Jen Aniston – IAMNOTASTALKER

February 22, 2012February 21, 2012

The Interior of the “Bruce Almighty” Party House

In honor of my girl Jen Aniston receiving the 2,642^nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today (a ceremony that I will actually not be attending because, after the debacle that was the Horrible Bosses premiere this past summer, I have a severe aversion to any event that has the potential of being too crowded or too chaotic), I thought that I would blog about a location from her 2003 romantic comedy Bruce Almighty. As I mentioned this past July in my post about the Stern House in Pasadena, which stood in for the exterior of the supposed Buffalo, New York-area Vanderbilt Estate where the Channel 7 news team threw a party in honor of Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) in the flick, I was fairly certain that a different property had been used for the interior. And for the past seven months or so, I had been just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down that interior. Unfortunately though, while I searched through countless real estate listings and location websites during my hunt, I had come up completely empty-handed.

The most memorable aspect of the interior of the Bruce Almighty party house was the two-story front entrance foyer and its dual curving staircases.

Back in July, while researching the Stern House, I had come across a picture of Jen sitting at the foot of one of those staircases on IMDB’s Bruce Almighty photo page and, it will come as no surprise, that it soon became embedded in my memory.

So when I spotted that very same staircase pop up in the mansion belonging to wealthy steel businessman Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler) in the 2011 movie Atlas Shrugged: Part I a couple of weeks ago, I just about died! I, of course, immediately started doing research on Atlas Shrugged filming locations (in fact, I did not even finish watching the film, I became so obsessed!) and fairly quickly found an article in which a commenter had stated that Frank’s residence was located in La Canada Flintridge, across the street from the 2011 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. And while it would seem that it would be fairly easy to track down the 2011 Showcase House, for whatever maddening reason, I could not find it anywhere! Fortunately, after spending countless hours searching by myself, I decided to enlist the help of fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who texted me back a few minutes later with an address. THANK YOU, Mike! So, this past Monday afternoon, while the two of us were out doing some stalking in the San Gabriel Valley, we ran right over there to take some pics.

In real life, the estate, which was originally built in 1993 by architect Wayne Siggard, boasts 5 bedrooms, 7 baths, a whopping 11,700 square feet of living space!!!, and an almost 2-acre plot of land. The mansion, which, as you can see above, is pretty darn spectacular, is currently listed on MLS for a cool $7,950,000, although it does look like a sale might be pending. You can visit the home’s real estate website here. Oh, what I would not give to see the inside of that place in person!

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In Bruce Almighty, the interior of the mansion was used extensively during the party scene and the master bedroom area was where Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston) caught Bruce in a passionate embrace with his “Spanish-accented” co-anchor, Susan Ortega (Catherine Bell).

The estate was also used extensively in Atlas Shrugged: Part I. Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the property appeared in the movie.

And the very same bedroom where Bruce and Susan kissed in Bruce Almighty was also featured as the bedroom of Henry and his wife, Lillian Rearden (Rebecca Wisocky), in Atlas Shrugged.

Photographs of the magnificent stairwell that I spent over seven months searching for are pictured above. Sigh! What I wouldn’t give to sit on them to pose for a photograph like Jen did!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The interior of the Bruce Almighty party house, aka Henry Rearden’s mansion from Atlas Shrugged: Part I, is located at 4158 Commonwealth Avenue in La Canada Flintridge.

November 28, 2011November 27, 2011

Julia Harris’ House from “Horrible Bosses”

Another location that the Grim Cheaper and I ventured out in the pouring rain to stalk two weekends ago was the ultra-modern abode where Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S. (aka my girl Jen Aniston) lived in the (horrible) 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses. I was informed of this location via a text from fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, who prefaced giving me the address with the query, “Did you like Horrible Bosses?”, to which I wrote back, “Not at all!” When he asked if my dislike stemmed from the fact that the movie was “too crude”, I wrote back, “No! It stemmed from the fact that it was seriously stupid!” Winking smile The GC and I had gone to see Horrible Bosses on opening night in a theatre, as I do with pretty much every new Jen Aniston movie, and were both so bored to tears that we almost walked out! I just did not find the flick funny, like at all, and, for some reason, Charlie Day, who played Dr. Harris’ dental assistant Dale Arbus, seriously grated on my nerves, especially his gravely voice. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard to this stalker, but I digress. Anyway, I was extremely excited to receive Chas’ text, regardless of my feelings about the movie, as I am always, always up for stalking a location that has anything whatsoever to do with my girl.

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Julia’s house actually only shows up twice in Horrible Bosses – first in the scene in which Dale’s friend Kurt Buckman (aka Jason Sudeikis) stakes out the property with the intent of murdering Julia and later on in a flashback scene in which he describes what happens while there. According to the Horrible Bosses production notes, “The deviant doc’s house is stylistically similar to her office — that is, what can be seen of it through its wide street-facing picture windows, which afford her the opportunity to put on the kind of show she couldn’t get away with at work.”

In real life, the five-bedroom, four-bath, 3,906-square-foot home, which was completely rebuilt in 2008, is pretty darn spectacular! The property features a double-sided fireplace, a floating staircase, an open floor plan, Cherry wood and poured concrete flooring, exposed steel beams, a six-burner range, and three fireplaces. The property sold on July 22 of this year for $1.73 million. You can check out some great interior photographs of the place here.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location. You can check out Chas’ extensive Horrible Bosses filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Julia Harris’ house from Horrible Bosses is located at 2361 Midvale Avenue in the Westside area of Los Angeles.

September 2, 2011September 2, 2011

Aunt Mitsy’s House from “Rumor Has It”

One location that I have been on the lookout for for what seems like ages now is the home where Aunt Mitsy (aka Kathy Bates) lived in the 2005 movie Rumor Has It. Even though I was never a particularly big fan of the flick, I pretty much fell in love with Aunt Mitsy’s adorable little bungalow – and her huge front porch – at first sight and have wanted to stalk it ever since. Especially being that my girl Jen Aniston had filmed a scene on the premises. Because no apartment number, street sign, or even a full view of the exterior of the property was visible at any point during the movie, though, I figured this was one locale that would be virtually impossible to track down.

Enter fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, who emailed me last week to ask for some help in locating the home where Grandma Bunny (aka Betty White) lived in the 2010 romantic comedy You Again. Well, I took one look at the screencap he sent me (pictured above) and realized that, while it was not the same house featured in Rumor Has It, the two properties looked amazingly similar – which got me to thinking that they might just be located in close proximity to each other, quite possibly even on the same street. So I immediately began searching for the You Again house and also got fellow stalkers Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and Owen on the case.

As fate would have it, Mike happened to recognize the yellow Victorian-style home located in the background of the Rumor Has It scene and when he looked at that property on Google Street View, sure enough, there was Mitsy’s house right across the street. Yay!

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Aunt Mitsy’s house was only featured in one very brief scene in Rumor Has It, in which Sarah Huttinger (aka Jennifer Aniston) asks Mitsy for information about her deceased mother. It is there that Mitsy first tells Sarah about her mother’s affair with Beau Burroughs (aka Kevin Costner), at which point Sarah realizes that her family served as the inspiration for the movie The Graduate. (Yeah, yeah – lame plot for a movie, I know.) From its appearance in Rumor Has It, I had assumed that the home was an extremely small, one-story dwelling and searched for it as such. As it turns out, I could not have been more wrong.

In real life the house looks nothing at all like how I had envisioned it to look in my mind. Not only is the place two levels, but it is also pretty darn huge!

And furthermore, the property is actually an apartment building – not a private residence as I had originally thought! As you can see above, the dwelling has several front doors and consists of at least three separate units. This is one location that I can honestly say I NEVER would have found on my own. Not in a million years.

Thankfully, the front porch area looks pretty much the same today as it did back in 2005 when Rumor Has It was filmed. There is currently much less foliage in place and the house is now painted blue instead of yellow, but otherwise little else has changed in that section of the property over the years and it still looks just as cute in person as it did onscreen. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to sit on that porch in the same spot that Jen sat to pose for a pic! Smile

The other houses on the street that appeared in the background of the scene look exactly the same as they did in the movie, as well. And, yes, we did also end up finding Grandma Bunny’s house from You Again – well, fellow stalker Chas found it – and I will be blogging about it soon.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location and to fellow stalkers Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, and Owen for all of the time and effort they put into this search.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Aunt Mitsy’s house from Rumor Has It is located at 485 Ellis Street in Pasadena.

August 2, 2011August 1, 2011

The Cree Estate in Cathedral City

While doing research on Las-Vegas-Dunes-Hotel-owner Charlie “Kewpie” Rich’s former Palm Springs home, which I blogged about last Tuesday, I came across some information about another Coachella Valley location where my girl Jen Aniston and former-husband Brad Pitt had once vacationed. The property is known as the historic Cree Estate in Cathedral City and it is apparently a big-time celebrity hot-spot and wedding venue. According to this FASCINATING January 2004 Palm Springs Life article, which chronicles the adventures of area location scout Sylvia Schmitt who manages rentals of the Cree Estate, Brad and Jen spent a Thanksgiving weekend at the secluded Spanish-style hacienda a few years back. Upon their arrival in the desert, Sylvia met up with the famous couple to hand over the property’s keys and walk the grounds with them. As you can imagine, I was literally drooling upon reading those words! Never in my life have I so badly wanted to be a location scout! Sigh! Anyway, at some point during their stay, Sylvia received a late-night phone call from Brad who informed her that the home’s dishwasher had broken and was leaking water all over the floor. Sylvia promptly hired a plumber to go out to the property to fix the leak. Well, as fate would have it, after the plumber finished working, he ended up hanging out with Jen until about 2 a.m.!!!! Drool, drool, drool! How incredibly cool is Jen to hang out chatting with a random stranger until the wee hours of the morning! I love her even more now after reading that story! According to Sylvia, the plumber said the experience was “the highlight of his life”. Um, you’re telling me!!!!!! So while vacationing in Palm Springs two weekends ago, I, of course, just had to drag the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the estate.

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Real estate developer Raymond Cree built his private, 5000-square foot, all-adobe estate, along with two stand-alone guest houses, on a sprawling two-and-a-half-acre plot of land sometime during the 1930s. The property boasts 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a whopping 78 palm trees, a regulation-sized tennis court, three separate kitchens, wood-beamed ceilings, white-washed brick walls, a wood-burning fireplace, classical statuaries (including a replica of Michelangelo’s David), two jacuzzis, a swim-up bar, a permanent dance floor, and sweeping views of the San Jacinto Mountains. The estate also features two black-bottomed swimming pools, one of which is the largest privately owned pool in the entire Coachella Valley and was featured by Huell Howser in an episode of his television series Palm Springs. Sadly, as you can above, though, even though the front gate was open when we showed up to stalk the place, not much of the ultra-secluded property is visible from the street.

But, as I have said before, that is why God created aerial views! As you can see above, the property is quite magnificent and absolutely enormous. Other stars who have spent time at the Cree Estate include Christina Applegate and now ex-husband Johnathon Schaech, who got married on the premises on October 20th, 2001, with such celebs as David Faustino, Cameron Diaz, Jared Leto, and hairstylist Ken Paves in attendance. Apparently, in 2003 the contestants and the crew from The Bachelorette stayed at the Cree Estate for over a month during the filming of the series’ first installment starring Trista Rehn, although for the life of me I do not remember that season taking place in the Palm Springs area. CSI:Crime Scene Investigation’s William Petersen also once vacationed at the property. Being that rates start at $1,500 per night with a three-night minimum, though, this is one Jen location that I seriously doubt I will ever have the opportunity to visit. But . . . to any of my friends reading this who might be planning a wedding in the near future, I think you should seriously consider the estate as your venue. I will even go scout it for you, if you want! Winking smile You can see some fabulous close-up and interior photographs of the historic Cree Estate here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Cree Estate is located at 67698 Carey Road in Cathedral City. You can visit the home’s vacation rental website here and its wedding website here.

July 5, 2011July 5, 2011

The “Horrible Bosses” Movie Premiere

Last Thursday afternoon, fellow stalkers Mikey, of the Mike the Fanboy website, Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, Scotty, CB, Anushika, and I all headed out to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Downtown Hollywood to do some stalking of the world premiere of my girl Jen Aniston’s latest movie Horrible Bosses. As amazing as it may sound, prior to that day, I had never before stalked a movie premiere. While I randomly found myself at the premiere of He’s Just Not That Into You back in February of 2009, I was only able to stick around for about ten minutes or so, and while I attended the premiere of Friday the 13th, also in February of 2009, I actually had tickets to that one and watched the movie from inside the theatre. So this was the first time that I would truly be stalking a premiere, i.e. showing up hours early and standing along the fan barricade on Hollywood Boulevard. Both Pinky and Mikey had warned me that not only were premieres not the greatest place to get photographs with celebrities, but that Grauman’s was the worst, least fan-friendly venue of them all. Because I suffer from eternal optimism, though (it’s something I get from my mom), I headed out there on Thursday afternoon emboldened with extremely high hopes. In fact, Mikey suggested I might want to take some sort of pill to calm my spirits. Winking smile

Adding to my optimism was the fact that I had asked my dad to overnight me his camera for the event (his is far better than mine) and when it arrived, I opened up the box to find the above-pictured note from my mom. Smile See, in my family we just can’t help but be positive!

Because of some obligations I had to take care of in Santa Monica that morning, I could not get to Grauman’s until 3 p.m. on Thursday, but thankfully CB headed out there bright and early at 10:30 a.m. and saved me a spot along the barricade. THANK YOU, CB!!!!! Oddly enough, there were not a whole lot of people there when I first showed up and I couldn’t help buy wonder why Pinky and Mikey had been so negative about the place. Oh, how naïve I was!

I had asked Pinky to bring her super cute dog, Sammy, to the premiere as Jen is a big dog-lover and I figured that if I was going to try to get a picture with the star, I would need all of the help I could get. Which also explains why I was wearing my “Team Aniston” sweatshirt, despite the 90-degree heat. Winking smile

The celebrity arrivals did not begin until 6:30 p.m. and, as always, we all had a FABULOUS time hanging out beforehand. In fact, I enjoyed that portion of the day much more so than I did meeting the various celebs who were in attendance. Needless to say, Pinky has the absolute BEST group of friends!

At around 6 p.m., the professional autograph seekers (aka the “graphers” as Pinky likes to call them) showed up and it was at that point that things started to head south. The crazies also started to show up around that same time, including this guy, who was absolutely convinced that Jen had made him homeless. Um, OK. At one point he got into a VERY heated argument with someone about his claim, although he was, not surprisingly, entirely incoherent. When I heard him yelling, I turned around and saw his “Jen, You Made Me Homeless” sign and asked Mikey, who, due to his height, had better room to maneuver in the fan pit than I did, to snap a pic. Mikey’s response, “Oh, I already did!” LOL Love it!

Anyway, once the graphers showed up, our little group (whom you can see above) got completely squished up against the barricade. Pinky graciously allowed me to share the stool she had brought to stand on, so I had a good vantage point from which to take pictures, but unfortunately the people standing behind me were pressed up so close against me that I literally could not move. Or breathe! At one point I told Mikey that I was fairly certain I had dislocated my hip. It was NOT FUN!

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Jason Sudeikis was the first Horrible Bosses’ star to show up and he came right over to sign autographs and take pictures.

Jason was SUPER nice and spent a LOT of time signing autographs for people and taking photos, but sadly there was a big ol’ shadow across my face on the one that he took with me.

Jason Bateman arrived next and also came over to sign autographs, but he seemed very reluctant about it and was not at all friendly, which shocked me.

Jason signed a fair amount of autographs (not nearly as many as Jason Sudeikis did, though), but flat-out refused to take any pictures. UGH!

Jamie Foxx arrived next and literally JUMPED out of his limo and IMMEDIATELY started walking over to the fan barricade to sign autographs and take photos. How incredibly cool is that??

Because I was so squished up against the barricade, I could not get my camera in position to take a picture, so Pinky took one of the three of us. It didn’t exactly come out (you can just barely see me in the bottom of the frame LOL), but I was floored nevertheless just due to the fact that Jamie had been so darn friendly and nice. There’s something seriously unbalanced in the universe when Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx is taking pictures with fans, but Jason Bateman is refusing them!

Jesse Metcalfe arrived next and Pinky and I went absolutely batsh*t over him, much to Mikey’s dismay. Winking smile We immediately called for Jesse to come over and he yelled back, “I don’t think I can!” and pointed to the countless cars zooming across Hollywood Boulevard in front of him. He didn’t realize that there was a security team in place ready to walk the stars across the street via a nearby crosswalk. When he spotted Jamie Foxx signing autographs, though, I guess he decided to go for it, because the next thing we knew he was running across four lanes of rush-hour traffic right towards us, sans security! LOL

And what a sweetheart Jesse turned out to be!!!! He signed countless autographs and posed for countless photos.

Including one with me! Smile And he even thanked Pinky and I for calling him over. Sigh.

Joey Lawrence showed up next and Pinky started screaming for him (and singing the words to his latest single), but he flat out refused to come over. When he yelled over to us, “I can’t!”, a security guard walked up to him and said she would escort him across the street, but he turned her down. Sad smile

My girl Jen was the last to arrive and, let me tell you, I have never in my life experienced anything like what happened when she got out of her car. It was as if the entire crowd moved forward in a wave and the volume in the area increased about one hundred decibels. The people behind us began to very aggressively push us forward and the barricade we were standing against started to give way and tip forward. There was a massive amount of screaming and, although I tried yelling at the people behind us to stop pushing, not only could they most-definitely not hear me, it was fairly obvious they would not have cared even if they had heard. The barricade kept tinkering farther and father forward and came thisclose to toppling over entirely. One more millimeter and I am fairly certain that our entire little group would have fallen right into the middle of Hollywood Boulevard – and either right on top of Jen or right under several moving cars. It was one of the scarier moments of my life and I was crushed so strongly against the barricade that I could hardly breathe.

I managed to snap a couple of pics of my girl amidst the chaos and while Pinky kept yelling out, “Please take a photo with my friend, she’s your biggest fan!”, the screaming was so loud that Jen did not even hear her. And sadly, in chaos such as that, there was absolutely no way in heck that anyone could have gotten a picture with the star. Such a bummer! I have to say that Jen looked ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS, though! It is mind-boggling to me that she is 42!!!! Sigh!

Jennifer Aniston signing autographs at Horrible Bosses premiere

You can watch a video that Mikey took of the Jen madness by clicking above. As you can see, Jen had a security team of no less than six people surrounding her at all times and, due to all of the pushing and shoving, they would not let her get within five feet of the fan barricade.

After the celebrity arrivals were over, I was thoroughly beat and pretty much intent on heading straight home. I felt like I had been through a war! LOL But Pinky convinced me to stick around for a couple of hours to try to catch some of the celebs leaving the premiere and I figured since I had already come that far, I may as well stay. And I am so glad that I did as, shortly after the movie ended, we ran into Zachary Levi, from Chuck, who was a complete and total sweetheart! Not to mention a total cutie!

We also saw Oscar Nunez from The Office . . .

. . . and Joey Lawrence, who was sadly not as friendly as I assumed he’d be.

Ioan Gruffudd, from Fantastic Four, also walked by, but he was ABSOLUTELY mobbed. He is standing somewhere in the middle of that mass of people pictured above, so I did not even attempt to get a photograph with him. Pinky, who always gets her man, still had the strength left to brave the masses, though, and did get a picture! What can I say, the girl has got mad skills. We also spotted Trevor Donovan from 90210, but he FLAT-OUT REFUSED to take a picture with us. Pinky and I were the only ones who even approached him, but he still turned us down big time! Ah well. All in all it was a fun night, but I don’t know that I would ever do it again. It was just a bit too crazy and out-of-control for me. Sad smile

You can check out Mike the Fanboy’s write-up of the Horrible Bosses premiere and see some videos he took of the event on his website here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the theatre’s official website here.

June 17, 2011June 17, 2011

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Honeymoon Suite at the Ingleside Inn

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I spent my recent birthday weekend in Room 148 of the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs – the very room where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston stayed during their mini-honeymoon shortly following their July 29th, 2000 wedding. I first found out about the Ingleside Inn back in April of 2009 thanks to this Jetsetters Magazine article and, as you can imagine, just about died upon hearing that my girl Jen had honeymooned there. Then, shortly thereafter, the Grim Cheaper ended up proposing to me at the Ingleside, so the hotel has always had a very special place in my heart. During that proposal weekend, I, of course, just had to ask Melvyn Haber, the Ingleside’s longtime owner, what room it was that Brad and Jen had stayed in. Before I could even get the question fully out of my mouth, he replied, “Room 148, the Princess Room.” And that right there is just one of the many reason that I fell in love with the hotel! Almost a full decade later, Melvyn STILL knew the exact room where Brad and Jen had stayed right off the top of his head!

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago. My dad called me up to let me know that he had booked Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite as a surprise for my upcoming birthday. (He had to tell me about his plans a few weeks early as the GC and I had been thinking about spending my birthday at Disneyland and were thisclose to booking a hotel room there.) I happened to be driving at the time and got so excited upon hearing his news that I literally almost crashed the car! For those who have never visited the Palm Springs area, it gets EXTREMELY hot there during the summer months – we are talking like 115 to 120 degrees hot – so hotels drastically drop their rates from early June through the end of August. Because of this, and the fact that the Ingleside inn is not overly-expensive to begin with, my dad was able to get Brad and Jen’s room for only $200 per night! My birthday just so happened to fall on my mom’s very last day of work ever (she retired this year), so he also booked a suite at the hotel for them, and talked the GC into booking a second night in Brad and Jen’s room so that we could all spend the weekend together. Now mind you, my dad was extremely sick during this time and was in and out of the hospital, so how he managed to come up with such an incredible idea AND do all of the planning without me or my mom’s help – not to mention that he also purchased some FABULOUS gifts for the two of us – is absolutely BEYOND me!! It was one of the best, most exciting weekends of my entire life and I cannot believe he pulled it all off while feeling so incredibly sick! Best. Present. Ever.

When we first arrived at the Ingleside Inn and were checking in at the front desk, I saw the above-pictured “Happy Birthday Lindsay” message displayed on the marquee in the front lobby and just about fell over. So incredibly cool!! The lobby sign is very typical of the personal touches that the Ingleside Inn employs in order to make guests feel at home. Love it!

After checking in, we were handed the above-pictured room key. As you can see, the Ingleside Inn still uses actual brass room keys, not the keycards that are typically found in hotels today. So, as you can imagine, as soon as those keys were handed over, I turned to the GC and said, “OH MY GOD! Jennifer Aniston once held this key in her hand!” Granted, the key quite possibly could have been swapped out for a new one in the decade that has passed since Jen stayed at the Ingleside, but just let me have my fantasy! Winking smile

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I covered the Ingleside Inn’s vast history in the post I wrote about the hotel back in May of 2009, so I won’t go over it again here. But needless to say, the tiny, 30-room inn, which sits on just over 2.5 acres of land, has had quite a celebrated history since it was first founded in 1939. Thanks to its extreme privacy and award-winning service, celebrities have long been drawn to the place like moths to a flame. Just a few of the luminaries who have stayed there over the years include Frank Sinatra, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Lance Bass, Donald Trump, Marla Maples, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Bob Hope, John Travolta, David Boreanaz, Joan Collins, Cher, Howard Hughes, and Rita Hayworth. The Ingleside is by no means fancy or extravagant, though. It is a very simple, low-key retreat where people go to truly get away from it all. The Inn is not a party hotel, it is not a place for families, and it is not modern in any way, shape, or form. It is an extremely quiet, private, and relaxing sanctuary; the type of place where an A-List star can lay out by the pool and not worry about being approached by a fan or fellow guest.

Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite features a wood-burning fireplace, a sitting area, a king-sized bed, two picture windows, and a plasma TV, and while it is extremely nice, it is not overly-luxurious or the type of place one would expect one of the most famous couples in the world to have spent their honeymoon. And that right there is why I LOVE Jen so much! Of course she would choose a simple, laid-back, low-key space to spend her first few days of married life. And while Brad and Jen’s room is a suite, it is by no means the Ingleside’s largest. There are two others that are far bigger than the Princess Room, which led me to wonder how the couple ending up choosing it for their honeymoon.

Besides the fact that Jen has always been a fan of small spaces (the bungalow she rented in Malibu post-divorce measured a scant 1,531 square feet, the home on Blue Jay Way where she lived during the height of her Friends’ success measured only 2,903 square feet, and she is currently selling her 9,105-square-foot Beverly Hills manse as it is reportedly too large for her), as it turns out, the Princess Room is by far the hotel’s most private and secluded suite. It is located towards the very back of the property, far away from the pool and the award-winning Melvyn’s restaurant, but close to the back parking area, which means that Brad and Jen could have parked their car and been inside of their room less than ten steps later. As you can see above, there is also a gate surrounding that particular wing of the hotel, which consists of three rooms, and the actual suite itself is bordered by a large stucco wall.

The Princess Room is one of the few at the hotel that also boasts a completely private patio area, which I absolutely fell in love with while there.

As you can imagine, pretty much all weekend I was saying things like “I just took a shower where Jennifer Aniston once showered!” or “Jennifer Aniston sat on this couch!” or, my personal favorite, “Jennifer Aniston slept here!” My head was literally about to explode the entire time I was there! And poor, poor fellow stalker Owen! I must have sent him about 100 text messages, all saying things like, “I just washed my face where Jennifer Aniston once washed her face!” Smile

My parents stayed in Room 145, aka “Margaret’s Room”, which according to one of the super-nice front desk clerks that we spoke with while there, was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s favorite suites. The former Governator and his soon-to-be ex-wife stayed at the hotel on an almost monthly basis at one point in time.

My parents’ room boasted a HUMONGOUS semi-private patio (semi-private as it has an opening on the backside that is accessible to the public) that was honestly bigger than most backyards!

All in all, it was an A-MA-ZING weekend and, as you can see above, I was BEYOND sad to check out of what the GC and I had dubbed “our perfect little room”.

Ingleside Inn–Brad and Jen’s honeymoon hotel

You can watch a video about the Ingleside Inn, in which owner Melvyn Haber is interviewed, by clicking above.

Ingleside Inn Palm Springs

And you can watch another video, which shows the Inn’s beautiful grounds, by clicking above.

On a stalking side-note – This Sunday (June 19th), stalking gods Harry Medved and Karie Bible will be signing copies of their new book Location Filming in Los Angeles at Vroman’s Bookstore, which is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. They will also be conducting a walking tour of some famous Pasadena movie sites, including locations from Knocked Up, The Prestige, Live Free and Die Hard, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator immediately following the signing at 4 p.m.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Road in Palm Springs. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston spent their honeymoon in the hotel’s Princess Room, aka Room 148. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver frequently stayed in Margaret’s Room, aka Room 145. You can visit the Ingleside Inn’s official website here.

March 2, 2011June 16, 2011

Casa del Mar Hotel from “Just Go With It”

On February 11th – which just so happened to be my girl Jennifer Aniston’s 42nd birthday – I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to see the actress’ latest movie, Just Go With It. Because there are very few JA movies that I have ever actually liked (even though I am a HUGE fan of hers, Office Space and He’s Just Not That Into You are the only two that I can honestly say that I LOVE), I did not have high hopes for the flick. But I am very happy to report that I ended up absolutely LOVING it! Even more amazing was the fact that the GC loved it, too. And even more amazing still was the fact that the GC also recognized a location from it – the Casa del Mar hotel in Santa Monica which was used in the scene in which Katherine (aka Jennifer Aniston) poses as Danny’s (aka Adam Sandler’s) soon-to-be ex-wife and meets his new girlfriend, Palmer (aka Brooklyn Decker), for the first time. So, while we were in Santa Monica this past weekend stalking the blue carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards, I dragged the GC right on over to the Casa del Mar to do a bit of Just Go With It stalking.

Casa del Mar hotel was first opened in 1926 as the luxurious and ultra-exclusive Club Casa del Mar beach club, which catered to Southern California’s elite and featured an indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool, a private stretch of white, sandy beach, weekly dinner dances, upscale accommodations, and a grand ballroom. Even though it was founded during the heart of America’s Prohibition era, booze apparently flowed freely at the hotel and gambling was a frequent guest pastime. According to local lore, Santa Monica policemen would turn a blind eye to the illegal goings-on at the property and would tip off the club staff members each time there was going to be a raid. During World War II, the US Army took over the building and used it to house American soldiers. Fallen into disrepair, the hotel shuttered its doors shortly after the war ended. Charles E. Dederich purchased the Renaissance Revival-style property shortly thereafter and turned it into a drug rehabilitation facility known as Synanon. In the late 1970’s, the building was purchased by nutrition guru Nathan Pritikin and transformed into the Pritikin Longevity Center, where actor Chris Farley was a one-time guest. The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation took over the property in 1998, restored the building to is original 1920’s grandeur, and in 1999 reopened it as the Casa del Mar hotel. It has been going strong ever since.

The hotel currently boasts a Zoltar fortune machine, a la the machine that made Tom Hanks “big” in the movie of the same name, in its lobby area, which I found so incredibly cool!

The Casa del Mar hotel popped up in what was, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, the funniest scene in Just Go With It, in which JA pretends to be a rich, snobby Beverly Hills socialite with a bit of a drinking – and pill – problem. Jen is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS in the scene and even had the GC LOL-ing at several points, even though he typically does not find her to be at all amusing.

The Just Go With It scene was filmed in the southern portion of the Casa del Mar lobby, just south of the rear side of the hotel’s main fireplace. The lobby’s furnishings were changed quite a bit for the filming, though.

And I, of course, just had to recreate the scene in which Jen first arrives at the hotel and tells her limo driver that she “shant be long”. Smile

The scene that supposedly takes place just outside of the hotel was shot at a different location, though, and I have not been able to determine exactly where that location is yet.

Just Go With It Trailer – Casa Del Mar Hotel

You can watch the Just Go With It trailer, in which Casa del Mar is featured, by clicking above.

The hotel also popped up in the Season 2 episode of The Mentalist titled “18-5-4” as the supposed San Francisco-area Tidewater Resort where Oliver Simon McDaniel (aka Evan Peters) hid out.

For whatever reason, producers had a fake check-in desk built in front of the hotel’s fireplace for the filming of the episode.

The scene in which Patrick Jane (aka Simon Baker) tells Teresa Lisbon (aka Robin Tunney) that she should have the CBI Headquarters moved to the beach was filmed in the hotel’s Veranda Bar area . . .

. . . which I, unfortunately, could not get a great photograph of due to the brightness of the sun.

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The SUPER nice concierge that we spoke with while we were stalking the hotel also let us know that the Casa del Mar’s Colonnade Ballroom was used in another Jennifer Aniston flick – the 2006 movie Friends With Money, in the scene in which Olivia (aka JA) and her friends attend a benefit for ALS. He also informed us that the ballroom was used in episodes of both Hung and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well.

As fate would have it, the ballroom just happened to be unlocked while we were stalking the hotel, so I was able to walk in and snap a few pictures of it.

The exterior of the hotel is visible in the scene in 2005’s Be Cool in which wanna-be gansta Raji (aka an absolutely HILARIOUS Vince Vaughn) and Elliot Wilhelm (aka Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) get into a fight and Raji announces, “I smell you man! I feel your pain!” LOL

Besides being a filming location, the hotel is also something of a celebrity hotspot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there in recent years include Lindsay Lohan, Christian Bale, Ryan Phillipe, AnnaLynne McCord, Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady, Maria Shriver, Pamela Anderson, Christian Slater, Emma Watson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake, Bradley Cooper, Molly Ringwald, Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Bacon, Jessica Alba, Cash Warren, Will Smith, Josh Duhamel, and Renee Zellweger. Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray were married at the hotel in 2005 and Miss Britney Spears and then-husband Kevin Federline even lived there for a time while their Malibu mansion was being renovated. I was lucky enough to spot Jen Aniston at the Casa del Mar once – along with Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jon Favreau – back in 2006. She was doing press for The Break-Up at the time and the GC and I had randomly stopped by the hotel to grab a cocktail. I was wearing my “Team Aniston” sweatshirt and when Jen saw it she pointed, smiled, and said, “Oh, thank you!” Ever since that day, the GC has referred to Casa del Mar as the “Jen Aniston hotel”. Love it! (The GC took the above photograph of Jen that day on his blackberry, which is why it turned out so poorly. After seeing the picture, I solemnly swore I would NEVER again be caught out and about without my camera and I now carry it with me at all times.)

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Casa del Mar hotel, from Just Go With It, is located at 1910 Ocean Way in Santa Monica. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

March 16, 2010June 16, 2011

Marix Tex Mex Cafe – Jennifer Aniston’s Favorite Restaurant

Two weeks ago, while out doing some Oscar Weekend stalking, I dragged my fiancé to Marix Tex Mex Cafe in West Hollywood, a restaurant which has long been one of my girl Jen Aniston’s favorite places to dine. And while Jen has always been pretty vocal about her love of Mexican food and margaritas, I had never actually heard of the eatery until last year when a woman in one of my acting classes mentioned that she had spotted the actress there on numerous occasions. Well, let me tell you, I just about died upon hearing that! For whatever reason, though, I had yet to stalk the restaurant. So, when I realized that my fiancé and I were in the West Hollywood vicinity this past Oscar Weekend, I begged him to make a little lunchtime pit stop at the Tex Mex hot spot. It should come as no surprise that the Grim Cheaper was not AT ALL keen on the idea of grabbing a bite to eat at a place frequented by a famous actress, as he thought the prices would be outrageously expensive. I am happy to report, though, that Marix was EXTREMELY reasonable and that even the Grim Cheaper enjoyed himself while there! 🙂

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Marix is an absolutely ADORABLE little restaurant tucked away off of Santa Monica Boulevard on a tree-lined side street in uber-hip West Hollywood. The eatery is small, casual, and intimate and it’s not at all hard to see why Jen frequents the place. Not to mention the fact that it serves up some fabulous food! Like FABULOUS! The chicken fajitas were A-MA-ZING, as were the tortilla chips and fresh salsa. I literally gorged myself while there. The Marix staff also could NOT have been more friendly and I am happy to report that the place lacks any of the pretentiousness that is usually prevalent in L.A. area restaurants. I literally cannot say enough good things about the place and wish I lived closer so that I could frequent it more often.

Marix Tex Mex Cafe has actually been a long time favorite of Jen’s and was even mentioned way back in December of 2001 in this People Magazine article about the star. According to my friend from acting class, Jen can usually be spotted on the restaurant’s SUPER CUTE front patio which is pictured above. I hear Jen doesn’t frequent the place as much as she used to, though, thanks to the paparazzi who discovered the celebrity hot spot a few years ago and have been a constant presence ever since. Other stars who have dined at the eatery include Jessica Simpson and her BFF/hair stylist Ken Paves, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and their daughter Coco, Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, Ian Ziering, Brad Pitt, Angie Everhart, Dexter’s Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter, Ron Livingston, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, Pamela Anderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Wanda Sykes, The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper, and Wilson Cruz of My So-Called Life fame.

And while we didn’t run into Jen while dining there, we did spot former Bachelorette contestant Jerry Ferris at the table directly in front of us. I noticed Jerry pretty much immediately upon sitting down, but, while I knew he was famous, neither my fiancé nor I could place who he was. I asked our waitress if she recognized him and she in turn asked the other servers on duty, but no one seemed to have any idea whether or not he was even famous. Am I the only person who watched Season Three of The Bachelorette???? LOL Anyway, by that time I was going absolutely crazy because I KNEW I recognized Jerry, but could not for the life of me figure out from where. Then all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks – sitting in front of me was the man who had stolen America’s heart (or at least mine) on Jen Schefft’s season of The Bachelorette. I had absolutely LOVED Jerry on the series and was actually lucky enough to have met him shortly after his reality TV stint ended just about five years ago. Well, as soon as I figured out it was him, I told my fiancé I wanted to ask for a photograph, but that I felt bad since he was eating at the time, to which the Grim Cheaper said, “You ALREADY have a photograph with the guy (pictured above) – please do NOT bother him again.” LOL Sadly, I listened to the GC and did not go up to Jerry (HMPH!), but I really regret doing so as he had been a TOTAL sweetheart to me when I met him back in 2005. Ah well! Maybe I’ll run into Jerry during my next Marix stalk. 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Marix Tex Mex Cafe is located at 1108 North Flores Street in West Hollywood. They also have a second location which can be found at 118 Entrada Drive in Santa Monica. You can visit the Marix website here.

February 26, 2010June 16, 2011

Jennifer Aniston’s Former Beach House

While out stalking the ‘Bu with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, a couple of weeks ago, I just about had a complete heart attack as the two of us passed by my girl Jen Aniston’s former beach house and I noticed that the door to the front gate was standing WIDE OPEN! Let me tell you, I must have screamed for a good sixty seconds over that one! Once Mike regained his hearing ;), he made an immediate U-turn across Pacific Coast Highway so that the two of us could head over to the house to get a peek behind the gates. I’ve actually stalked Jen’s former Malibu bungalow a few times in the past – and have even blogged about it once before – but being that this was the first time I was catching a glimpse of her front courtyard area, I figured the place was worth a re-post. And let me tell you, I was pretty much dying the whole time I was there. I mean never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d get to see past that front gate!

As we walked up to the house we noticed some workers standing out front, so I, of course, struck up a conversation with them. The workers told us that they were doing some landscaping in the front courtyard area of the residence, which is why the gate was open. When I asked one of them if he knew that Jennifer Aniston used to live on the property, he looked at me like he had absolutely no idea who Jennifer Aniston even was. LOL

I didn’t want to overstep my bounds or get the landscapers in any sort of trouble while I was stalking the place, so I stayed on the sidewalk area while taking the above pictures, but believe me I was absolutely dying to venture in for a closer look!

I did manage to catch a glimpse of the glass front door, though, which you can just barely see in the above pictures.

While there, I was so focused on seeing Jen’s former courtyard area that I didn’t even realize the garage door to the house was open. It wasn’t until Mike elbowed me and whispered really loudly in my ear, “GET A PICTURE OF THE GARAGE! GET A PICTURE OF THE GARAGE! That’s where Jen did her laundry!” that I even noticed it. LOL I so wanted Mike to ask the landscaping guys if we could peek inside the house, but he refused as he felt like that would definitely be crossing a line. And I have to admit I agree with him – which is why I didn’t want to ask the workers myself. 😉 But, oh, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that house!

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During the time Jen rented the home, the glass walls of the back patio area were actually covered over with some sort of black paneling which shielded the star from the prying eyes of not only the paparazzi, but stalkers such as myself. So, I was beyond floored when Mike and I traveled to the back side of the property and noticed that those panels were no longer there, which meant that Jen’s former “backyard” was visible. YAY! It’s actually very surprising to me that the notoriously press-shy Aniston ever lived in this house – especially during her divorce, when the media frenzy was at an all-time high – being that the public beach access walkway is located just a few feet to the east of the property. Because the area was so easily accessible, the paparazzi used to supposedly camp out night and day on the beach directly behind her house. Ugh!

Jen moved into her wood-shingled Malibu beach bungalow in early 2005, immediately following her separation from now ex-husband Brad Pitt. She leased the property, which is supposedly owned by Oracle C.E.O Larry Ellison, through the end of 2007 for a reported $30,000 a month. Despite the fact that it is located right on the sand, thisclose to the ocean, Jen’s former beach house is fairly modest by celebrity standards. The residence, which was built in 1945, boasts two bedrooms, three bathrooms, and measures a scant 1,531 square feet. And I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the place. The house is incredibly charming and so very, for lack of a better word, cute and I would give anything to live in something similar. I am so enamored of the place in fact that I would consider it my dream pad, even if it hadn’t been previously lived in by Jen. 😉 The two-story bungalow is actually the place where the actress conducted her infamous first post-split interview which ran in the September 2005 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. According to several other interviews which also took place at the home, Jen decorated her bachelorette pad with mostly white furnishings adorned with white candles, white flowers, and quite a bit of Asian-inspired decor. She also reportedly kept a little vase filled with loose Merit brand cigarettes on an end table next to the couch for her guests to partake of. Apparently Jen remodeled the home a bit, even though it was a rental, before moving in. Vanity Fair author Leslie Bennetts says, “Although the bungalow was dark and depressing when she first saw it, a quickie makeover has transformed it into a cozy sanctuary that’s far more representative of Aniston’s personal taste than the showplace she and Pitt shared, where the decor seemed all hard edges and unforgiving materials.” Bennetts goes on to ask Jen what she likes best about being separated from Brad, to which the actress responds, “I can have a comfortable couch.” LOL

On a side note – Early last year fave website Big Time Listings reported on another (possible) former rental of Aniston’s in the Laurel Canyon area. And while Big Time Listings can’t actually verify that the actress ever lived in the home, according to the September 2009 issue of Elle Magazine, Jen did rent a house in Laurel Canyon during her pre-Friends days, so it’s a definite possibility.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Jennifer Aniston’s former beach rental is located at 22164 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

February 10, 2010June 16, 2011

Cole’s Restaurant from “A Lot Like Love”

This past weekend I dragged my fiancé out to re-stalk Cole’s Restaurant, a location that I originally blogged about way back in May of 2008. I first learned about the old time watering hole while watching the DVD commentary for fave movie A Lot Like Love, during which one of the film’s directors mentions that the New York bar scene featured at the beginning of the flick wasn’t actually filmed on the East Coast at all, but at a historic little bar in Downtown Los Angeles named Cole’s. After doing a bit of online research I discovered that COUNTLESS movies had actually been filmed on location at the historic bar, so I, of course, immediately dragged my fiancé right out to stalk the place. Sadly, though, upon arriving we were greeted by a sign announcing that the restaurant was closed for a massive renovation project. 🙁 And I have longed to stalk the place ever since. So, since we were in the area this past weekend, I begged my fiancé to make a little pit stop there and, since he was hungry at the time, he happily obliged. YAY!

Cole’s actually has a few other claims to fame besides being an oft-used filming location, including the fact that it is not only where the French Dip sandwich was first originated, but it is also the oldest continuously operating bar and restaurant in all of Los Angeles.

Cole’s, which was originally known as Cole’s P.E. Buffet, was first opened on December 8, 1908 by an entrepreneur named Harry Cole in what was once the main terminal of the Pacific Electric Building. That very same year, Cole’s main chef, a resourceful young man named Jack Garlinghouse, dipped the bread of a roast beef sandwich in Au Jus sauce in order to soften it for a customer who suffered from sore gums, and, thus, the French Dip sandwich was born. Those sandwiches, and the restaurant itself, became extremely popular with the hundreds of thousands of commuters who traveled through the Pacific Electric Building terminal each day. Twenty-five years later, in 1933, Cole’s was still such a popular spot that on the day California nixed its ban on beer, the bar served up over 19,000 gallons of the stuff to its parched customers. Yes, you read that right – 19,000 GALLONS in ONE day! That same year, Harry Cole’s son, Rawland, who was a bit of an entrepreneur himself, decided to start cashing checks out of the restaurant’s back room and wound up giving out over $1,000,000 each month (and we’re talking 1930’s money!), which was a larger amount than any U.S. bank was giving out during that same time! Cole’s has also had a longtime celebrity following, attracting such notables as Mickey Cohen who was a regular there during the 70’s and even had his own booth.

In 2007, Cole’s was purchased by a Los Angeles area development company named 213 who subsequently began a year-long, $1.6 million restoration process on the historic restaurant, during which its 40-foot long mahogany bar, porcelain penny tile mosaic flooring, and antique Tiffany glass lamps were all brought back to their original glory. The 213 company, which is headed by C.E.O. Cedd Moses, even added a “secret” bar in what was formerly Cole’s storage room. That secret bar is named “The Varnish” and it is so hidden, in fact, that I had absolutely no idea it was there until I read about it online after I got home. 🙁 For their restoration efforts of the legendary restaurant, 213 was awarded the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Preservation Award.

Cole’s specialty is, of course, its signature hand-carved, made-to-order French Dip sandwich which was originated on the premises one hundred and two years ago. There’s actually another L.A. area restaurant named Phillipe’s also laying claim to that exact same feat and the dispute between the two establishments is almost as old as the sandwich itself. But being that in 1974 the City of Los Angeles designated Cole’s a Historical Landmark Site and a State Point of Historical Interest not only due to its significant location, but also to its culinary invention, I think it’s safe to say that Cole’s has won that battle. 🙂 Cole’s French Dips can be constructed out of a variety of meats, including lamb, pastrami, turkey, and the typical roast beef. They can also be adorned with extra meat, Swiss, cheddar, goat, or blue cheeses, and an “atomic pickle spear”. I opted for a turkey French dip, sans the cheese and pickle, and I have to say it was absolutely A-MA-ZING! The meat truly was hand-carved, right-off-the-turkey-type turkey and I loved every last bite of it. What I loved more, though, was the historic aura of the place. It was incredible to be sitting there, dining on my French dip, thinking about the fact that the very sandwich I was now eating had actually been created on the premises over a century ago. Yes, I’ll take my meal with a side of history, please. 😉 I think it goes without saying that I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Cole’s and I honestly can’t recommend stalking the place enough!

In A Lot Like Love, Cole’s stood in for the New York bar where Oliver (aka Ashton Kutcher) and Emily (aka Amanda Peet) make a $50 bet that he won’t be a successful married businessman in six years time.

And I, of course, just had to eat lunch while sitting in the same spot where Ashton and Amanda sat in the flick. 🙂

The side booth area that is visible to the left of Ashton in the above screen capture is no longer a part of Cole’s. It was closed off during the restaurant’s recent remodel and is now a separately owned “secret” bar known as the Association. Yes, there are two secret bars located on the Cole’s premises!

The Association’s unmarked front door is pictured above.

In Jumpin’ Jack Flash – one of my all-time favorite movies EVER – Cole’s once again stood in for a New York bar, this time as the place where Terri Dolittle (aka Whoopi Goldberg) gets kidnapped by a man in a tow truck while making a telephone call from a public phone booth.

It is during this scene that Whoopi utters the infamous line “I am little black woman in a big silver box!” LOL

Towards the end of the movie, Whoopi once again runs by the restaurant on her way back to her office after escaping from the police. Cole’s is also talked about throughout the flick as the place where Whoopi and her pals hang out after work. Ironically enough, back before my very first trip to the Big Apple, I spent HOURS using Google Street View to search New York for this location. It wasn’t until years later, when I stalked Cole’s the first time after watching A Lot Like Love, that realized my mistake. I can’t believe I wasted so much time scouring New York for this location, when the whole time it was literally right in my own backyard! 😉

In Rumor Has It, Cole’s stands in for the San Francisco bar named the Fillmore Pub, where Kevin Costner and my girl Jen Aniston share a dance. Ironically enough, before I knew about Cole’s, I actually spent quite a bit of time searching the San Francisco area for this spot! Which means – you guessed it! – that I not only wasted countless hours searching for this location – not realizing it was the same place featured in Jumpin’ Jack Flash – in New York, but in San Francisco, too. LOL Man, I’m such a blonde sometimes!

The scene where Kevin and Jen kiss outside of the ladies’ room after their dance was really filmed in the bathroom area of Cole’s, as well.

The exterior of the restaurant was also used in the filming of the scene, although they changed the signage to read “Fillmore Pub”. As you can see in the above photograph (which was taken during my first Cole’s stalk) and screen capture, though, the signage used in the movie is an exact match to Cole’s real life signage. Love it!

In Forrest Gump, Cole’s yet again stood in for a New York watering hole. It was used as the spot where Forrest and Lieutenant Dan spend New Year’s Eve of 1971. Sadly, though, not much of the bar is visible in that scene.

On a side note – Located directly across the street from Cole’s is a little place named J &J Sandwich Shop, which is the restaurant which stood in for the Night Owl Cafe in fave movie L.A. Confidential.

And located directly above Cole’s is the ninth floor window from which Bud White (aka Russell Crowe) hung D.A. Ellis Loew (aka Ron Rifkin) in the same movie.

Cole’s has also appeared in an episode of The X-Files, in numerous episodes of both Mad Men and NYPD Blue, and it flashed by very briefly in the 1991 movie Guilty By Suspicion. And, according to legend, the Terminal Bar from 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was in actuality just a set, was based on Cole’s.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Cole’s is located at 118 East Sixth Street in Downtown Los Angeles. You can visit their website here.