Raymond McCormick Kennedy (1891–1976) was the guiding light and architect of the

Grauman's Chinese Theater Grauman's Chinese Theatre, known as the Chinese colloquially and officially billed as TCL Chinese Theatre for sponsorship reasons, is a movie palace on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United S ...

that opened in May 1927.

Early life and education

Kennedy was born in

New Brighton, Pennsylvania New Brighton is a borough in north-central Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Beaver River northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 5,729 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Histor ...

, in 1891 to Thomas and Geneva Kennedy. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1915 at the top of his class with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture for which he received the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

Medal for General Excellence in Architecture. At this time he was also awarded the John Plaut Fellowship which paid for his return to Cornell for post graduate work. In 1916 Kennedy earned his Master's in Architecture at Cornell. Upon his completion of this degree he was awarded the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...

Scholarship in Architecture.Fellows American Academy of Rome (1919)
This coveted prize entitled the recipient to three years of resident study at the Academy in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and included a stipend to cover expenses. His studies in Italy were interrupted by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He volunteered to serve for the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

of Italy. This service delayed his studies in Rome for a year. While in Rome he completed several classically styled projects and in 1920 he was awarded the Diploma as a Fellow of the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...

. Kennedy returned from his studies in Italy in 1920. He obtained his first employment with the firm of

York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949, subsequently as the Office of York & Sawyer, Architects; Kiff, Colean, Voss & Souder into the mid-1950s; and was succeeded by Kiff, Colean, Voss & Souder, who were ac ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. However, the prevailing architectural design philosophy of this firm gave Kennedy no opportunity to express his creative and artistic talents. Subsequently Kennedy had a more rewarding design opportunity with the Greenley firm in New York.

Meyer & Holler

His employment was to be short lived however since in 1920 Kennedy accepted the position of architectural designer within the "design and build" firm of

Meyer & Holler Meyer & Holler was an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, noted for its opulent commercial buildings and movie theatres, including Grauman's Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Chinese and Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, Egyptian theatres, built ...

Los Angeles, California 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, ...

. In this position he began an expanded activity in his career. While associated with Meyer & Holler, Kennedy was able to leave his mark on the architectural landscape of early modern Los Angeles. In 1929 the firm of Meyer & Holler was greatly impacted by

the Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank an ...

. The decline in real estate values and dramatically lowered demand for construction in general brought to an end the operations of Meyer & Holler.

Selected buildings

*First Church Christian Scientists, Los Angeles *First Church Christian Scientists, Glendale * Fox Theatre (Fullerton), Fullerton *

, Hollywood *Hollywood National Building, Hollywood *International Mart Building, Los Angeles * Ocean Center Building, Long Beach *Petroleum Securities Building, Los Angeles *Quinby Office Building, Los Angeles *Twenty Sixth Church of Christian Scientists, Los Angeles

Grauman's Chinese Theater

The

Chinese Theater Theatre of China has a long and complex history. Traditional Chinese theatre, generally in the form of Chinese opera, is musical in nature. Chinese theatre can trace its origin back a few millennia to ancient China, but the Chinese opera started ...

has taken a significant place in world architectural history and an iconic part of Hollywood. Kennedy was responsible for 99% of all sketches made of the architectural features for the theater that was developed by his employer,

Meyer and Holler Meyer may refer to: People *Meyer (surname), listing people so named *Meyer (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Companies * Meyer Burger, a Swiss mechanical engineering company * Meyer Corporation * Meyer Sound Labor ...

. Meyer and Holler was the design-build firm that had already built

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known as Egyptian Hollywood and the Egyptian, is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace ...

for

Sid Grauman Sidney Patrick Grauman (March 17, 1879 – March 5, 1950) was an American entrepreneur and showman who established two of Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood's most recognizable and visited landmarks, the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Chinese The ...

. The ground breaking for the Chinese took place on January 5, 1926, and the construction was to be completed by December 28, 1926. The grand opening of Grauman's Chinese Theater 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. ...

, was on May 18, 1927, and was the most spectacular theater opening in motion picture history. Kennedy's design of the theater displayed his classical, sophisticated training and his exuberant use of color and unique styles. Kennedy, along with fellow architect Donald Wilkinson, arranged the forecourt and facade of the Chinese theater to echo the layout of the

Piazza San Pietro St. Peter's Square (, ) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave in Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint ...

and the massing of

Sant'Andrea al Quirinale The Church of Saint Andrew on the Quirinal (, ) is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, Italy, built for the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill. The church of Sant'Andrea, an important example of Roman Baroque architecture, was designed by ...

, respectively. He thus managed to subtly associate the function of the movie theater with that of sacred space, thereby helping to legitimize the cinema at a time when its morality was being questioned.

University of Southern California

Kennedy left the defunct firm of Meyer & Holler and secured a teaching position at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. His major position was professor of architectural design but he also conducted classes in mural painting, free hand sketching, and architectural modeling. His architectural students flourished under his tutelage and subsequently won many design awards. He became one of their favorite professors and was invited to many student reunions as a featured speaker. Teaching assignments for Kennedy were scheduled in the afternoons which left the mornings free for other employment. In the mornings he would design sets for the movie studios of

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Metro ...

and

Republic Studios Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

Post USC

His teaching work at U.S.C. was interrupted during September and October 1941 when he left to be a Consulting Architect on the design of the future

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

in Washington, D.C. At the completion of his employment at the University of Southern California in 1942, Kennedy again became active in strictly architectural work. This activity was divided between the offices of Robert E. Bennett of Pasadena and William H. Harrison of Los Angeles. In association with these two firms, Kennedy worked on many other projects including libraries, schools, a city hall, and a chapel. Kennedy retired at the age of 69 in 1960. During his retirement years Kennedy enthusiastically pursued his many hobbies of model railroads, woodworking, travel, photography, painting and writing. He was an avid reader with a romantic appreciation of poetry and music.

Death

At the age of 85, on May 11, 1976, Kennedy died leaving his wife Myrtle, two sons, Raymond Kennedy Jr., Thomas Kennedy, and a multitude of aesthetically pleasing and functional buildings in Southern California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Raymond 1891 births 1976 deaths Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni American theatre architects People from New Brighton, Pennsylvania