Those Places Thursday – A Day in Hollywood

I gave my husband a slice of family history this year for Christmas:  tickets to see It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Okay, maybe that’s not quite the family history you may think of, but this movie happens to be my husband’s all-time favorite and his family roots stretch into the Hollywood area.  In fact, his family owned a house on Hollywood Boulevard in the late 1800’s.



Lander Home on Hollywood Boulevard, late 1890's

This all started a couple of weeks ago when I was searching for places to visit in the Los Angeles area for a possible family reunion in 2012.  I stumbled upon an article about the recent restoration efforts of the Egyptian Theatre and then happened to notice the list of coming attractions.  I was so excited to see my husband’s favorite on the list.  I called the kids to confirm their availability for the date and then bought tickets.

We had a great time.  First we drove up the coast and saw some of the areas where the film was shot.  My husband got nostalgic and showed us the hill that he, as a kid, used to race down on his Flexy Flyer, and then traveling east on Sunset Boulevard we saw Paul Revere Middle School, his junior high alma mater.

We got to our destination a couple hours early so we could check out some of the sights. 

You can’t step out on Hollywood without stepping on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Once a century ago, sweet citrus trees and palms populated the Boulevard.  Today, this public “monument” now lines the thoroughfare.  It consists of marble and bronze stars embedded into the sidewalk as memorials to individuals who have made an impact on the entertainment industry.

Mel Brooks on the Walk of Fame

As we walked and read the many stars at our feet we completely missed the entrance to the Egyptian Theatre and had to double back.  Registering where it was located, we crossed the street and went to Hollywood and Highland for dinner.

Hollywood and Highland Complex, December 2011

The Hollywood and Highland complex today is home to the Kodak theatre and a shopping complex that wraps around the back of the Chinese Theatre. The elephants and monolithic wall pay homage to D.W. Griffith's Gates of Babylon from his film Intolerance.

The original gates stood a few miles east where Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards (possibly near my husband’s ancestral Lander home) meet in East Hollywood. They stood until, termite infested, they were declared a public nuisance and torn down.

Moving west along the Boulevard, we visited Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.  This landmark theatre was commissioned a couple of years after the success of the Egyptian Theatre.  It opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s film The King of Kings.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, December 2011

It’s a grand and beautiful structure but the most popular and unique feature is its forecourt.  This area is filled with concrete slabs which display the signatures, footprints, and handprints (even Sonja Henie’s skate blade marks) of popular motion picture personalities through the years.  (Unfortunately, this attraction in later years would pull the attention away from the Egyptian Theatre.)

After lingering on the steps of the Chinese Theatre and trying to fit our hands and feet into the cement impressions, we proceeded east on the Boulevard to the Egyptian Theatre.

The Egyptian Theatre, 1939

The Egyptian Theatre was originally built in 1922 by showman Sid Grauman and real estate developer Charles E. Toberman.  It cost $800,000 and took 18 months to construct. Seeing it today, this magnificent theatre has been carefully restored honoring its past and its original Egyptian Revival style - a fad in the 1920’s which was inspired by the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922.

When it opened on October 18, 1922, the Egyptian was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premier, Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks. And, because the original film cost over $1 million to produce, the admission price to the premiere was $5.00. 

The Egyptian Theatre, December 2011

Eighty-nine years later, our family enjoyed our first-ever movie, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World inside this historic theatre at a cost of $11.oo a ticket.  I’d say that’s a great price to pay for a wonderful day of entertainment and a slice of history.

©2012 – Frank’s Daughter All Rights Reserved

Sunday's Obituary – James Buchanan Murphey

James Buchanan Murphey
April 1857 – March 1942

Obituary news clipping from Ward Family Archives

First Hollywood

Merchant Dies

James Buchanan Murphey, 84, the first postmaster and owner of the first general store at Prospect Park, which later became Hollywood, died Saturday at his home, 5430 Cartwright St., North Hollywood.

Born in Iowa, Mr. Murphey came here 51 years ago.  In addition to his other activities in this area during its early existence, he served as clerk on the school board of the Hollywood Union High School.

In recent years he has made his home in the San Fernando Valley where he was a plastering contractor.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Steen Chapel, North Hollywood.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Alice Murphey; two daughters, Mrs. Grace Sanford and Mrs. Florence Lander, and a son, Earl Murphey.

J.B. Murphey, Cheap Cash Store & Post Office
 at Prospect Park, California, abt. 1900

©2011 – Frank’s Daughter All Rights Reserved

Cupid Goes to Berkley

Thanks to Betty’s Boneyard Genealogy Blog for posting Tuesday’s Tip: The California Newspaper Digital Archive, I have found a great article on a couple of early Hollywood, California relatives.  The article appeared in the Los Angeles Herald, Volume 33, Number 328, 24 August 1906.

CUPID STEALS
COLLEGE GIRL

INVADES GATES OF NORTHERN
UNIVERSITY

Los Angeles Attorney and
One of Hollywood's Fairest Daughters
Wedded — Couple Find Separation
Is Simply Unbearable

  Even the most steadfast ambitions of a maid with inclinations toward a college education cannot withstand some of the onslaughts of Cupid when the little blind god makes up his mind.

This was proved to a large circle of friends of Miss Florence Murphy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Murphy, and Warren James Lander, a prominent young attorney, yesterday.

Two weeks ago Miss Murphy, now Mrs. Lander, packed her trunks and started north, bound for the freshman class at Berkeley.

That was two weeks ago yesterday.  Whether it is that there is really some truth in the saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder is not clear, but the truth remains that Mr. Lander was able to stand the separation not quite one week.

The following Wednesday evening he took the train for San Francisco and Thursday morning arrived there.  He went to Berkeley and found Miss Murphy installed in the apartments which she had taken for the fall term.

Perhaps absence has much the same effect on a young woman as it does on a young man. Just what words the young man used to convince the young woman that he could no longer live in Los Angeles while she lived in Berkeley no one but Mr. and Mrs. Lander and the four walls of a room know, and they will not tell.  Certain it is that his language was persuasive, for before nightfall the girl had decided that a course in managing a pretty little home in Hollywood would be quite as beneficial to her mental and spiritual development as a course in the University of California.

That night they went to Oakland, where they paid a visit to the First Congregational church, and with the assistance of the minister they banished all further thought of colleges and careers.

Mrs. Lander again packed her trunks and for a week a very happy bride and bridegroom enjoyed the pleasures of Santa Cruz and Del Monte.  Yesterday they came home and moved immediately into a pretty house opposite to the home of the bride's parents.

Eight years ago, when Florence Murphy and Warren Lander were 13 and 14 years of age respectively, they were sweethearts.  Ever since that time they have been the closest friends, and it was understood that when Miss Murphy had received enough of college life she would become his bride.  Before she went away to college Mr. Lander tried to persuade her that she did not want to go, but he did not succeed. There is evidently nothing like trying and trying again if you would win the heart of a lady fair.

Miss Murphy is a graduate of the Los Angeles high school and a talented pianist.  She is an attractive girl with blonde hair and blue eyes and a graceful slender figure.  Mr. Lander is a graduate of the law school of the University of Southern California and is looked upon as a clever young man.  The wedding came as a big surprise to the friends and relatives of the young people.

Warren and Florence at Berkley, ca. 1906

 

I always wondered why their wedding took place in Oakland when they both lived in Hollywood. 

Thanks again Betty! 

©2011 – Frank’s Daughter All Rights Reserved

Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, Hollywood Cemetery, and Blogging

Last weekend I attended the 42nd Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel.  This was my third time going to this event and I was not disappointed.  My weekend was filled with great instruction from top notch speakers, cruising (and purchasing) throughout the exhibit hall, and exchanging stories with other family historians.  I had a great time.
 
There were two highlights of the event for me.  The first was that I got to tour the Hollywood Forever Cemetery where my husband’s great-grandmother, Annah E. Lander, was interned in 1935.  And the second was to attend at the Genealogy Bloggers Summit I where I found instruction and encouragement to start this blog.

1935 Newpaper Obituary from Family Scrapbook

The Hollywood Forever Tour was fantastic.  I had forgotten my research data at home so I had to go to the office to look up where Annah was located.  The girl in the office leafed through an old log book and she found the information I needed.  Annah was in the Cathedral Mausoleum, Crypt 75, at the far end of the cemetery.

Hollywood Cemetery Cathedral Mausoleum

Photo taken June 10, 2011

Annah Elizabeth Watson Lander

Born March 2, 1849 in Newbury, Sank County, Wisconsin

Died1935 in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California

I know this blog is a little rough and bumpy but I'm encouraged by the community and support that is available and look forward to hearing from you. 

©2011 – Frank’s Daughter All Rights Reserved