The Oscars: Shirley On Location

Over the years, The Oscars have bounced around from location to location. The very first one was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the Blossom Room on May 16, 1929. The Roosevelt still operates today; above is a 1950s image of the Hollywood Boulevard hotel. The Ambassador Hotel held the dinner for the second Academy Awards event on April 3, 1930, as well as in 1932, 1934, 1940, and 1943.



All were in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub (below) except for 1932, which was in The Fiesta Room.



The Oscars were held in downtown Los Angeles at the Biltmore Hotel in 1931 and then 1935 through 1939. Below, Shirley Temple gives Claudette Colbert her Best Actress award for “It Happened One Night” (1934):



On February 23, 1939, Shirley famously presented Walt Disney with his specially designed Oscar for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937):



Shirley also hobnobbed with Tyrone Power:



Douglas Fairbanks:



…and Ann Sheridan (Hedy Lamarr is behind Shirley):



An outside vintage view of the Biltmore:



The Biltmore Bowl ballroom where the Oscars were held at the Biltmore:



Increased attendance and World War II made banquets impractical, so the ceremony moved to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre from 1944-1946.



John Derek (of Bo Derek fame!) and Shirley were at Grauman’s for the March 2, 1944 event:



On March 7, 1946, she walked down the red carpet with then-husband John Agar:



The Shrine Auditorium was the location of choice from 1947-1948:



Red Skelton and Shirley, circa 1947:



1948 with John Agar again:



The 1949 Academy Award Theater on Melrose Avene in West Hollywood hosted the 21st Academy Awards on March 24, 1949 (since demolished). The RKO Pantages Theatre on Sunset Boulevard followed in 1950 and remained on the event roster until April 4, 1960.



Zsa Zsa Gabor and George Sanders at the Oscars in 1951:



In 1961, the Awards moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Shirley posed with Annette Funicello that evening:



On April 14, 1969, the 41st Academy Awards ceremonies moved to the brand new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Shirley appeared there on April 9, 1984. Below she is shown holding her miniature Oscar from 1935:



Below, Shirley poses with Ginger Rogers, who she worked with on “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944):



That’s it for my Oscar photo collection!

See more contemporary and vintage photos at my main website.

Vintage Mardi Gras, Pt. 1

Before I get to the subject of today's post, I want to comment on how enjoyable last night's Academy Awards Show was. Although I wasn't there (they forgot to send my invitation yet again), having Ellen DeGeneres as the MC certainly made this sometimes very stiff affair a ton-o-fun. Only Ellen could get Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Peter Nyong’o Jr., Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, and Angelina Jolie together for a selfie. Any paparazzi would have been slugged for that one. AND they're all smiling. The best part was that it crashed Twitter when Ellen got her wish of it achieving the most re-tweeted post ever: 2 million!

Back to regularly scheduled programming. Welcome to my 2-part celebration of New Orleans' Mardi Gras, aka "Fat Tuesday."



These images are from the 1950s and show vintage revelers doing pretty much what today's revelers do. Only the fashions have changed.



This annual party has survived and thrived since the late 17th century.



Ah, Thunderbird. Named for the Thunderbird hotel in Las Vegas, it was the drink of choice for cheap revelers everywhere. ZZ Top made it famous in a song of the same name.



This man is a native, but I couldn't tell you what he is native of. Wherever it is, I think I'd be scared to go there.



Just like today, those less brave stand from balconies, throwing beads (and other items) to the drunks below.



I'm more interested in the pecan waffles being served at the Coffee Pot restaurant! Today, it appears this space is now a gift shop.



Two more shots of the crowds and the streets.





Last one for today show's the latest in potato sack fashion. Were they inspired by Lucille Ball's "I Love Lucy" Paris Dress episode?



Come back tomorrow for more Mardi Gras vintage fun!

See more vintage & current New Orleans photos from my collection on my New Orleans web pages.

Screen Gem Saturdays: And the winner is...

I have combed my collection for a few Oscar images in honor of tomorrow's impending ceremonies. The first image shows Shirley Temple presenting Walt Disney with the special styled Oscar for "Snow White." Apparently, the Academy DOES have a sense of humor! However at the time, Shirley actually believed that poor Snow White had gotten the shaft:



"I thought Snow White was overlooked. I thought it was an early sexist problem where they left her out. The big one is the one usually presented to who the person is. I mean Snow White wasn't there. I went to the Snow White premiere, and participated in all of the fun and knew Walt Disney, and when I presented this to him it just seemed to me that he was getting the big award and that the 7 dwarves were getting an award and that Snow White herself had been left out. But that's because I was 11 and what did I know anyway?"

This image shows Joan Crawford in bed with an illness, receiving her Oscar for "Mildred Pierce." Note to all nominees at home: make sure you have a pretty bed jacket on in case you win!



One generation of American Sweethearts with the next: Shirley Temple Black and Annette Funicello at the 1961 Oscars. Hayley Mills, the latest child star of the day, was presented with an honorary Academy Award for the most outstanding juvenile performance of 1960. Shirley, arguably the biggest child star of all time, presented the Oscar to Hayley's fellow Disney star, Annette Funicello, since Hayley was unable to attend the ceremony on April 17, 1961 (two months before the premiere of "The Parent Trap").



To see more Hollywood Movie & TV photos, visit my main website.