A Walking Tour of The Sunset Strip – Part 2

I heart L.A. so much that I wrote a love letter disguised as a romance novel, ‘Los Angeles, I’m Yours‘ which is available as an eBook (and FREE in Kindle Unlimited) or paperback from Amazon (UK / US).

I’m finally going back there for a vacation at the end of February (#soexcited) and what better way to celebrate than by blogging about the places I’m most looking forward to exploring whilst we’re there.

On Sunset Strip (which is where we’ll be staying), you’re literally surrounded by literary, celluloid and rock music history so I’ve put together a walking tour of the Sunset Strip: Old & New.

ICYMI: Part 1.

I hope you’re hungry because Part 2 of the tour starts at a hamburger joint (Carney’s) and ends at yep, you’ve guessed it, another hamburger joint (Mel’s Drive-In).

(8351) CARNEY’S (Website)

Photo Credit: Ekaterina Belinskaya @ Pexels.

Carney’s was founded in 1975 by JOHN & PAT WOLFE. The Wolfes chose to open their hamburger restaurant in an old yellow Union Pacific Heavyweight Challenger car #535 (built in the 1920s) for two reasons. Firstly, it was something different and secondly, if anything happened with the lease they could always just pack up and move on. Originally John wanted to call the restaurant, ‘Casey’s’ after railroader, CASEY JONES (1863-1900) but the name was already taken so they called it ‘Carney’s’ instead.

(8358) THE SUNSET TOWER HOTEL (Website)

Photo Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Previous Names: Sunset Tower (1931-85), St James’s Club (1985-92), The Argyle (1992-2004) and Sunset Tower Hotel (2004+).

Joining The Garden of Allah Hotel (demolished) and Chateau Marmont, Sunset Tower was described by TRUMAN CAPOTE (1924-84) (Novelist) in 1947 as “where every scandal that ever happened happened”

Side Note: Whoever told him this was wrong because the crown for the most debauched hotel on Sunset Strip has to go to The Garden of Allah. I’ve never heard of a famous actress answering the door to Western Union stark-naked and with a monkey perched on her head at Sunset Tower, have you?

On 25 May 1944, BUGSY SIEGEL (1906-44) (Mobster) was at ALLEN SMILEY’s (1907-82) (Mobster) apartment at Sunset Tower playing cards with SOL SOLOWAY (1904-1965) (Bugsy’s Brother-in-Law) and GEORGE RAFT (1901-80) (Actor). Detectives had been listening in as Bugsy placed bets over the telephone and when they searched the apartment, they found betting slips for Hollywood stars and an address list of local bookmakers. Bugsy & Allen were arrested; both pleaded guilty and were fined $250.

Side Note: Bugsy had his own pied-a-terre on the ground floor of Sunset Tower (now the hotel’s restaurant) and it was featured in Architectural Digest in the 1940s.

HOWARD HUGHES (1905-76) rented the penthouse at Sunset Tower and c30 other apartments for his many girlfriends.

Sadly, my favourite legend about Sunset Tower – that JOHN WAYNE (1907-79) was said to have kept a cow on the balcony outside his suite to provide him and his guests with fresh milk – has subsequently been proved false. Damn you fact checkers!

(8401) ANDAZ WEST HOLLYWOOD (Website)

Photo Credit: Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Previous Names: Gene Autry’s Hotel Continental (1963-66), Continental Hyatt House (1966-76), Hyatt on Sunset (1976-97), Hyatt West Hollywood (1997-2009), Andaz West Hollywood (2009+).

Another hotel on Sunset Boulevard brings with it a fresh wave of badly-behaved celebrities. The Garden of Allah, Chateau Marmont and Sunset Tower might have had literary and celluloid bad boys and girls staying at them but the Andaz has got rock stars.

I guess it’s only fitting that the hotel has attracted so many musicians over the years (although it could also be because of its proximity to clubs like Whisky A Go Go) given that the hotel was opened in 1963 by The Singing Cowboy himself, GENE AUTRY (1907-98).

The Andaz has seen everything from JIM MORRISON (1943-71) (The Doors) reportedly getting kicked out of the hotel for dangling out of a window, holding on by just his fingertips, KEITH RICHARDS (Rolling Stones) chucking a TV out of the window of Room 1015 in 1972 and JOHN BONHAM (1948-80) (Led Zeppelin) riding a motorcycle along the hallways while the group were staying there in the mid-1970s (why not, huh?)

Scenes from This is Spinal Tap (1984) and Almost Famous (2000) were both filmed at the Andaz.

(8433) THE COMEDY STORE (Website)

Photo Credit: Tony Mariotti, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

8433 is another address which is famous for both its current (TCS) and previous (Ciro’s) inhabitants.

Let’s start with TCS, which was opened in April 1972 by comedians, SAMMY SHORE (1927-2019) and RUDY DE LUCA. After Sammy and his wife, MITZI SHORE (1930-2018) got divorced, as part of the settlement Mitzi got complete ownership of The Comedy Store.

In 1979, TCS had a no-pay policy for its stand-up comedians, insisting that it was a training ground for their talents rather than a money-making enterprise. When TCS expanded, the comedians formed a short-lived union (Comedians for Compensation) and for six weeks, they staged a protest outside the club led by JAY LENO and DAVID LETTERMAN. Mitzi only relented when TCS’s competition, The Improv began paying their comics.

STEVE LUBETKIN (1948-79) was one of those involved in the protests. He couldn’t get a gig at TCS afterwards and committed suicide by jumping off the Andaz West Hollywood (then the Continental Hyatt House) next door. It’s reported that he was aiming to land on TCS but missed and hit the cement parking ramp instead. His suicide note included the line, “My name is Steve Lubetkin. I used to work at The Comedy Store.”

We’ve covered The Comedy Store but what was there before? As far as I can tell, the first inhabitant of 8433 Sunset Boulevard was Club Seville (famous for having a glass dancefloor above a giant aquarium), which was opened on 31 December 1935 by MARCEL LAMAZE and ALFRED B. FREITAS.

Photo Credit: The World Famous Comedy Store, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On 29 December 1938, Marcel opened his namesake restaurant at 8433 but its stay was short-lived because in 1940 WILLIAM WILKERSON (1890-1962) (Founder of The Hollywood Reporter and Discoverer of Lana Turner at the Top Hat Café) opened the legendary Hollywood nightclub, Ciro’s there. William was no stranger to real estate development – amongst others he’d previously owned Café Trocadero (1934-8) also on Sunset Boulevard (8610) and would go on to develop The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, NV although when he ran out of money, BUGSY SIEGEL stepped in to finance the project and William ended up selling his shares.

In 1942, William sold Ciro’s to HERMAN HOVER (1905-96). Herman was forced to close Ciro’s in 1957 and after filing for bankruptcy in 1959, Ciro’s was sold at auction for $350k. Herman’s niece, SHEILA WELLER wrote a book about the famed club titled Dancing at Ciro’s: A Family’s Love, Loss, and Scandal on the Sunset Strip.

As befitting of a place on Sunset Strip, Ciro’s had a reputation for scandalous celebrity brawls. The most famous of these occurred on 29 October 1951 when FRANCHOT TONE (1905-68) (Actor) spat in FLORABEL MUIR’s (1889-1970) (Gossip Columnist) face.

In 1935, Franchot was nominated as Roger Byam (along with two of his co-stars: CLARK GABLE (1901-60) as Fletcher Christian and CHARLES LAUGHTON (1899-1962) as Captain Bligh) for Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). It’s the only film to receive 3 x Best Actor nominations and led to the creation of the Best Supporting Actor category. All three of them lost out to the only other nominee VICTOR McLAGLEN (1886-1959) as Gypo Nolan in The Informer (1935)

At the time of the brawl, Franchot was married to BARBARA PAYTON (1927-67) and Florabel had written scathingly about Franchot and Barbara (Photo). Franchot was found guilty, fined $400 and received a 45-day suspended jail sentence for battery.

Photo Credit: S. A. Hixon, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

With (extremely) misguided chivalry, Franchot may have thought that he was defending his beloved wife’s honour by spitting in Florabel’s face but sadly his marriage to Barbara would last barely as long as the court proceedings against him. To be fair, Franchot perhaps should have realised what it was going to be like with Barbara when before they’d even tied the knot, she’d already begun an affair with TOM NEAL (1914-72).

Evidently, Barbara couldn’t make up her mind and went back and forth between them until the fateful night of 14 September 1951 when Tom attacked Franchot at Barbara’s apartment, leaving Franchot in a coma for 18 hours with a smashed cheekbone, broken nose and concussion. After all the publicity, Barbara decided that the least she could do was honour her engagement to Franchot and they married two weeks later on 28 September 1951. Franchot soon discovered that Barbara was still having an affair with Tom and they divorced in May 1952. (Finding Franchot).

Side Note: After the altercation with Franchot, Barbara and Tom were both blacklisted by Hollywood. Tom started a landscape gardening business in Palm Springs, CA and in 1961 he married GAIL BENNETT. On 2 April 1965, police were called to Tom & Gail’s home in Palm Springs by Tom’s attorney. Gail had been shot in the back of the head and killed the previous day. Tom wasn’t there but immediately became a suspect. He claimed that he and Gail were fighting when the gun was accidentally discharged. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to up to fifteen years in jail (he served six).

After Ciro’s closed, 8433 became home to rock club, Ciro’s Le Disc in 1965, The Kaleidoscope, It’s Boss and Patch 2 before TCS moved in.

(8439) PIAZZA DEL SOL (Los Angeles Conservancy) is a recent addition to this Walking Tour of the Sunset Strip and was brought to my attention while watching the excellent documentary, Sunset Strip (2012).

Photo Credit: Los Angeles, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Going right back to the very beginning, the Italian Renaissance 8439 Sunset was built by Alexander R. Gallos in 1927 as The Hacienda Park Apartments for $382k and was home to Hollywood stars including Marie Dressler (1868-1934), Jeanette McDonald (1903-65) & Loretta Young (1913-2000).

It was also the scene of a sensational murder on 25 April 1935 when dress designer, Paul Ivar Wharton was shot and killed in his adoptive mother’s apartment (WeHoVille).

In the 1930s, Phil Goldstone (Tiffany Pictures) purchased 8439 Sunset and renamed it the Coronet Apartments. Legend has it that madam Lee Francis ran “the most famous brothel in America” there with clients including Jean Harlow (1911-37), Clark Gable (1901-60), Errol Flynn (1909-59) & Spencer Tracy (1900-67). However, West Hollywood History does a really great job of debunking all the misinformation about Lee Francis & the Coronet.

In the late 1970s, 8439 Sunset was bought for $1m by Rod Stewart & Barry Monzio with the intention of transforming the now-deserted building into a European-style luxury hotel. After spending $1m renovating the interior, Rod & Barry became embroiled in a bitter legal dispute. Rod eventually settled with Barry and became the sole owner of 8439 Sunset. He tried putting it up for sale for $4.2m but there were no buyers because the surrounding neighbourhood had taken a downturn. In April 1982, Rod was on a routine visit to 8439 Sunset with his daughter, Kimberly and his secretary when they were robbed and his 1977 Porsche Carrera (valued at $50k) was stolen. Rod was so shaken by the incident that he moved his family back to the UK.

Just over a year later (18 July 1983) there was a huge fire causing an estimated $1.5m damage to the interior (destroying the roof, walls and flooring on the upper floors) (West Hollywood History).

After the fire, 8439 Sunset was purchased by Westcap Financial Group for $2m and converted it into Piazza del Sol, an office building.

(8585) MEL’S DRIVE-IN (Website)

Photo Credit: Samir, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Before Mel’s, Ben Frank’s was at this location (opened 1962). The youthful patrons that frequented the restaurant inspired the producers of The Monkees (1966-68) to place an ad seeking “Ben Frank’s Types” when casting the show in 1965.

The first Mels Drive-In (the apostrophe was only added when Universal Studios decided to recreate the restaurants at their theme parks) was opened in 1947 by DAVID (MEL) WEISS and HAROLD DOBBS (1918-94) at 140 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, CA. The scenes at Burger City in American Graffiti (1973) were filmed at this location. After the success of their Van Ness location, David & Harold opened a second (Mission) & third Mels (3355 Geary Boulevard). David’s son, Steven worked at the Geary Mels when he was in high school.

During the 1950s and 60s, the Mels franchise expanded throughout Northern California and by 1954 was making $4m annually and cooking 15-20k hamburgers a day! In 1972, David & Harold sold Mels to Foster’s. After the filming of ‘American Graffiti’ was completed, Foster’s filed for bankruptcy, Mels was sold again before closure and demolition in 1976.

This is where the Mels back story becomes complicated. STEVEN WEISS urged his dad, David to bring back Mels in 1985. Unfortunately a rift developed between father and son which led to Mels being split into two: The Original Mels (David) and ‘Mel’s Drive-Ins’ (Steven).

Since Mel’s Drive-In on Sunset Boulevard is one of Steven’s Mel’s, from here on out I’m only going to talk about Mel’s Drive-Ins. OK so Steven and DONALD WAGSTAFF opened the first of the Next Generation Mel’s Drive-Ins on Lombard Street in San Francisco in 1985. Two years later, Steven’s story with Mel’s came full circle when they opened a second Mel’s Drive-In in the same building where the Mel’s he’d worked at in high school had been located (Geary Boulevard).

In 1989, Steven, Donald and GABRIEL MENDEZ decided to expand Mels into Southern California (first of all in Sherman Oaks and then with this location on Sunset in 1997). However, it’s not the only Mel’s Drive-In in L.A. The third SoCal branch of Mel’s Drive-Ins opened in the Max Factor building on Hollywood & Highland in 2001.

That’s it for today’s blog post but make sure you come back tomorrow for Part 3.

Thanks for reading, Louise x