On a quiet street in the hills above Hollywood Blvd is a colonial style family home. It is a real family home it is the Nelson home. This is the house that Ozzie and Harriet Nelson lived in with their sons David and Rick. Not only did they live there it served as the exterior establishing shot of their home on their TV show. The interior of the house was also what the interior sets were based on. "The Ozzie and Harriet Show" ran on television for 14 years. Then in the mid-70's Ozzie and Harriet used the house again as the exterior for their short lived series "Ozzie's Girls".
The 10 room house was built in 1916 for a Los Angeles business man on a half an acre lot. The Nelson's bought the house in 1942. The Nelson's did some alterations over the years but the house was more or less as it was built. The three story house is in the colonial revival style and has a nice pool and patio out back.
The Nelson's were know for the very clean cut image. Ozzie and Harriet lived there until Ozzie died in 1975 and Harriet sold it off a few years later. It was after the house was sold that the new owners started reporting strange happenings. Things started happening like lights turning on and off and doors opening and closing. There were also reportedly strange "phantom" footsteps in the halls. The clear sounds of foot steps could be heard when no one was around. The strangest of all was described in a book called "Hollywood Haunted" by Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker. The have a description form a woman who was living in the house waking to find her bed covers pulled back and the feeling of an unseen something kissing her neck and breasts.
Could this be Ozzie just confused or allowing his inner perv to come out in his after life? Perhaps it is Harriet? But this just goes to show that not everything in Hollywood is what it looks like!
Florence Stanley has one of those faces that is hard to forget. The character actress had a long and varied career with Broadway, movies, and television performances. One of her best known performances is that of the long suffering Bernice Fish the wife of Phil Fish from the sitcom "Barney Miller" and its spin off "Fish".
Florence Stanley was born in Chicago in 1924 with the name Florence Schwartz. Her career started in the 1940's. In the 1950's she appeared in several live television productions. On stage Ms. Stanley appeared in "Clytemnestra" and "The Glass Menagerie" She took over the role of Yenta the matchmaker in "Fiddler of the Roof" from Bea Arthur performing in over 2,000 Broadway performances. One of her other great successes was in Neil Simon's "Prisoner of Second Avenue".
In film Ms. Stanley appeared in "Up the Down Staircase" with Sandy Dennis, Jean Stapleton and Bud Cort as well as "The Day of the Dolphin".
In the 1970's Florence Stanley was once again on television co-starring in the short run sitcom "Joe and Sons". It was while making Joe and Sons she was cast in one of her most famous roles that of Bernice on an episode of "Barney Miller". She played the long suffering wife of Fish played by Abe Vigoda. The producers of Barney Miller then created the spin off "Fish" with Vigoda and Stanley playing the roles of Fish and Bernice as foster parents of a group of mixed race kids. The series ran for two seasons. Ms. Stanley was later cast in the sitcom "My Two Dads" as Judge Margaret Wilbur a family court judge and curmudgeon. She also appeared of "Family Guy" as the voice of Thelma Griffin. She was replaced by Phyllis Diller after her death.
Florence Stanley died in 2003 from complications of a stroke.
John Malkovich was just standing on a Toronto Street corner enjoying a cigarette when a man who was walking down the street stumbled and fell. When the man, Jim Walpole, fell against a scaffold on the way to the ground. The scaffold had a jagged edge and slit Mr. Walpole's throat. John Malkovich then jumped into action! He whipped the scarf from around his neck and applied pressure on the wound while someone called an ambulance. Jim Walpole was reassured he would be okay by Malkovich. Mr. Walpole, apparently not a Malkovich fan asked him his name. "John", replied Malkovich.
Emergency help came and relieved super hero John Malkovich and took Mr. Walpole away. So if you ever fall and slice open your neck on a scaffold hope John Malkovich is smoking near by!
It gets hot in Stockholm in the summer especially if your are a train operator. The drivers of the Stockholm trains are required to dress neatly and look presentable at all times. Arriva the state train service requires that all employees wear wither trousers or a skirt while on duty, shorts are not allowed. Many men working for the train company as drivers say that it can get as hot as 95 degrees were they are working and wanted to be allowed to wear shorts but were told no. They found a way around the regulations they are now wearing skirts to work. The management gave their okay to the men wearing skirts. “To say anything else would be discrimination,” Mr. Thomas Hedenius, the communications director for Arriva said in a statement given by management. So skirts it is for men in Stockholm.
Arturo Vega the designer of The Ramones famous presidential seal logo has died. He reportedly went all but two Ramones shows during his time with the band. Not only was Mr. Vega the logo designer he also was their lighting designer and ran their light board and created several of their album covers.
The Ramones lived for a time in Vega's New York loft they were there enough that it became known as the Ramones Loft when in fact it was Vega's. Not only did he do all of this work for The Ramones he also ran their website (RamonesWorld.com). Mr. Vega was 65 years old.
World of Wonder the producers of RuPaul's Drag Race have a new web series starring Michelle Visage called "Michelle Visage's Hooker Makeover". The show is hosted by RuPaul's good friend and Drag Race Judge Michelle Visage and drag queen Morgan McMichaels. The premise of the show is Michelle and Morgan walking along Hollywood Blvd by the World of Wonder offices and asking girls on the street if they would like a make over. When they find a willing participant they take them into Busy B a shop on Hollywood Blvd that specializes in togs for the tarty. Some how Michelle and Morgan do talk ladies into becoming their inner hooker. When the make over is complete Morgan then takes the new hooker out onto the street to get drivers to honk at them. For every honk the neo-hooker receives $10. The show is very funny and all the girls seem to be having the time of their lives. The episodes are only 5 minutes long so by the time the viewer is getting weary of the show its over. This is a great use of Visage and McMichaels as they are funny in short doses and these doses are just right.
Behind a high wall topped by an even higher fence is a building in Hollywood that is possibly the creepiest building in town. On the corner of Franklin Ave and Branson Ave is a very large building set off the road that looms ominously. The Building built in 1927 was named Chateau Elysee.
The Chateau Elysee was commissioned by Elinor Ince the widow of early film mogul Thomas Ince after he died. William Ince was one of the very early silent film makers in Los Angeles coming to the area in 1910. Ince died in 1924 under some murky circumstances. He and his wife Elinor were part of a weekend yachting party on the boat owned by William Randolph Hearst. Ince died of what was deemed a heart attack although there is a school of thought that say he was shot by Hearst. Elinor Ince inherited her husbands estate upon his death. The estate was said to have been $1,600,000. Part of Ince's estate was a lot of land on Franklin Ave. It was on this land that Elinor decided to build a luxury building in the at the time very popular style of Chateauesque architecture. Elinor Ince hired architect Arthur E. Harvey to design her building. It was named Chateau Elysee. The chateau, a seven story luxury hotel featured turrets, a bubbling steam, maid service and a dining room serving meals to its guests. It soon became a very fashionable address in Hollywood appealing to film stars and soon to be film stars. Residents that lived there over the years were Edward G. Robinson, Errol Flynn, Carole Lombard, Katherine Hepburn, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Clark Gable and others. The chateau with all its celebrity glitter also attracted non-celebrity guests who came for the season to stay among the famous in the luxurious rooms and apartments. Through out the 1930's and 40's it was one of the Hollywood's best respected addresses.
Elinor Ince sold the chateau in 1942. The building remained a coveted address. Times in Hollywood slowly changed and Hollywood became less of a desired neighborhood loosing much of its glamour to nearby Beverly Hills. In 1951 the chateau was converted into a luxury retirement home for those in their autumn years who have known gracious living and wish to continue without responsibilities. This was the chateau's raison d'etre for many years.
In 1969 The Church of Scientology rented the building to use as its "Celebrity Center". The chateau was purchased by the Scientologists in 1973. Most of the building is now used by the Scientologists as a hotel for their celebrity out of town guests and the top floors are used as offices. The grand conservatory is now a restaurant. There are tours of the building that can be arranged by contacting the Church of Scientology.
