This 1954 image shows actor Anthony Perkins (best known as Norman Bates in “Psycho”) tinkling the ivories at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood.
There is still a piano in the lobby restaurant at the hotel, in approximately the same spot.
This detailed shot reveals that it could actually be the very same piano; the ledge was added more recently, but the piano itself seems to have the same styling.
Sohmer & Company was founded in New York City in 1872, creating the first modern baby grand pianos.
The Sohmer family sold off the company in 1982 to Pratt, Read & Co., the largest American manufacturer of piano actions and keyboards, and moved to their facilities in Ivoryton, Connecticut. It appears that the company folded/went bankrupt some time in the 1980s/1990s. Samick Music Corporation, a Korean based piano manufacturer, now holds the rights to the Sohmer name, but no longer produces Sohmer-branded pianos.
UPDATE: The Chateau tells me it is not the same piano. Sigh…
See Chateau Marmont more photos at my main website.
2 comments:
I've been flipping back and forth between those pics. The CM's staff claims this is not the same piano, so we should believe that the exact same make and model that just happened to be moved into this location at a later time? Maybe, but so unlikely. The modern pics show the tip of the piano to have lighter colors and upward brush strokes. It's hard to tell in the B&W but that gouge on the end of the piano Tony's playing sure lines up with what I'm seeing in color, even with that counter added. Overall, I take issue with how that counter was added, visible "L" brackets, etc. It's just too unlikely they'd find the funds to replace the piano with an exact make/model, the have no funds for proper upkeep. I'd lean hard into this being the exact same one.
love him so
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