old Hollywood

Refresh, Rehab, Revive: A New Facelift for The Old Hollywood Roosevelt

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Architecture & Design

Since 1927, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has been the local meeting place of bygone luminaries, including Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. Monroe stayed when her career was just emerging, while Monty stayed during some of the filming of From Here to Eternity.

The hotel itself was named after Theodore Roosevelt, who provided some of the initial funding for the star-studded spot. It was also the first place where the Academy Awards were held.

Within our century, this was the hotel where Prince stayed in 2007, where Michelle Pfeiffer sang on a piano in the film, The Fabulous Baker Boys, and where one of the last episodes of Entourage was filmed.

And as for location, it is right in the middle of classic Hollywood: located on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, across from Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Yet, like any 80-year-old Hollywood star, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, now owned by Thompson Hotels, needed to refresh and renew -- and recently, after a reported $35 million facelift, this process is complete. The 300-room hotel is again ready for the spotlight, with the redesign of the Cabana Rooms as well as the debut of three unique entertainment venues: Public Kitchen & Bar, The Spare Room and Beacher's Madhouse.

Tags: Beachers Madhouse, Cabana Rooms Hollywood Roosevelt, David Hockney underwater pool mural, Hollywood Roosevelt History, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, hotel, old Hollywood, old Hollywood hotels, Studio Collective Design Firm, The Spare Room ThompsonsHollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Thompsons Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Tropicana Pool

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Plans For Red Skelton Museum Get $1 Million Boost

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity

Museums dedicated to single figures don't always have a long life span (consider the closing of the Liberace museum in Las Vegas and the Roy Rogers museum). That hasn't stopped the plans for a Red Skelton museum in Indiana. Skelton, who died in 1997, was a popular actor and comedian and later an artist of clown paintings. The plans for a Red Skelton museum have been underway for some time but they got a big donation to further the cause recently.

The Vincennes Sun-Commercial reported this week that Frank Ladner, an Illinois businessman, has donated $1 million toward building a museum honoring comedian Red Skelton in his hometown of Vincennes, Indiana. This puts the Red Skelton Museum Foundation $1.3 million away from its $4 million fundraising goal for building the museum at the Vincennes University performing arts center already named for the actor. The museum would feature costumes, awards and paintings alongside displays about his influence on early television and comedy and a theater also will show a series of Skelton's movies. The museum is being created with private funds.

Tags: indiana, memorabilia, museum, old hollywood, red skelton, vincennes

Vintage Hollywood Menu at New York's Algonquin Hotel

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Charity, Books

Calling all fans of vintage Hollywood, classic Broadway and early 20th century literature: New York's Algonquin Hotel is in the midst of a special vintage menu that's actually well worth the price.

The Algonquin Hotel is best known for its place in 1920s literature -- it's where the "vicious circle", which included Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley used to meet to trade barbs and match wits. It's a terrific, if pricey, place for drinks in midtown when you want a literary vibe. The hotel has teamed up with publisher HarperCollins, which has just released a vintage cookbook called Specialties de la Maison, which gathered together recipes from celebs ranging from Tallulah Bankhead, Noel Coward, Christian Dior, Eleanor Roosevelt and others. The cookbook was a fundraiser for the now defunct group American Friends of France, an organization started by Anne Morgan (daughter of J.P.), a francophile who was horrified by the toll of war on France after World War I, and who used her extensive social connections to gather the recipes. The book jacket was designed by Clement Hurd, who illustrated the children's classic Goodnight Moon.

Tags: AlgonquinHotel, dorothy parker, fine dining, Hollywood, new york city, old hollywood, vicious circle

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