Hollywood Knickerbocker Apartments (Los Angeles, California)

USA / California / West Hollywood / Los Angeles, California / Ivar Avenue, 1714
 place with historical importance, apartment building, retirement home
In 1923 E. M. Frasier built this 11-story hotel in Renaissance Revival/Beaux Arts style, which catered to Hollywood's film industry and was home to many stars throughout the years. This historic building began life as a luxury apartment building that was at the heart of Hollywood back in the 1920s, before becoming a hotel later in its history; its slogan was "Your home for a year or a day".

Today, it may be just an apartment house for senior citizens, but back in the 1920's, the Knickerbocker Hotel was at the heart of Hollywood - and it played a key role in Tinseltown history for decades.

Rudolph Valentino hung out at the hotel bar, and reportedly liked to tango dance here.

Harry Houdini's wife Bess, conducted a séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker hotel. When Houdini failed to put in a ghostly appearance, she continued holding annual séances at the hotel for over a decade.

The hotel lobby features a large crystal chandelier, which cost $120,000 in the 1920's - which would be over $1 million today's dollars. It is under this very chandelier that epic film director D.W. Griffith ("Birth of a Nation," "Intolerance") died of a stroke on July 21, 1948.

Remember the movie "Francis," starring Jessica Lange as the ill-fated actress Frances Farmer? It was here that the real Frances Farmer was arrested in 1942, and dragged half-naked from her room, beginning the ugly spiral that resulted in her eventual lobotomy.

Marilyn Monroe honeymooned here with Joe Dimaggio in January of 1954.

On November 15, 1962, "Irene" costume designer to the stars, jumped to her death from a hotel window. She had designed costumes for over 100 Hollywood movies, including "Easter Parade" and several "Thin Man" films. She was distraught over money problems (and some say over the death of Gary Cooper.)

William Frawley, who played Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy," lived at the hotel for decades. On March 3, 1966, he was coming back to the Knickerbocker when he dropped dead of a heart attack on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. His nurse dragged him into the lobby in an attempt to revive him, but it was too late.

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Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Knickerbocker_Hotel
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Coordinates:   34°6'8"N   118°19'40"W

Comments

  • Beautiful description! I wish more places on WikiMapia were described like this. The power of place!
  • Director DW Griffith died in this hotel. Elvis Presley stayed here on his first visit to Hollywood; there are photos of him standing on the roof in 1956.
  • There is also a business here called IVA Design Build www.ivadesignbuild.com
This article was last modified 4 years ago