Davis movie” – a line which I, of course, loved. Winking smile

The large, English-country-style abode later pops up in the movie’s climactic, rather odd, and definitely spooky final scene in which Holly returns to her childhood home in the middle of the night to confront her evil doppelganger and finally end the nightmare in which she has been living.

Patrick, of course, follows Holly and, carrying a baseball bat, climbs up the side of the house and through a second story window in the hopes that he can save her.

I believe that the interior of the mansion that was shown in the movie was just a set and not the home’s real life interior.

According to fave website Zillow, the Doppelganger mansion, which was originally built in 1923, boasts 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 3,500 square feet of living space, although I would have guessed it to be much, much larger. And amazingly, the property still looks almost exactly the same today as it did 18 years ago when Doppelganger was filmed. Even the three large circular trees which flank the home’s front door and front window still look exactly the same. Love it!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for finding this location! You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC Flickr photostream, which features countless filming locations, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Doppelganger mansion is located at 2421 Glendower Avenue in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. Donna Martin’s house from the B.Y.O.B. episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located just two doors south of the Doppelganger mansion at 2405 Glendower Avenue. And the so-called “Los Feliz Murder House”, which I blogged about back in January, is located just around the corner at 2475 Glendower Place.

October 6, 2011September 29, 2017

The “Doppelganger” Apartment Building

Last week, while perusing through my friend and fellow stalker Tony’s Flickr photostream – which is comprised of an absolutely AMAZING collection of pictures of hundreds upon hundreds of filming locations – I came across his photographs of the apartment building that was used in the thriller Doppelganger. And while I had absolutely loved me some Doppelganger when it first came out way back in 1993, I had not seen the movie in such a long time that I had somehow forgotten Drew Barrymore was even in it! So I decided it was most definitely time for a re-watch and ran right out to rent the flick that very night. Unfortunately, it was not nearly as good as I had remembered it to be, especially the ending which I did not understand at all. But I, nevertheless, still had to drag the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the apartment building that very same weekend – especially since it fit in so perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood theme!

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In Doppelganger, Holly Gooding (aka Drew Barrymore) migrates from New York to Los Angeles after being cleared of a murder charge, whereupon she moves into an apartment building with a struggling mystery writer named Patrick Highsmith (aka Father of the Bride’s George Newbern).

In the movie, the idyllic little building, which has a central courtyard, a two-tiered fountain, and a communal birdcage, is named “Angel’s Court” and it is supposedly located at 1167 North Orange Grove Avenue in the Hollywood area.

In reality, the building is located just east of Hollywood and south of Thai Town and is, sadly, not nearly as inviting or picturesque in person as it appeared to be in Doppelganger. Don’t get me wrong, the building is by no means unattractive, but the neighborhood where it is located is, unfortunately, a bit on the iffy side and the courtyard that seemed so charming onscreen is rather bare in real life. I am guessing that the fountain and birdcage that appeared in the movie, along with the archway that was situated over the front gate, were just props that were brought in solely for the filming as they are no longer there.

In Doppelganger, Patrick and Holly lived in Apartment #2 and I am guessing that the real life interior of that particular unit was also used in the filming.

And, according to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory website, the building, which was originally constructed in 1922, was once also home to a few celebrities – cinematographer Harry Zech lived there during the 1920s and silent film actress Frances Deamer lived there in the 30s.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for finding this location! You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC Flickr photostream, which features countless filming locations, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Doppelganger apartment building is located at 1165 North Hobart Boulevard in Los Angeles. In the movie, Patrick and Holly lived in Apartment 2 and FBI Agent Stanley White (aka Dan Shor) lived in Apartment 6.

April 20, 2011April 20, 2011

Jackie Robinson Stadium from “Never Been Kissed”

One location that I attempted to stalk far more times than I actually care to admit is the supposed Chicago, Illinois-area Municipal Stadium where Sam Coulson (aka Michael Vartan) kissed Josie Geller (aka Drew Barrymore) for the very first time during the final scene of fave movie Never Been Kissed. Fellow stalker Owen had long ago informed me that the filming of the stadium scene had taken place at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium and the GC and I had ventured out to the school several times to try to stalk the place, but unfortunately we had absolutely zero luck in finding it. I cannot tell you how many wasted hours the two of us spent walking the campus grounds looking for that darn stadium, but I think it is safe to say that we stalked just about every stadium at the University – and there are quite a few of them! – except for the one from Never Been Kissed. What we had failed to realize at the time was that while Jackie Robinson Stadium is a part of UCLA, it is not in fact located on the UCLA campus, but about two miles west of it on Constitution Avenue near the 405 Freeway. It was not until Owen sent me a detailed map that denoted the stadium’s exact location that I realized our mistake. And it wasn’t until a couple of weekends ago that I was finally able to drag the GC back out there to stalk it.

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Jackie Robinson Stadium was named in honor of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson who enrolled in UCLA after graduating from Pasadena Junior College, which is coincidentally just around the corner from where I live. While studying at UCLA, Robinson became the very first student to ever letter in four sports – football, basketball, track, and, of course, baseball. Robinson left UCLA during the spring semester of his senior year, shortly before he was to graduate, and took an assistant athletic director job with the National Youth Administration. He, of course, went on to become one of the greatest baseball players to ever live and was the first African American to play for the Major Leagues since the 1800s. The Jackie Robinson Stadium was originally constructed just over three decades ago thanks to a large donation from one of Robinson’s former classmates at UCLA, a successful businessman and philanthropist named Hoyt Pardee. The stadium was dedicated on February 7th, 1981 and has served as UCLA’s home baseball field ever since. In 2006, the structure underwent an extensive renovation process whereupon the field surface, lighting system, fan seating, perimeter net, and scoreboard were all upgraded and changed.

Thankfully though, even with all of those major alterations, the place where Josie Geller waited to be kissed for the very first time still looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen.

In Never Been Kissed, the South Glen Rams’ team dugout was located on the eastern side of the stadium, as were the stairs that Mr. Coulson walked down to get to Josie.

Oh, how I wanted to take a photograph standing on the pitcher’s mound where Josie awaited her first real kiss in the movie, but unfortunately there was a practice game going on when we showed up to stalk the stadium, so I could not venture down there. And believe me, I tried, but the GC did NOT think it would be a good idea AT ALL if I disturbed that game by randomly running out onto the field. He’s such a drag sometimes! I mean, I would have waited until there was a break in play. Geez! Winking smile

Sadly, the above photograph is the closest I got. Ah well, it looks like I will just have to go back there and re-stalk the place again sometime in the near future.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Jackie Robinson Stadium, aka the Never Been Kissed stadium, is located at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and Davis Avenue, one block west of the 405 Freeway, in Westwood. Although it is a part of UCLA, the stadium is NOT located on the actual university campus, so do not make the same mistake I did by looking for it there. The stadium’s location in relation to UCLA is denoted in the above aerial view. You can visit the Jackie Robinson Stadium official website here.

April 9, 2010April 9, 2010

“The Wedding Singer” Limo Test Parking Lot

One location that fellow stalker Owen has been on the lookout for for what seems like years now is the parking lot where Robbie (aka Adam Sandler) and Julia (aka Drew Barrymore) tested Sammy’s (aka Allen Covert’s) limo driving skills in fave movie The Wedding Singer. And I think I can safely say that this particular hunt has been one of the most challenging and longest lasting stalks that I’veexperienced to date. For whatever reason, no matter how hard we tried, neither of us could seem to locate that lot! I’m really not joking when I say that the two of us looked at pretty much every single parking lot in the greater Los Angeles area, either in person or via aerial views. Owen even managed to contact at least a dozen crew members involved in the 1998 production, all of whom gave him a different answer when asked where the limo test scene had been filmed. Talk about frustrating! Then, miracle of miracles, Owen somehow got his hands on the entire collection of shoot sheets from the movie, one of which stated that the limo scene had been filmed in a public parking lot somewhere on Honolulu Avenue in the city of Montrose. So, that following Saturday, I dragged my fiancé over to Montrose to stalk each and every lot in the immediate area.

While watching the Wedding Singer scene, Owen had noticed what he called a “distinct-looking tree” in the background behind Robbie and Julia. It was that tree that my fiancé and I set out to find that Saturday morning in Montrose. Sadly, though, none of the lots on Honolulu Avenue had a single, solitary tree, let alone a distinct-looking one. Owen and I had all but given up hope at that point when fellow stalker Chas, of ItsFilmedThere, managed to get a hold of one of the Wedding Singer producers, who remembered that the scene had been filmed in the auxiliary bus parking lot at Descanso Gardens. Amazingly enough, I had actually already stalked Descanso’s main lot looking for that tree, but had come up empty-handed. I hadn’t realized at the time that there was an additional, second lot on the premises. So, this past weekend, I dragged my fiancé out to Descanso once again, Wedding Singer screen captures in hand, to track down Owen’s distinct-looking tree.

And, sure enough, we did! Surprisingly enough, even though the Descanso Gardens auxiliary bus lot is quite large, I spotted Owen’s tree almost immediately. And I, of course, just had to pose in front of it holding my Wedding Singer screen caps! 🙂

And I am very happy to report that, even though twelve years have passed since The Wedding Singer was filmed, Owen’s tree looks much the same today as it did onscreen. Sure, it’s a bit larger now and grows a bit more to the right than it did in the movie, but for the most part it is immediately identifiable. YAY!

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Now, I do realize that there are some stalkers out there who might say that this location is “just” a tree or “just” a parking lot. And I get that, I do. I mean my favorite locations have always been – and always will be – film and television houses. (Ranking a close second are restaurants, but I digress.) At the same time, though, this has been one of the most fun stalks I’ve ever been involved with. As I said above, it’s been long and challenging, but I mean that in the best possible way. As my fiancé likes to say, it’s about the journey, not the destination. And even though I was “just” searching for a parking lot – and a parking lot tree – this journey was definitely a blast! And I’d like to thank Owen for inviting me along for the ride! 🙂 So, yes, while it is just a parking lot, I decided this location was definitely blog-worthy. And, aside from Owen, I knew my friend and fellow stalker Ashley over at TheDrewseum would also appreciate this particular locale. 🙂

In the super cute scene which took place at Descanso, Robbie creates an obstacle course of sorts out of cones to test his best friend’s limo driving ability before he will allow Julia to hire him for her upcoming nuptials. During the test, Julia says, “Of course I’m going to hire him – not only is he your best friend, but he’s the only limo driver in town.” To which Robbie replies, “Yeah, I just like having fun with him.” LOL Sammy unfortunately hits several of the cones during his test, causing Robbie to admonish, “You hit two cones! Those could have been people! Those could have been guests at her wedding!” To which Sammy says – in what I think is Owen’s favorite line out of the entire movie – “They were CONES!” LOL

You can watch the hilarious limo test scene by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Wedding Singerlimo test parking lot is actually the auxiliary bus parking lot at Descanso Gardens, which is located at 1418 Descanso Drive in La Canada Flintridge. The location where Julia and Robbie were standing in the scene is denoted with a pink “X” in the above aerial map. Sammy’s limo test starts out next to the shrub located just due north of the pink “X”.

August 19, 2009August 20, 2009

The Wedding Singer Bakery

A few weeks ago, fellow stalker Owen asked for my help in locating the bakery featured in one of his all time favorite movies, the 1998 comedy The Wedding Singer. Owen had actually contacted one of the movie’s crew members who happened to remember that the bakery where filming took place was located somewhere in Montrose, a small town in the San Gabriel Valley where quite a few scenes from The Wedding Singer were filmed. Because Owen does not live in the area, he sent me out on a mission to stalk all of the bakeries located in the tiny town in the hopes that I would eventually find the right one. So, early one morning last week, I dragged my parents out to Montrose to hopefully stalk the Wedding Singer bakery.

And, sure enough, it was the very first bakery we walked into!! Ironically, I had ALREADY STALKED this location just last month while visiting some sites from the Will Ferrell comedy Old School. It turns out that the exterior of the Wedding Singer bakery was also used as the restaurant in Old School where Luke Wilson and his “brothers” have a meeting about saving their fraternity! I didn’t immediately recognize the place from my previous stalking trip because, due to the fact that only the exterior of the bakery was featured in Old School, I never ventured inside. But while walking by last week, I peeked in the window and immediately recognized the pink sign pictured above which reads “This is the same ol place”. That sign was featured pretty prominently in the Wedding Singer bakery scene, so as soon as I saw it I knew I had found the right spot. It was at that point that I pretty much started screaming “This is it! This is it! This is it!” to my parents right there on the street out in front of the shop! While I had figured that the bakery featured in the movie would still be around, never in a million years did I think it would still look EXACTLY the same today as it did when the Wedding Singer was filmed over a decade ago! YAY!

Montrose Home Bakery and Sandwich Shoppe actually pops up during my very favorite part of The Wedding Singer – at the beginning of the Drew Barrymore/Adam Sandler falling in love montage set to the Hall & Oates song “You Make My Dreams Come True”. 🙂 In the scene, Drew Barrymore and friends are first seen looking at wedding cakes in the bakery’s glass display counter. You can even see the bakery’s striped awning behind actor Allen Covert in the above screen capture.

Drew and friends then proceed to feed each other wedding cake in the scene. Although the bakery is only featured for a few brief moments, thanks to the awesome ’80s song playing in the background, it’s quite a memorable little part of the movie.

While stalking the bakery, I happened to start up a conversation with the owner who really could NOT have been nicer to us! He answered a whole bunch of my silly questions and told me to take all the pictures I wanted. It turns out that the Montrose Home Bakery and Sandwich Shoppe has been used for quite a bit of filming over the years. Besides The Wedding Singer and Old School, the shop was also featured in several episodes of the now-defunct television series Dirty Sexy Money. There is even a photograph of the owner and Donald Sutherland taken during the filming posted in the shop’s front window. Apparently, he used to have a picture of himself with Drew Barrymore in that same window, but it is now stored at his home. He told me that if he posted all of his celebrity photographs from all of the filming that has taken place at his little shop, his entire front window would be covered up! LOL LOL LOL LOVE IT!

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Montrose Home Bakery and Sandwich Shoppe is a super cute little place and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it. The shop smelled absolutely delicious inside, but, unfortunately, because I am diabetic, I wasn’t able to sample any of the sweets. 🙁 I am seriously thinking about having them make the cupcakes for my wedding, though. How fitting would it be to get my wedding cupcakes from the Wedding Singer bakery???? 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Wedding Singer Bakery, aka Montrose Home Bakery and Sandwich Shoppe, is located at 2325 1/2 Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. The shop houses both a bakery and a restaurant, and, from what I’ve heard, the restaurant serves up a GREAT breakfast.

August 12, 2009August 12, 2009

The “Never Been Kissed” Prom

A couple of weeks ago, thanks to fellow stalker Chas, I was able to stalk the location of South Glen South High School’s prom from the 1999 movie Never Been Kissed. Chas and I both knew that the prom interiors had been filmed at the Ebell of Los Angeles – a women’s educational and philanthropic club which has a long and storied film history and which I promise to blog about in the near future – but the exterior scenes had actually been filmed at another location entirely. It was that exterior location that I asked Chas to find during my Never Been Kissed stalking kick a few weeks back. Ironically, he told me that it was the one location from the movie that he didn’t think he would be able to track down. Well, I guess he just doesn’t realize how good he really is because a few hours later he emailed me back with an address and, sure enough, it was the spot!! YAY!

Ironically enough, the exterior Never Been Kissed prom location can actually be found just a block and a half away from the Ebell. Why the two different locations you ask? Well, my best guess is that producers wanted to shoot Drew and the gang’s entrance to the dance at a building with a large drop-off area, which the Ebell unfortunately doesn’t have. So, when they found a suitable building located just two short blocks away, they decided to film the entrance scene there instead. Just another example of the magic of Hollywood at work! 🙂

For some odd reason I could not find much information about the Never Been Kissed prom location online, even though it looks like it could be some sort of historic structure. I’m actually very surprised that it is not on the National Register of Historic Places, as it is a truly beautiful place. The only information I was able to discover is that the Mediterranean style building, which used to be a private residence, was converted to commercial office space in 1981. While it is currently vacant, in the past the building housed the Metropolitan Talent Agency and, most recently, a wedding coordination company named the Ahn Gallery. You can see interior photographs of the building on its leasing website here.

Big THANK YOU to Chas for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Never Been Kissed prom site is located at 4526 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Note – if you search this location using Google Maps, the building will not show up. You have to move about a block to the West to see it. 🙂 The Ebell of Los Angeles, where the interior prom scenes were filmed, is located just down the street at 743 South Lucerne Boulevard. Unfortunately, both properties are currently closed to the public.

July 20, 2009November 16, 2009

The Never Been Kissed House

Last weekend, thanks to fellow stalker Chas, I was able to stalk a location I’ve been on the lookout for for quite some time – Drew Barrymore’s childhood home from fave romantic comedy Never Been Kissed. Chas is quite the master stalker, so last week I enlisted his help in finding this location and, lo and behold, he unearthed it pretty much immediately! Thank you, Chas!!! Never Been Kissed supposedly takes place in the Chicago area, but being that 99.9% of the movie was filmed right here in L.A., Chas had an inkling that “Josie Grosie’s” childhood home was most likely located here, as well. And sure enough, he was right. 🙂

I am very happy to report that Josie’s house looks EXACTLY the same today as it did back in 1999 when Never Been Kissed was filmed. And I really could not have been more excited to be seeing it in person!

Josie’s home is featured several times throughout the movie, most notably as the location of the heartbreaking scene when she gets egged on prom night by her high school crush, Billy. Ugh, such a sad scene!

It is also the spot where Guy picks up Josie for her second prom experience – one that turns out to be much better than her first. 🙂

Amazingly enough, Chas also managed to track down the home Josie lived in as an adult in the movie, which, ironically, can actually be found in Chicago. I find it incredibly strange that the producers would go all the way to the Windy City to film a few establishing shots of the home along with one very brief scene between Drew Barrymore and David Arquette that takes place in front of the home, when pretty much every other scene in the movie was filmed in Los Angeles. But, according to Chas, whenever filmmakers want to establish that a movie is taking place in Chicago, they film at a location near an ‘L’ Train. Which is exactly what they did in Never Been Kissed. 🙂 In the movie, Drew’s home is located directly beneath a set of ‘L’ Train tracks. Chas just recently visted the Windy City and was kind enough to stop by Josie’s house to take some pictures for me. SO COOL!

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Big THANK YOU to Chas for finding these locations and sharing his pictures of Josie’s Chicago home! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Never Been Kissed house is located at 368 North Ridgewood Place in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. The home Josie lives in as an adult is located at 930 West Newport Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.