Janet Leigh at Pacific Ocean Park

During a break in the filming of “Who Was That Lady?” Janet Leigh took her daughter Kelly Curtis to Pacific Ocean Park (1958-1967) in Santa Monica. The film was released in February 1960, so these shots could have been from 1959. Note the little circus wagon in the first photo.

To keep Kelly company, little Greg Champion (son of dancers Marge and Gower Champion) joined the fun.

That ice cream bar sure looks good.

Was this a studio arranged publicity shot opportunity, or did the paparazzi just happen to stumble upon Janet and kids? I’m guessing #1. Poor little Jamie Lee, born in November 1958, was apparently too young to go to the Park that day with her mom and sister. Maybe this is what triggered the babysitting issues in “Halloween.” 

This gent has hit the jackpot; he has spotted a genuine movie star!

I wonder what was up ahead?

Perhaps a scary clown? Or just another pesky photographer.

See more Janet Leigh photos at my main website.

Photo shoot at the Pier

About a year or more ago, Chris Merritt (Imagineer supreme and the creative genius behind the Sleeping Beauty Castle Diorama re-birth at Disneyland)...



and the fantastic book Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm, sent out an email to all of us Disneyland bloggers asking if we had any images of POP. My first thought was, "What the hell is POP?" This was an acronym I was not familiar with! Chris explained it stood for Pacific Ocean Park, which was an amusement pier between Venice and Santa Monica that went belly-up many moons ago. He was busy putting together a new book on this pop culture phenomenon, thus the APB (that's All Points Bulletin!) for photos.

Flash forward to the present and Chris needed an author photo for his book as well as a few publicity shots. I was honored that he wanted to hire me for this assignment, and the next thing I knew, we were driving up to the Santa Monica Pier with Chris filling me in on the history of POP. Dear Lord God...please do not let me get sucked into another hobby.

Chris' idea for the shoot was to use the background of the Santa Monica Pier at night to substitute for the long-defunct POP.

Let's see...shoot at night, bright lights in the background, and a human subject in the foreground. And did I mention that I do not like to use a flash...or a tripod?



It took awhile to get the right settings, location, and composition, but eventually, things came together and both of us were pleased with the results.









For more on POP, join Chris' Facebook group.

See more Daveland portrait photos on my Tippi Hedren web page.