James Darren enters the Time Tunnel

The Hollywood Reporter sadly announced that James Darren died over the Labor Day weekend on Monday, September 2:

James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88. Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery; he went home but had to return. Even though he could not surf, the Philadelphia native got the role of Moondoggie (real name: Jerry Matthews) opposite three actresses as the precocious Malibu teen: Sandra Dee in Gidget (1959), Deborah Walley in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Cindy Carol in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963).



Darren then spiraled through history as the headstrong Dr. Tony Newman, an electronics genius, on the 1966-67 ABC adventure series The Time Tunnel, also starring Robert Colbert. (Tom Hanks once said it was his favorite show as a kid.) In an interview with Tom Weaver for the 2008 book I Talked With a Zombie, Darren said he wasn’t interested in doing television or science fiction before he agreed to a meeting with the creator of The Time Tunnel, Irwin Allen. Allen told him, “This is something you have to do. I know you don’t want to do it, but I think you are perfect for this role, and he convinced me,” Darren recalled. “Irwin was one of the great salespersons of our time. I accepted the role because of my meeting with him.”



Born James William Ercolani in Philadelphia, on June 8, 1936, he changed his last name to the more generic “Darren,” which covered his Italian roots.

From an interview on the Classic Bands website:

I was discovered by Joyce Selznick [niece of “Gone With the Wind” producer David O. Selznick]. What happened was, I was studying acting in New York City with Stella Adler [at age seventeen]. I’d been studying with her for a couple of years. I went to see some agents in New York and they said in order to get work, you need to have photographs taken. As I was walking down Broadway after class one day, I saw this photographer's studio, Maurice Seymour. I went in and had pictures taken. I went back to look at the proofs and his secretary, a woman by the name of Yvonne Bouvier, asked me if I was interested in getting into film. I said yeah, I was. She said I know someone you should meet. She set up a meeting between me and Joyce Selznick, who worked for Screen Gems. I went down to 1650 Broadway, the Brill Building. On my way to a meeting with Joyce, we just happened to get on the elevator at the same time. She kept staring at me. I never met her. She never met me. We got off at the same floor and walked to the same office. That was our meeting. Joyce brought me over to Columbia Pictures about a week later and got me a contract there. Joyce had come to Philly after to meet my parents and my family.…I did Gidget in '58 or '59. My theme came about...they were gonna use somebody else's voice and I told them I could sing. We went into one of the soundstages with a piano player and sang the song and they said, he can do it. Then they put me on their label too, Colpix.

Could he sing? He sure could! Here he is singing the “Gidget” theme:



According to an interview with Alison Martino in 2015, Darren used to stay at the legendary Garden of Allah hotel:

I came to Los Angeles to get discovered in 1954. I stayed at the Garden of Allah, a beautiful hotel at Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights. It was mystical, like being in a 1940s movie. It had this certain magic that is difficult to describe.



I would walk across the street to a popular diner that was next to Schwab’s Pharmacy called Googie’s and buy a hamburger or whatever and bring it back to my room. I was so shy I would never eat it in the restaurant. Then I met actor John Saxon, and he and I became very good friends—we still are today. I met him at the bar at the Garden of Allah in 1954. James Dean used to sit with [John and me] at Googie’s. He would usually be coming back from a car race, and he’d be picking stones from his hair! I also lived in the Villa Elaine Apartments across from the Hollywood Ranch Market. I lived at that market. There was nothing you couldn’t buy there, and it was open 24 hours a day. It was a total hangout. I would sometimes go there at 2 a.m. with other actors. I remember seeing Tony Curtis there a lot.



Eventually, I moved into an apartment right behind Greenblatt’s, and James Dean would come by there, too. I had no idea how big a star he was going to be. I don't think any of us did. I just knew he loved cars. We would sit around and talk. I even went up to the Griffith Observatory while he was shooting “Rebel Without a Cause” there.



I have a 1958 Porsche 1600 Super Speedster. I bought it 40 years ago for $6,000. It’s one of the most beautiful cars ever. The design is eternal. I would like to put it in my living room but my wife won't go for it. I don't know how many are around today, but I'd guess only about a handful in this condition. Speaking of James Dean, he purchased the exact same model at a dealership across the street from the Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine and paid about $3,400. Mine is silver and his was white. I was in that car with him a few times. That wasn’t the one he died in. That was a Porsche 550 Spyder.

Besides starring in “The Time Tunnel,” Darren was involved in another one of my television guilty pleasures, “Melrose Place.” In 1996, Darren directed the episode “Holy Strokes,” and in 1997, the “Deja Vu, All Over Again” episode. Two years later, he starred in five episodes of “Melrose Place” as Tony Marlin, a somewhat slimy client of Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear) who demands that one of her friends sleep with him in order to retain the account.



Instead, he dies from an overdose of Viagra just before consummating an affair with one of Amanda’s competitors (Jamie Luner). Once dead, Darren’s character has to perform a few “Weekend at Bernie’s” duties.

For me though, he’ll always be Tony Newman from “The Time Tunnel.” It was (and still is) one of my very favorite shows.



One of the best episodes is “The Day the Sky Fell In,” when Darren’s character travels back in time to Pearl Harbor and is able to reunited with his father just before he dies. It is an emotional episode that still packs a wallop.



One more song from Darren before we go…



See more James Darren/Time Tunnel photos at my main website.

TGIF at the Garden of Allah pool

While many classic vintage Hollywood photos show movie stars poolside, rarely do they show them IN the pool. Above is one of actress Eve Brent at the infamous Garden of Allah Hotel. Brent’s claim to fame was that she starred in “Tarzan’s Fight for Life’ (1958) as Jane; Gordon Scott played Tarzan. Brent also had a bit part in the 1999 Tom Hanks film “The Green Mile” before she passed away in 2011.

Below is a previously posted shot of actress Martha O’Driscoll, also posing beside (but not in) the Garden of Allah pool, circa 1937:



Two shots follow from the USC Digital Library. Dick Stagg is shown instructing seven-year-old Terry Miller how to swim:



Here’s one of the first shots of the pool during construction, 1926:



...and one of the last photos, shot for Life Magazine at the Final Farewell Party in August 1959 before the property was leveled to make way for a bank...which is now about to get leveled for a Frank Gehry monstrosity.



THAT'S karma!

See more Garden of Allah photos at my main website.

Poolside at the Garden of Allah

This vintage publicity still shows starlet Martha O'Driscoll posing at the Garden of Allah Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, circa 1937. From the blurb on the back:

ROMANTIC MOVIE STORIES

Charming Martha O'Driscoll, another rising star on the Universal lot is pictured at the sparkling Grden of Allah Hotel pool in her adorable playsuit of gay printed creton designed especially for her by the Saba Corporation, Los Angeles. An enchanting frame for her tiny golden curls is a little bonnet of the same material bowed gracefully under the chin. Appearing in "When Love Is Young."

Here is the uncropped shot:



This is what replaced the lovely hotel. Irony of ironies, there is an outcry to save this piece of poo which is in danger of being replaced by a Frank Gehry structure (which is an even bigger piece of poo):



More vintage Garden of Allah photos at my main website.

Bungalow 9 at the Garden of Allah

This 1934 "candid" shows actor Henry Wilcoxon on the front steps of his Hollywood home, Bungalow #9 at the Garden of Allah apartments on Sunset Boulevard.

RELAXING IN HOLLYWOOD -- Henry Wilcoxon takes things easy in his Hollywood home before tackling the role of Marc Antony in Cecil B. De Mille's "Cleopatra," for which he was recently imported from England.

Wilcoxon is probably best known to "modern" day audiences for his cameo in "Caddyshack" as Bishop Pickering, who gets struck by lightning during his golf game.



In current day news, the building that replaced the Garden of Allah is now eliciting screams of preservation because of the Frank Gehry project that will be constructed in its place. If only those screams had saved the Allah.

See more vintage Garden of Allah photos at my main website.

Alla and The Lonely Heart

Across the street from my beloved Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard once stood the Garden of Allah Hotel. Consisting of a main house and villas, this lovely complex was torn down to make way for a strip mall. Here in this vintage photo from September 10, 1940 we can see the hotel behind its namesake (whose name had no "h"). From the accompanying publicity blurb:

Conferring on the radio script for "This Lonely Heart" beside the pool at The Garden of Allah in Hollywood, are Arch Oboler, writer-director-producer of Everyman's Theatre and Alla Nazimova, internationally famous star. Oboler's forthcoming dramatic series for Proctor and Gamble will make its debut on the NBC-Red Netowkr October 4 with Nazimova as the first guest star. Gordon Jenkins, whom Oboler has chosen as musical director of the series, will lead a symphony orchestra composed of members of the Los Angeles Symphony in the Tschaikowsky music, which serves as the musical background for "The Lonely Heart."



If you want to see the proposed Frank Gehry ginormous structure that might replace the strip mall, check out Curbed LA. There goes the view, Sunset Boulevard neighbors!

Visit my main website and see more Garden of Allah photos.

Mapping Hollywood

The interactive/animated map that was once on my Disneyland Photo page took an insane amount of hours to put together. It speaks to my crazed attention to detail when I feel passionate about something. It was one of those projects where once I began, it was difficult to stop. Flash forward about 7 years to the present, and my map had caught the attention of author Martin Turnbull, who has written a series of novels that take place at the legendary (but now leveled) Garden of Allah Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.



Here's a photo of Lance Reventlow (son of heiress Barbara Hutton) and actress Jill St. John at the Garden of Allah Hotel's final party in August 1959 before it closed permanently. I sure would have liked to have been there; what a bash that must have been!



Martin remarked to me that he sure would love to have a vintage Hollywood map similar to the one I created for Disneyland. It had been 7 years since I'd created that monstrosity, and I knew my Flash skills were more than just rusty. Still, the idea of doing a vintage Hollywood map was right up my alley, so I immediately took on the project.

Some of the landmarks on my map already existed in vintage line art form and merely had to be scanned and cleaned up (I say merely…but typically 45 minutes per landmark for that task), like this rendering of the Chateau Marmont:



Others I had to do a line art rendering myself, such as the ones for The Garden of Allah:



and Preston Sturges' Player's Club:



Although I do want to animate this map at some point, 7 years without using a program means that the static version will have to suffice until I re-learn Flash again.



To see the map and the accompanying legend, visit Martin's website.

Did it take a ton of time? Sure it did, but I enjoyed every minute.

See more Daveland vintage & current Hollywood photos at my main website.

Sunset Boulevard Hotels, 1957

Travel back in time with Daveland to Hollywood's famed Sunset Boulevard, circa 1957. In this first image, you can see The Chateau Marmont on the left (still kickin'!) and The Garden of Allah on the right (bulldozed for a lousy strip mall).

This detailed view zeroes in on the Chateau, with the 6th Floor Penthouse suite visible on the right:



This detailed view shows a ginormous revolving Las Vegas showgirl statue that advertised the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from 1957-1966. She was eventually replaced by a Marlboro Man Billboard.



Across the street in 1961, this Bullwinkle and Rocky statue (inspired by the short-lived Vegas Showgirl) was unveiled by Jayne Mansfield for the opening of the Jay Ward offices. The statue was removed last summer for a much needed refurbishment. Hope it comes back soon!



Back to our initial image, here's a detailed view of the Garden of Allah hotel:



For a front view of the hotel, here's an image from the USC digital archives:



Down the street a bit is the Sunset Tower, seen in this 1957 view:



Gotta' zoom in for a detailed view of the vintage cars:



Today, the Sunset Tower is still in operation (albeit with a few name changes along the way).



I guess 2 out of 3 survivors isn't too bad for Hollywood!

See more vintage & current Chateau Marmont photos on my main website.

Paving Over Paradise

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Many are familiar with those lyrics from Joni Mitchell's 1970 song "Big Yellow Taxi." Almost as many are under the misconception that she was referring to Hollywood's legendary hotel of yesteryear, The Garden of Allah. Although that's not true, the lyrics are still (sadly) applicable.

The Garden of Allah was a famous Hollywood hotel on Sunset Boulevard between Crescent Heights and Havenhurst. Its name came from stage and silent screen actress Alla Nazimova, who bought the original mansion at 8080 Sunset Boulevard for $65,000 in 1918. She spent an additional $65,000 on the Garden of Alla (the 'h' came later), remodeling the interior, building a pool (constructed in the shape of the Black Sea), and re-landscaping the property’s three and a half acres. Some sources say the pool, a large 65' x 45', was a gift from Paramount Studios, designed to remind their star of her birthplace in Yalta. Near the end of her acting career, Nazimova was advised by her 'business experts' to convert the mansion into a revenue generating property to provide her with retirement income. She completed remodeling the house and added 25 two-story villas surrounding it (at a cost of $1.5 million), opening The Garden of Alla in January 9, 1927. Ads promised an “atmosphere of exclusive refinement” at “California’s Finest Summer Hotel in Hollywood” with “excellent cuisine.” The bar was the hotel's biggest selling point, where guests were allowed to carry a tab (even during Prohibition).



Within a year, Nazimova went bankrupt and had to sell the hotel, continuing to rent a small apartment in the complex until her death in 1945. Supposedly, she was not very happy that the new owner added an "h" to the hotel’s name.

The Garden of Allah was a home away from home to many celebrities and literary figures of the Golden Era of Hollywood. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived there for several months in 1937-38 while doing script work. Humorist/actor Robert Benchley was a frequent resident, as were Ernest Hemingway, Gloria Stuart, Dorothy Parker, Errol Flynn, Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart, and the Marx Brothers. Fitzgerald's biographer and lover Sheilah Graham later wrote a book about the hotel called “The Garden of Allah”.

Here's a photo Humphrey Bogart and then wife Mary Phillips, late 1930's. Supposedly, Bogie met Lauren Bacall at the hotel.



The downfall of the hotel is summed up very poetically by Walt Lockley:

[The hotel's] reputation grew progressively less glamorous through the property's 30-year decline, and towards the end its arcades and arched alcoves among the thick poolside tangle of orange trees, palms and hibiscus were more likely to be concealing a curled-up junky than a grinning, cursing, naked Carole Lombard.

At a time when historic preservation was nothing but an annoying whisper, the hotel was torn down and replaced by a bank with a strip mall behind it. Silent screen actor Francis X. Bushman (“Ben Hur”) and his wife Iva, who had been at the opening party, attended the closing party in August 1959 as well. Over a thousand people showed up, many dressed as the hotel’s previous guests - including Valentino, Chaplin, Clara Bow, and even Nazimova herself. Her 1923 silent film “Salome” was screened at the party as a tribute to her.

Presently, the former Allah location serves as a nondescript strip mall that contains a McDonald’s, and a Washington Mutual Bank. For years after it was leveled, a model of the hotel was on display outside the bank building, encased in glass. It was moved inside the bank for a time, but now the model is gone as well. This video shows what's left of the famed hotel:



See more vintage & current Hollywood photos on my Hollywood web page.