Hollywood Knickerbocker Apartments, formerly Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel, also known as the Knickerbocker, is a historic former hotel, now

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home, old folks' home, or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – or rest home, is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Ty ...

, located at 1714 Ivar Avenue in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

History

Beginnings

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is a chamber of commerce located in Hollywood, Los Angeles. As a local chamber, the organization promotes business interests in its area, but it is best known for holding the trademarks and licensing rights for ...

cite the Knickerbocker as opening as a luxury apartment house in 1925 and then converting to a hotel, while the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

cite the Knickerbocker as opening as a hotel 1929.

Golden age

The Knickerbocker originally catered to the region's nascent film industry and as such it was frequented by several of the industry's biggest stars and was the site for some of the area's most famous moments.

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...

was said to be a frequent guest, although that is only possible if the building opened in 1925 and not 1929, as Valentino died in 1926. In October 1935,

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she p ...

hosted a costume party to celebrate

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one o ...

's 21st birthday in the hotel, with

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

, and one of the

Dionne quintuplets The Dionne quintuplets (; born May 28, 1934) are the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy. The identical girls were born just outside Callander, Ontario, near the village of Corbeil. All five survived to adulthood. The Dion ...

in attendance. On Halloween 1936, in what would become a media sensation,

Bess Houdini Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Houdini (née Rahner; January 23, 1876 – February 11, 1943) was an American stage assistant and wife of Harry Houdini. Biography Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner was born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York (before ...

held her tenth and final séance to contact her dead husband on the hotel's roof. On January 13, 1943,

Frances Farmer Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913August 1, 1970) was an American actress. She appeared in over a dozen feature films over the course of her career, though she garnered notoriety for sensationalized accounts of her life, especially her inv ...

was arrested at the hotel after failing to pay multiple DUI fines. Naked and refusing to cooperate, she was carried through the hotel kicking, spitting, screaming, and wrapped in a shower curtain.

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

spent the last year of his life at the hotel, and according to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', he died on July 23, 1948, after being discovered unconscious in the hotel's lobby. However, Griffith may not have collapsed in the lobby at all, as other newspapers reported that Griffith had been "stricken inside his hotel room." The hotel retained its glamor and notoriety through the 1950s.

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

and

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

often met at the hotel bar. On December 1, 1954, a camera crew from the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

show '' This Is Your Life'' surprised retired comedy legends

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

and

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his ...

in room 205, something the duo did not appreciate.

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

stayed in room 1016 while making his first film, '' Love Me Tender''. In 1962, celebrated

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

Irene Lentz (known professionally by just her first name) committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by jumping from an 11th-floor window. On March 3, 1966, veteran character actor

William Frawley William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best known for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the sitcom ''I Love Lucy.'' Frawley also played "Bub" O'Casey during the first five seasons of t ...

was walking down

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

when he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. According to Bart Andrews, after Frawley had collapsed, a nurse had dragged him to the Knickerbocker where he died in the lobby. However, this may be apocryphal because there are no newspapers from 1966 that mention Frawley ever being taken to the Knickerbocker, which was located half a block up a hill from where he collapsed, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Frawley died in the street. Contrary to popular belief, Frawley did not live in the Knickerbocker at the time of his death; although he had spent nearly 30 years living in an upstairs suite, he moved to the El Royale several months before he died. Other notable Knickerbocker guests during the building's heyday include

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884Mayer maintained that he was born in Minsk on July 4, 1885. According to Scott Eyman, the reasons may have been: * Mayer's father gave different dates for his birthplace at different times, so ...

Elinor Mordaunt Evelyn May Clowes, known by the pseudonym Elinor Mordaunt (7 May 1872 – 25 June 1942), was an English author, writer and traveller born in Nottinghamshire, England. Her travels included Mauritius and Australia; she undertook a wide variety of ...

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (May 17, 1911 – June 23, 1998) was an Irish actress who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Red Skelton Richard Bernard Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national old-time radio, radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelto ...

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

, and

Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...

Deterioration and restoration

By the late 1960s, the neighborhood around the Knickerbocker had deteriorated, and the Knickerbocker itself became a residence primarily for

drug addicts Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

and

prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...

. In 1970, the hotel was converted into

senior housing A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home, old folks' home, or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – or rest home, is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Ty ...

. In 1984, the

Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District is a historic district that consists of twelve blocks between the 6200 and 7000 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. This strip of commercial and retail busines ...

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, with the Knickerbocker Hotel listed as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

in the district. In 1999, a plaque honoring Griffith was placed in the building's lobby. In 1998, the Knickerbocker's

neon sign In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...

was illuminated after being dark for decades, part of an effort to restore Hollywood's old brilliance and verve.

Architecture and design

The

cite the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel as having

Classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

, while

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

's Water and Power Associates cite building as featuring

Spanish Colonial The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These ...

and

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

/ Beaux Arts architecture on different pages of the same document. The building is U-shaped and features symmetrical massing on its primary facade, a

stringcourse A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the f ...

that separates the street level from the upper stories, and central

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

upper-story windows punctuated by stone molding.

Filming location

The building's central-Hollywood location has resulted in it appearing in numerous film and television productions, either directly or indirectly. For example, in the 1936 film '' The Reckless Way'',

Marian Nixon Marian Nixon (born Marja Nissinen; October 20, 1904 – February 13, 1983) was an American film actress. Sometimes credited as Marion Nixon, she appeared in more than 70 films. Career Born in Superior, Wisconsin, in 1904, to parents of Finnish d ...

's character worked in the hotel. In the 1950 film ''

711 Ocean Drive ''711 Ocean Drive'' is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger. Plot Telephone technician Mal Granger, with knowledge of telephones and electronics, is hired by gang ...

'', the hotel was the backdrop of a syndicate meeting. The hotel and its surroundings also served as the backdrop for the opening scene of a first-season episode of the 1966 series '' Mission Impossible''. Between 1964 and 1970, viewers of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

variety series ''

The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...

'' would regularly see the hotel and its neon sign in the background of performances taped in the Hollywood Palace's parking lot, located directly behind the hotel. The sign over the building's front entrance identifying it as a hotel was still in place when the TV series ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...

'' filmed a scene there for the 1970 episode, "Only One Death to a Customer" (Season 3, Episode 20).

References

External links

Official website
{{HBCED Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles Hotels in Los Angeles Landmarks in Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Los Angeles Hotels established in 1929 Hotel buildings completed in 1929 1920s architecture in the United States Defunct hotels in Los Angeles History of Los Angeles Revival architecture in the United States Historic district contributing properties in California 1929 establishments in California Retirement communities in the United States