Hollywood's Historic Buildings
Theaters and other architectural gems lined Hollywood's famous boulevards during its Golden Age and now hold restored star appeal
- By Laura Kiniry
- Smithsonian.com, March 01, 2010
Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry struts his signature "duck walk" while playing his Gibson guitar, to the delight of fans, during a 1980 Hollywood, California, concert at the Palladium (George Rose / Getty Images)
6215 Sunset Boulevard
When the Palladium Theater opened on Halloween night 1940, hundreds packed the enormous coral and chromium ballroom to hear the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and a young Frank Sinatra. Judy Garland, Jack Benny and Lana Turner joined the throngs who sipped champagne, dined on $3 meals and danced on an 11,200-square-foot maple wood floor under sparkling chandeliers. With Big Band music on the wane a decade later, the Art Deco-style building attracted such award shows as the Grammys and Emmys as well as rock musicians from James Brown to Bjork. It was the home of the Lawrence Welk Show in the 1960s and the venue for a 1961 political dinner attended by President Kennedy. Falling into disrepair in the 1980s and ’90s, it became notorious for brawls and prison-style security and eventually closed. Concert promoters Live Nation put millions into restoring the theater and reopened it with hip-hop artist Jay-Z in October 2008.
Comments (11)
Hollywood sucks
Posted by Simon on November 12,2012 | 10:24 AM
I remember those days well, especially the Palladiam - it wwas alwys such a thrill to walk into that ballroom. Also shopping on Hollywood Blvd. I had a suit made for !00.00 dollars and hated to geg rid of that one. There was a great tailor on the the Blvd.
Posted by Iona Holderness on March 4,2010 | 06:46 PM
It wouldn't BE Hollywood if it weren't in California
Posted by Clifton Grantham on March 4,2010 | 06:32 PM
For the record, the corner pictured in the Capitol records entry is Vine and Argyle. There is no Hollywood Avenue. Hollywood Boulevard is a block South, where you can see the neon lights of the Broadway Hollywood.
Posted by Joyce Hagen on March 4,2010 | 06:05 PM
Thank you for helping to preserve Classic Hollywood. I worked in the Capitol Record Tower in the sixties. Alan Livingston was President of Capitol, and Ed Nash was President of the Capitol Record Club. They made me Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services of the Capitol Record Club. We had to move the Club to Thousand Oaks because our 420 employees simply wouldn't fit in the tower, but I always kept an office there, and attended many policy meetings in the conference room on the thirteenth floor.
Posted by Harry A LeMay on March 4,2010 | 04:04 PM
ALWAY SAVE THE PAST. GREAT TO SEE HISTORICAL BUILLDINGS. I HAVE A HOME OVER 200 YEARS. BUILT IN 1740
Posted by A. GREGORY on March 4,2010 | 12:48 PM
Thank you so much for a wonderful tour,something I always wanted to do in person, but................
Posted by Betsy Cossuth on March 4,2010 | 11:55 AM
I'm linking to this article for our blog WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC. Our blog is about rockabilly, the early rock and roll era, which Wes Bryan was part of as a singer, then a singer-songwriter, then a songwriter for American Music, and as a music producer. By linking to your article and the pictures, our readers can get a better sense of Hollywood as it was when Wes and so many that he worked with were walking their new songs into small record labels.
We're at http://www.wesbryan.blogspot.com
Christine Trzyna
Posted by Christine Trzyna on March 1,2010 | 04:40 PM
The problem with Hollywood is that it's located in California.
Posted by Doc Miller on February 27,2010 | 11:25 AM
Used exstensivly in Capital Record Club Advertising in the 60's a monument in LA...May it live forever!!!
Posted by Rich Parks on February 24,2010 | 02:27 PM
Fascinating article. Loved reading about the historical places. So well researched. Want to see them in person next time we visit Hollywood.
Posted by Bonnie Yorkowitz on February 23,2010 | 02:11 PM