Tag: Hollywood

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The Best Place to View the Hollywood Sign!

There is one site in Los Angeles that I absolutely never get tired of, no matter how many times I see it. Even though I can now officially call myself a native Angeleno, I am not ashamed to admit that I still get a little jolt of butterflies in my stomach every time I see the Hollywood Sign in person. All of my hopes and dreams are represented in those big white letters and the sign is probably my favorite landmark in all of LA. Every time I am on the freeway or in Hollywood and the sign comes into view, I am reminded of why I moved to Los Angeles.

A few years ago, in my fave Hollywood tour book, I found directions to a spot with a view of the sign like no other. High atop a hill in Burbank on Canyon Lake Drive, one can view the Hollywood Sign up close and personal. Driving up there, I am always amazed at the sheer size of the individual letters, which become absolutely ginormous the closer you get to them, in a way that almost feels eerie. From Canyon Lake Drive you can also see incredible views of Lake Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles’ skyline. I highly recommend stalking the sign from Canyon Lake, even if you have lived in Los Angeles for years and have seen the Hollywood sign more times than you can count, as I can pretty safely guarantee that you’ve never seen it like this!

The Hollywood sign, which originally spelled out “Hollywoodland”, was erected in 1923 as a real estate advertisement for a housing development known as Hollywoodland. The sign was deeded to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in 1945 and the “land” part was subsequently removed so that the sign would be a more accurate representation of the city it sat above. The original letters measured 50 feet in height and 30 feet in width. Over the years the sign became more and more dilapidated, with no one stepping in to repair it. At one point in time, half of the first “O” had fallen off along with the entire third “O” so that the sign read “HuLLYWO D”. In 1978, rock star Alice Cooper spearheaded a campaign to repair the sign, rallying huge donations from celebrities including Hugh Hefner, Gene Autry, and Les Kelly, creator of the Kelly Blue Book. The old sign was taken down and a new one was completed in November of 1978, with letters measuring 45 feet high and 31 to 39 feet wide, and a combined total weight of a whopping 480,000 pounds. The original sign sat in storage for over 20 years until 2005 when it was sold on EBay to an artist named Bill Mack, who is currently creating a piece of artwork out of the letters. You can read an article here about Bill’s artistic renovation of the sign, which includes painting old Hollywood legends onto each letter, including Rita Hayworth, James Dean, Greta Garbo, and my favorite, Marilyn Monroe. Something of a stalker himself, Bill also owns Marilyn Monroe’s bed and the original gate to her home. Sigh!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: For the best views of the Hollywood sign, take Lake Hollywood Road off of Barham Boulevard. Follow Lake Hollywood for quite a while until you come to Lake Tahoe Drive. Make a left there. Follow Lake Tahoe to Canyon Lake Drive and make a right. You will see the looming sign on your left hand side. If you follow Canyon Lake past the large park on the left, you will see a little dirt look-out area with amazing views of Downtown LA and Lake Hollywood.

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Hollywood Renaissance Hotel

Yesterday, while killing time before an acting class, I decided to stop into the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel which is attached to the famous Hollywood & Highland shopping center. When I stepped inside, I noticed a few excited teenage girls standing in the lobby with cameras and autograph books in hand. I just had to walk over to them to ask who they were waiting for. They told me that Will Smith had just walked through the lobby and was standing “RIGHT THERE!” I looked around and did not see him and they kept saying “He’s RIGHT THERE!” LOL Turns out Will was standing just a few yards away from me waiting to get into his SUV. I had just missed him walking through the lobby by mere seconds.

The teenage girls told me that Will was SUPER nice and had stopped to take pictures with each of them. Even though his bodyguard kept telling him that he didn’t have time to stop, Will took individual pictures with all of the girls. How sweet is that! Apparently Will was at the Renaissance for a pre-party before the premiere of his new movie Hancock. Will was much thinner in person than I thought he would be. I guess I expected him to be larger than life, due to the characters he portrays onscreen. In real life he is tall, about 6′, but pretty lanky and really thin. Everything happened so fast that I did not have time to snap a picture of him. 🙁

Besides being a favorite stomping ground of celebrities – last time I was there I saw Nikki Blonsky from Hairspray – the Renaissance is also a filming location! It was portrayed as the hotel where Rachel McAdams works in the movie Red Eye. The brightly colored lobby stood in for the lobby of the Miami Beach hotel where McAdams character was head of customer service. The Renaissance is a great place for celeb stalking as many stay there during premieres and press junkets due to its close proximity to downtown Hollywood.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hollywood Renaissance Hotel is located at 1755 North Highland Avenue, right next to the Hollywood & Highland Shopping Center. You can visit their website here.

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The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

One of my favorite places in all of Hollywood is the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, located right on Hollywood Boulevard. The Roosevelt has had a long and storied history in Hollywood and is even said to be haunted by a few of its former residents. Once you step inside the hotel’s beautiful Moorish lobby, you can almost feel the history coming right out of the walls. Built in 1927 and named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. The Roosevelt has been a favorite getaway and hangout for celebrities ever since it’s opening. It’s guest list includes Lindsay Lohan, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Mary Pickford, Prince, Carole Lombard, Shirley Temple, and Elizabeth Taylor, just to name a few. Marilyn Monroe, whose very first modeling shoot took place by the hotel’s pool, lived in Suite 1200 for over two years, and the hotel is still said to be haunted by her ghost.

A mirror that used to hang in Marilyn’s room is now located in the mezzanine off the main lobby next to a very cool etched picture of the star. Montgomery Clift, who was a resident of Room 928 during the filming of From Here to Eternity, is also said to haunt the hotel. Legend has it that during his stay at the hotel, Montgomery paced the hallways outside of his room rehearsing his lines. His ghost is rumored to do the exact same thing and many hotel guests have reported seeing him walking the hallways reciting lines.

Rumor also has it that Bojangles taught Shirley Temple the “staircase dance” on the stairs leading up from the lobby to the Mezzanie level. The Roosevelt was completely restored a few years back, making it once again a favorite stomping ground of celebs. The pool is a favorite hangout of many stars, including Lauren Conrad who said in an episode of The Hills that she goes to the Roosevelt pool every Sunday.

The Roosevelt has been featured in several movies and TV shows, including Crossroads, Entourage, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Moonlighting, Catch Me If You Can, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Shade, and The Hills, among countless others.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, almost directly across from Mann’s Chinese Theatre where the stars’ hand and footprints are immortilized in cement. If you get a chance, grab a burger in the hotel’s Twenty-Five Degrees restaurant- they are excellent!!

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Charlie’s Angels

Charlie\'s Angels I must admit that I absolutely loved the first Charlie’s Angels movie, so when I found the location of the headquarters of Charles Townsend Investigations in my stalking tome last weekend, I just had to stalk it. This same location was used in both the filming of the Charlie’s Angels television show back in 1976 and the more recent first Charlie’s Angels movie in 2000. In the movie, Townsend Investigations is actually blown up by the evil Eric Knox, but for the big blow up scene, producers built a replica of the headquarters building on a studio soundstage.

Townsend Investigations looks much the same today as it did in 1976, except that now a Miele store occupies the space. Miele is a high end German appliance store.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Townsend Enterprises is located at 189 Robertson Boulevard, on the corner of Clifton Way and Robertson Boulevard, in Beverly Hills. A few blocks South of the Miele store is the chic, celeb favorite shopping district of Robertson Boulevard which is home to Kitson, Lisa Kline, the Ivy restaurant, and the MAC Pro Store. Robertson is a shopping haven for celebs and paparazzi can often be seen milling around outside of the many high-end stores located there.

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Sydney Bristow’s Apartment

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 Although I am not a big Alias fan – never seen an episode, actually – I know most of America was pretty obsessed with it. And I do love me some Jennifer Garner. So when I found the address of Sydney’s Bristow’s apartment in my fave stalking book, I, of course, had to stalk it.

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  Sydney Bristow lived in a very cute Spanish style apartment building called the El Cadiz in Hollywood. It was built in 1936 and definitely evokes a feeling of Old Hollywood. The El Cadiz is also a City of Los Angeles declared Historic-Cultural Monument.

Now that I have stalked Alias, I think I am going to have to go rent me the first season on DVD, so I can see what all the fuss is about. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Sydney Bristow lived in the El Cadiz apartments located at 1731 N. Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood, just a half a block north of Hollywood Boulevard and a few short blocks from the Hollywood and Highland Center. In 1970, Janis Joplin died of a drug overdose just a half a block from the El Cadiz at the Highland Gardens Hotel, which can be found at 7047 Franklin Avenue.

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Yamashiro Restaurant – Looking Down on All of Hollywood!

Yamashiro On Saturday, my boyfriend took me to dinner at a former Japanese palace called Yamashiro, located in Hollywood – 250 feet above Hollywood Boulevard, to be exact. The restaurant has the most amazing views of Hollywood and surrounding LA that I have ever seen and it was a pretty incredible place to spend an evening – and the food was absolutely yummy! And, need I mention, Yamashiro has also served as a backdrop for countless movie and TV productions. 🙂

img_1956.jpg Yamashiro, which means “Mountain Palace” in Japanese, was actually one of the very first Hollywood hot spots. Built in 1914, on over seven acres of land, as a private home to the Bernheimer Brothers, it was modeled after a palace located in the Yamashiro Mountains in Kyoto, Japan. After the death of one of the brothers in 1922, Yamashiro was sold and became home to celeb hot spot the “400 Club” – an exclusive hangout for the Hollywood Royalty of the 20’s and 30’s. Sadly, during WWII the property was destroyed by vandals due to anti-Japanese sentiment, and it fell into disarray. It later became a boys’ military school. The property remained in disrepair until it was purchased by Thomas O. Glover in 1948, who painstakingly returned Yamashiro to its original glory. The pagoda, located in Yamashiro’s garden area, is actually the oldest structure in California!

img_1957.jpg While you are there, be sure to walk through the gardens on the property and take a look at the exquisite inner courtyard inside the restaurant. If you visit Yamashiro at night, keep your eyes on the Capital Records Building – the light on the spire atop the building spells out the word “Hollywood” in old Morse Code – a little tidbit of Hollywood trivia that I didn’t know until last night. You learn something new everyday!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Yamashiro is located at the very top of Hollywood at 1999 N. Sycamore Street. If you go there for dinner be sure to try the Yamashiro Crispy Chicken and the Butter Lettuce Wraps – so yummy! Yamashiro would actually be the perfect place to have Valentine’s dinner – or a romantic Valentine’s drink! Besides being a great place to eat, Yamashiro has a vast filming history – including being featured in the movies Gone in 60 Seconds, Blind Date, Memoirs of a Geisha, and countless commercials and TV shows.

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"I’d Like to Thank the Academy . . ."

img_1930.jpg This weekend, while hanging out at the Hollywood & Highland Center on Hollywood Blvd., my boyfriend and I stumbled upon the new “Meet the Oscars” exhibit. In honor of the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, Hollywood & Highland Center – which is home to the Kodak Theatre, official host of the Oscars – has opened a free Oscar exhibit to the public – where you can hold an actual Oscar statuette!!

img_1928.jpg Also on display are the actual Oscars that will be presented at this year’s Academy Awards Ceremony on February 24th. You can view case after case of real Academy Awards up close and personal while walking through the showing. At the end of the exhibition, you can actually hold a real Oscar! Being an actress, it was pretty incredible to be able to hold an actual Oscar in my hands! It is MUCH heavier than I expected – even though according to one of the information cards on display, each statue weighs in at only 8.5 pounds.

If you are in the area in the next few weeks, I highly recommend checking out the exhibit. There are tons of pictures on display, a wealth of Oscar trivia and history, and even an Oscar game to play.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: “Meet the Oscars” will be on display at the Hollywood & Highland Center from February 1st through the 23rd on the fourth floor. Sunday through Thursday the exhibit is open from 12pm until 7pm and on Friday and Saturday it is open from 12pm until 8pm. The exhibit is free to the public! The Hollywood and Highland Center is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd, on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.