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Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in
The first restaurant was opened in February 1926 at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard in a building built in the distinctive shape of a derby hat. Whimsical architecture was in vogue at the time, and the restaurant was designed to catch the eye of passing motorists. The Brown Derby name originated from a
Despite its less distinctive Spanish Mission style facade, the second Brown Derby, which opened on
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat
The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...
, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.
Golden may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall
*Golden Cap, Dorset
*Golden Square, Soho, London
*Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...
. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain was started by Robert H. Cobb and Herbert K. Somborn (a former husband of film star Gloria Swanson
Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...
) in the 1920s. The original Brown Derby restaurants had closed or had been converted to other uses by the 1980s, though a Disney-backed Brown Derby national franchising program revived the brand in the 21st century. It is often incorrectly thought that the Brown Derby was a single restaurant, and the Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...
and Hollywood branches are frequently confused.
There is a non-related chain of steakhouse restaurants founded in 1941 in Akron, Ohio, and franchised in 1962. This chain was founded by Ted and Gus Girves, and the full name of these restaurants is "Girves Brown Derby". , five of the Girves chain are still in business.
Wilshire Boulevard Brown Derby
First Wilshire Derby (at 3427)
The first restaurant was opened in February 1926 at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard in a building built in the distinctive shape of a derby hat. Whimsical architecture was in vogue at the time, and the restaurant was designed to catch the eye of passing motorists. The Brown Derby name originated from a Malverne, New York
Malverne is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 8,514 at the 2010 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total are ...
-based restaurant of the same name that had been a hang-out for vaudevillians in the 1920s. It was founded by Wilson Mizner as a small cafe, across the street from the Hollywood hot spot the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel. Wilson was the front man; Herbert K. Somborn owned the property and Jack L. Warner put up the money. Wilson Mizner sat in booth 50 almost every day. Unfortunately the original restaurant was small and suffered from acoustic problems in which sound from one end of the building bounced off the semicircular ceiling and traveled to the other side of the room.
Subsequent uses
Most of the rest of the block bounded by Wilshire Boulevard, Sixth Street, Mariposa Avenue and Alexandria Avenue was occupied by the Chapman Park Hotel and Bungalows which wanted to acquire the rest of the block that it did not own, including the lot that the original Derby had occupied. After the restaurant moved out in May 1936, the building was demolished and the hotel was expanded and occupied by October of the same year. The hotel itself was replaced in 1967 by the Equitable Life Building.Replacement Wilshire building (at 3377)
In 1936, a larger building, also in the shape of a hat, was constructed at 3377 Wilshire Boulevard at the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Alexandria Avenue, about a block from its previous location (and directly across the street from the Ambassador Hotel). The restaurant was able to move into its new home in May of that year. In 1947's ''Fun and Fancy Free
''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy package film produced by Walt Disney and released on September 27, 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the ninth Disney animated feature film and the fourth of the package films th ...
'', the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment ends with Willie the Giant's stomping through Hollywood looking for Mickey Mouse. Before the scene closes, Willie notices The Brown Derby restaurant and picks up the restaurant looking for Mickey. Willie notices the restaurant looks like a hat, places it on his head, and stomps off with the lights of the Hollywood Sign blinking in the background.
The Wilshire Brown Derby was frequented by director Ed Wood
Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker,
actor, and pulp novel author.
In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...
and his entourage, including the psychic the Amazing Criswell
Jeron Criswell King (August 18, 1907 – October 4, 1982), known by his stage-name The Amazing Criswell , was an American psychic known for wildly inaccurate predictions. In person, he went by Charles Criswell King, and was sometimes cred ...
and Criswell's wife Halo Meadows
Halo Meadows (May 1, 1905 – May 12, 1985) was an American actress, writer and playwright. She also used Louise Howard as a pseudonym.
Early life
Born Myrtle Louise Stonesifer in Littlestown, Pennsylvania, she attended the public schools ...
.
In September 1980, the restaurant closed without warning. Local preservationists worked to stop the building from being bulldozed, and convinced developers to remove and restore the derby hat portion of the building. The rest of the restaurant building was demolished and replaced with a shopping center. The derby-shaped structure was placed on the roof of the new building.
Subsequent uses
The parking lot was replaced in late 1985 by a shopping center known as the Brown Derby Plaza. The domed structure was incorporated into the third floor of the building, and is currently vacant; it formerly accommodated a Korean bar (see photo at right with the brown dome in the recessed corner).Hollywood Brown Derby
Despite its less distinctive Spanish Mission style facade, the second Brown Derby, which opened on Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...
1929 at 1628 North Vine Street in Hollywood, was the branch that played the greater part in Hollywood history. Due to its proximity to movie studios, it became the place to do deals and be seen.
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
is said to have proposed to Carole Lombard there. Rival gossip columnists Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies and s ...
and Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
are recorded as regular patrons.
In the first of the Hollywood episodes of ''I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...
'' ("L.A. at Last"), Lucy (Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...
), Ethel (Vivian Vance
Vivian Vance (born Vivian Roberta Jones; July 26, 1909 – August 17, 1979) was an American actress and singer best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom '' I Love Lucy'' (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...
), and Fred (William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...
) have lunch at the Brown Derby. During the misadventure, the trio dines in a booth with Eve Arden on one side and William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
(who orders a Cobb salad) on the other. This leads to the disaster scene in which Lucy inadvertently causes a waiter to hit Holden in the face with a pie.
Like its Wilshire Boulevard counterpart, it had a celebrity wall
A celebrity wall, caricature wall, or wall of fame is a gallery of photographs or caricatures of celebrities, typically found on the wall of restaurants and bars. They suggest that celebrities are liable to be encountered there, and also function a ...
with hundreds of celebrity drawings, paintings and caricatures. Jack Lane drew many of these caricatures between 1947 and 1985. Another artist whose work was displayed was Nicholas Volpe
Nicholas A. Volpe (19111992) was an American artist, noted for his portraits of Hollywood celebrities, presidents, sports figures, and other famous personalities."Volpe: Portrait of an Artist"
Beatlesportraits.com The Hollywood Brown Derby is the purported birthplace of the Cobb salad, which was said to have been hastily arranged from leftovers by owner Bob Cobb for showman and theater owner
Bob Cobb opened the third Brown Derby in 1931 at 9537 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, across from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The building had previously housed a women's clothing store called "The Petite Shop." One of the dining areas was called The American Room and featured charcoal portraits of Academy Award-winning actors by artist Nicholas Volpe on the walls. The Beverly Hills Brown Derby featured a revolving door (the first in Beverly Hills) and a uniformed doorman. A 1938 expansion with a bar and private dining room was called "The Derby House" and was decorated in Old English style. It was closed in 1982 and demolished shortly afterwards. Developer Douglas Stitzel purchased the vacant property in 1986 to build the ''One Rodeo'' shopping development.
In June 2004, when Hillhurst/Los Feliz LLC purchased The Derby and adjacent lots with a view to demolition and replacement by a condominium complex, the planned redevelopment became a
Website of The Original Hollywood Brown Derby – an affiliate of the original Hollywood location. Website outlining the history of the Los Feliz Brown Derby and the campaign to save it from demolition.A visual history of Yonge and Dundas
* ttp://www.lookbackandhanker.com/the-brown-derby-scene-in-george-cukors-what-price-hollywood-1932.html Movie clips showing interior and exterior of the original Wilshire Brown Derby, ca.1932 Defunct restaurants in Hollywood, Los Angeles History of Los Angeles Novelty buildings in California Restaurants established in 1926 Fine dining Walt Disney Parks and Resorts restaurants Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles County, California 1926 establishments in California
Beatlesportraits.com The Hollywood Brown Derby is the purported birthplace of the Cobb salad, which was said to have been hastily arranged from leftovers by owner Bob Cobb for showman and theater owner
Sid Grauman
Sidney Patrick Grauman (March 17, 1879 – March 5, 1950) was an American showman who created two of Hollywood's most recognizable and visited landmarks, the Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre.
Biography
Early years
Grauman was the s ...
. It was chopped fine, because Grauman had just had dental work done, and couldn't chew well.
According to Shirley Temple, the non-alcoholic drink bearing her name was invented at the Brown Derby in the mid-1930s. Temple herself never liked the drink and noted her personality rights had been used without permission.
The Hollywood Brown Derby closed for the last time at its original site on April 3, 1985, as a result of a lease dispute. The building was later occupied by a restaurant called Arbat Continental Restaurant when the building was hit by an early morning fire that destroyed the kitchen. After the fire in 1987, the building remained unoccupied and deteriorated further while suffering frequent break-ins from homeless squatters and teenage gang members. As a result of damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles.
The quake had a duration of approximately 1 ...
, the building at 1628 North Vine Street was declared unsafe by the City of Los Angeles and was the first building in Hollywood ordered to be demolished. It was razed the following month.
Subsequent uses
The building then was home to a restaurant and bar called Premieres of Hollywood, which catered to the revitalization of Hollywood Boulevard and the style of "Old Hollywood"; it offered an eclectic mix of American cuisine along with the original Cobb Salad (the recipe for which was found in the kitchen during the renovation). Premieres of Hollywood was destroyed during the L.A. riots in 1992. A few hand-painted wall tiles from the original Hollywood Brown Derby are held by the Jurus family, who started Premieres of Hollywood. The land is now occupied by an apartment complex.Later Brown Derby restaurants
After the original Hollywood Brown Derby at 1628 North Vine Street closed in April 1985 a spokesman for Walter P. Scharfe, who had purchased the chain a decade earlier, told the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' that the restaurant owner was “99% committed” to reopening the business at a new location. Late in 1986 Scharfe opened a new Brown Derby in the Lieberg Building at 911 E. Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California. The new restaurant would utilize the dark booths, crystal chandeliers, and 1500 caricatures removed from the original location. Scharfe opened another Brown Derby at 1707 N. Vine Street in Hollywood in October 1987. The location had most recently been a Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain and former restaurant chain. Founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925 as a restaurant, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, ...
coffee shop and reopened as a more casual version of the famous eatery with a large painted derby hat gracing the exterior walls. In 1987 Scharfe told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that he had plans to open additional Brown Derby restaurants in Palm Springs, Honolulu, and Vancouver. Both restaurants closed after a short time. In 1994 Scharfe opened another Brown Derby at the Beverly Center
Beverly Center is a shopping mall in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is an eight-story structure located at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, between La Cienega and San Vicente boulevards. Anchor tenants include Blooming ...
shopping mall. The small location featured miniature replicas of the famous caricatures and closed in less than one year.
Beverly Hills Brown Derby
Bob Cobb opened the third Brown Derby in 1931 at 9537 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, across from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The building had previously housed a women's clothing store called "The Petite Shop." One of the dining areas was called The American Room and featured charcoal portraits of Academy Award-winning actors by artist Nicholas Volpe on the walls. The Beverly Hills Brown Derby featured a revolving door (the first in Beverly Hills) and a uniformed doorman. A 1938 expansion with a bar and private dining room was called "The Derby House" and was decorated in Old English style. It was closed in 1982 and demolished shortly afterwards. Developer Douglas Stitzel purchased the vacant property in 1986 to build the ''One Rodeo'' shopping development.
Los Feliz Brown Derby
The building that formerly housed the Los Feliz Brown Derby at 4500 Los Feliz Boulevard has been in use as a restaurant since the 1920s. Film mogulCecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...
, a part owner of the Wilshire Blvd. restaurant, bought the building, a former chicken restaurant named Willard's, and converted it into a Brown Derby in 1940. It uniquely combined a formal restaurant with a dramatic domed ceiling with a more casual drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
cafe outside. The building currently houses a restaurant called Mess Hall and a Chase bank.
Subsequent uses
In 1960, it was purchased by actor Michael St. Angel (aka Steve Flagg) and became Michaels of Los Feliz, and in 1992 it was transformed by new owners Tony and Tammi Gower into a nightclub known as The Derby. In the late 1990s, it became one of the centers of the resurgence of swing dancing, which launched the careers of modern swing bands such asBig Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary swing revival band from Southern California. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played at the Super Bowl XXXIII ha ...
and Johnny Crawford. Oregon rock/ swing/ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies recorded a song that cites the venue, titled "Brown Derby Jump", on their album '' Zoot Suit Riot''.
The Derby was prominently featured in the 1996 film '' Swingers'', in the scene where Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn's characters bypass the line at the front door, enter through the service entrance, walk through the kitchen, and into the club where Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are playing on the stage, in an ode to the classic restaurant scene with Ray Liotta
Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primet ...
in Scorsese's ''Goodfellas
''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' W ...
''.
In June 2004, when Hillhurst/Los Feliz LLC purchased The Derby and adjacent lots with a view to demolition and replacement by a condominium complex, the planned redevelopment became a cause célèbre
A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...
for historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
activists. An independent coalition called "Save The Derby" fought to prevent the demolition, and, on May 19, 2006, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to designate the entire structure an official Historic Cultural Monument of the City of Los Angeles.
In January 2009, the nightclub closed its doors. The current landlord chose not to renew the lease, not long after a shooting inside the club. In 2012, the Los Feliz Brown Derby space is occupied by the gastropub ''Mess Hall Kitchen'' and a Chase bank, dividing the dome in half between the businesses. The interior framing details of the dome construction have been exposed and are now visible from inside the restaurant.
Brown Derby Crenshaw Center
A fifth Brown Derby opened in 1955 at the Broadway Crenshaw Shopping Center, now known as theBaldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza (alternately BHCP) is a shopping mall located in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. This was one of the first regional shopping centers in the United States built specifically for the automo ...
, in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was a 24-hour coffee shop designed by architect Rowland Crawford and located near the center's Desmond's men's store The address was 3625 Stocker Avenue, Los Angeles, California. The location later became an early location of The International House of Pancakes
Licensing program
The Brown Derby began a licensing program in 1987, with an agreement withThe Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
for a replica of the original Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at the new Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by ...
in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. In 1990, the Walt Disney Company entered into three additional agreements for the Walt Disney Movie Studios at Disneyland Resort Paris, Tokyo Disney Sea at Tokyo Disney Resort and Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...
in Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...
. In 1996, a ten-year agreement was entered into with MGM Grand Las Vegas
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of roo ...
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
; in 1998, the MGM Grand Detroit
The MGM Grand Detroit is one of three casino resort hotels in Detroit, Michigan, and one of four in the Detroit–Windsor area. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The casino opened in its temporary locatio ...
, Michigan temporary facility was added.
In popular culture
The Hollywood Brown Derby is featured in the 1937 film ''Hollywood Hotel
The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood, and landmark
A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible fr ...
'', while the Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard can be seen in '' Stand-In'' (also 1937). In the 1994 film ''Ed Wood
Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker,
actor, and pulp novel author.
In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...
'', the titular film director is shown hosting fundraising parties at the Wilshire Brown Derby; as the restaurant had since closed, shots featuring the exterior of the restaurant were filmed using a recreation built on the grounds of the Ambassador Hotel, opposite the remains of the actual location.
See also
* Chasen's * Perino'sBibliography
* * *References
External links
{{Commons category, Brown DerbyWebsite of The Original Hollywood Brown Derby – an affiliate of the original Hollywood location.
* ttp://www.lookbackandhanker.com/the-brown-derby-scene-in-george-cukors-what-price-hollywood-1932.html Movie clips showing interior and exterior of the original Wilshire Brown Derby, ca.1932 Defunct restaurants in Hollywood, Los Angeles History of Los Angeles Novelty buildings in California Restaurants established in 1926 Fine dining Walt Disney Parks and Resorts restaurants Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles County, California 1926 establishments in California