Tom’s Tour of Stars Homes To Get As Close As Possible To The Hollywood Sign

Across Sunset from the hotel is Will Rogers Park (9650 Sunset Blvd. 310-285-2536) This is where George Michaels was arrested in the men’s room. I was there last year with a stretch limo full of tourists. They wanted to use the bathroom but I didn’t know where it was. I saw a tall man in shorts on a cell phone and asked him where the bathrooms were. He could have gotten angry as he was on the phone but instead was very polite and pointed to where the bathrooms where.

I used the men’s room and was walking out of the park when the tall man walked towards me and started talking about the limo. He was courteous and friendly and it took a few minutes before I realized I was talking with Randy Quaid (“Vacation” & the drunken pilot in “Independence Day”)

In the past I’ve found that even if a celebrity is friendly there is still something of a wall they put up but there was none with Mr. Quad. He is genuinely friendly. I told him my son and I had worked a kids party at Beau Bridges home a few years ago and he wasn’t friendly at all and instead treated us like servants. (He’s got a beautiful tennis court in his backyard.)

Randy said Beau was a friend of his and that he was always friendly to him. Of course friends are going to treat each other differently than a celebrity will to a total stranger. The only words I shared with Beau was when I first arrived and was a bit shocked to see it was his place (The paperwork only listed the last name) I said I thought he was an amazing actor. He padded my back with his hand and thanked me. That was the last time we talked.

Randy Quaid has since been arrested along with his wife for amassing huge bills and then skipping out without paying his bill all several major hotels. I now know that the day I talked with him he was in the process of ripping off the Beverly Hills Hotel right across the street.

Turning right at Rodeo Drive you proceed down towards Santa Monica Blvd. where the commercial part of the street starts. You are now in the “flats” of Beverly Hills. Homes here are cheaper than north of Sunset.

Just past the stop sign the second house on the right has a white picket fence in front of the house. At certain times of the year roses are blooming all along the fence. This was the home (725 N. Rodeo Dr.) of the famous dancer Gene Kelly (”Singing In The Rain” & “An American In Paris”).

Down on the block and on the left side is Carl Reiner’s home (714 Rodeo) (“Dick Van Dyke Show” - “Oceans 11” - “Oceans 12” - “Oceans 13”).

There is an unusual house on the right called The Wedding Cake House (507 N. Rodeo Drive). Designed by the famous Spanish architect, Antonio Gaudi, the home hasn’t a single 90-degree angles anywhere except in the garage.

Next to the Wedding Cake House is the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church (505 N Rodeo Dr. 310-271-5194) where Jimmy Stewart’s funeral was held. Elizabeth Taylor was married in this church for one of her eight marriages.

Immediately across Santa Monica Blvd. on the right was a store with blue awnings. This was Boulmiche, (9501 Santa Monica Blvd. 310-273-6443) where two scenes from “Pretty Woman” were shot. The scenes where Julia Roberts dressed as a Hollywood hooker walks in but they snub her. It has recently changed hands. She later returns dressed so well that they don’t recognize her. She asks them if they work on commission. When they say, “Yes” she says “Big mistake. Big mistake.”

Straight ahead and at the end of Rodeo Drive is the Beverly Wilshire Hotel (9500 Wilshire Boulevard. 310-275-5200). This is where Richard Gere’s character stayed in the penthouse in “Pretty Woman”.

I’ve known a number of couples on their honeymoon who stayed there only because the wife loved the move. Or the husband wouldn’t admit it. A couple on their honeymoon told me a single night in the Beverly Wilshire cost them more than a week in the Caribbean.

As you proceed down Rodeo Drive you’ll see a yellow store on the left. This is Bijan’s, (420 N. Rodeo Dr. 310-273-6544) the famous designer. You can’t just walk in his store but have to make an appointment. An appointment will cost $1200 and if you don’t buy anything you lose the money. This is the store where Oprah Winfrey wasn’t allowed in because she didn’t have an appointment. She was furious and thought it was because she’s Black.

On a typical visit, Bijan's average customer spends in the neighborhood of $100,000 on men's fashions, which range from a $50 pair of socks to $15,000 suits. If Bijan is in his store, his yellow Roll Royce Phantom convertible, yellow Ferrari or two million dollar black and yellow Bugatti will be parked in front of the store. His car will always be parked in the same last parking spot in front of his store.

Further down the street on the left is Harry Winston (371 N Rodeo Dr. 310-271-8554) jewelers. He loans out multi-million dollar jewelry to actresses for the Academy Awards.

Turn left at the stop sign at Dayton. You’ll see a winding sidewalk winding up to the left across the street. More stores including Versace’s (248 N. Rodeo Dr. 310-205-3921) are up that sidewalk.

Turn left at Beverly, which is the first block. At the end of the block on the right is The Cheesecake Factory (364 N Beverly Dr. 323-272-5923) where the Menendez brothers celebrated after shotgunning their parents. Kitty and Jose Menendez. They lived in a small mansion about six blocks away. Years after they were killed, Elton John leased the mansion first then later it was rented to Michael Jackson.

As you proceed through Little Santa Monica look to the right and you’ll see the Beverly Hills City Hall, (455 N Rexford Dr. 310-285-1000) complete with a golden dome at the top. In the Eddie Murphy movie “Beverly Hills Cop”, they said this building was the police station because the actual police station is a drab concrete building next to City Hall.

The Beverly Hills post office is the only post office in Los Angeles with valet service

Drive up and the second stop sign is a six-way stop intersection. Six streets meet there and it can be tricky knowing when to proceed through. Will Rogers Park is on the left. At the next stop light (Sunset & Beverly) you can see the Beverly Hills Hotel on the left. Turn right at Sunset and proceed east back towards Hollywood.

After a few curves on Sunset look to your left and you’ll see the childhood home (9451 Sunset Blvd.) of Shirley Temple lived when she was eight years old and the biggest star in the world. She paid for it herself.

As you approach the corner of Sunset and Hillcrest look to the left just past the statue of an eagle is Phil Collin’s (Genesis) estate (9401 Sunset Blvd). You can look up his driveway on the corner as you pass through the intersection.

Turn right and return to LaBrea where you’ll turn left and again right at Hollywood Blvd. where those four silver statues are under the gazebo.

Once you’re back on Hollywood Blvd., you’ll see the Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd. 323-466-7000) on the right. Named for Teddy Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927. This is where the very first Academy Awards were held in 1927.

When her modeling career took off, Marilyn Monroe lived in Cabana 226 which over looks the poolside. A mirror which once hung in her room is now in the lobby and it is said that if you look at it just right you can see Marilyn’s ghost. A number of people also claim to have seen her ghost dancing in the ballroom of the hotel.

The hotel’s pool contains a mural painted by David Hockney. The BET Awards are held in the hotel every year.

On the left is a restaurant with a red awning, Shelly Café (7013 Hollywood Blvd. 323-467-2233). In the Clint Eastwood movie “Million Dollar Baby”, Hillary Swank started as a waitress before becoming a boxer. All of the waitress scenes were shot at Shelly’s.

There is a souvenir shop with a green awning next to Shelly’s. You can buy a book of aerial photos of stars homes there for about eleven dollars. P. Diddy’s estate is on the cover.

On the left is perhaps the most famous site in all of Hollywood, the Chinese Grauman Theater (6925 Hollywood Blvd. 323-466-6335) It first opened on May 18, 1927 with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The King of Kings”.

Construction cost two millions dollars. The Chinese actress Anna May Wong drove the first rivet in the steel girders. Sid Grauman held only a one-third interest with his partners, Howard Schenck, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Grauman, Pickford and Fairbanks were the first to have their footprints planted in cement.

Not that hard to get a star on the Walk of Fame. It’s much harder to get your hands in cement at the Chinese Graumann Theater. A short interview during the September 13, 1937, Lux Radio Theatre broadcast of a radio adaptation of A Star Is Born Grauman related another version of how he got the idea to put hand and footprints in the concrete.

He said it was: "pure accident. I walked right into it. While we were building the theatre, I accidentally happened to step in some soft concrete. And there it was. So, I went to Mary Pickford immediately. Mary put her foot into it." The theater's third founding partner, Douglas Fairbanks, was the next celebrity to be immortalized in the concrete.

If a huge star gets their hands in cement they close down Hollywood Blvd. If it’s for a major star they put bleachers up across the street from Grauman’s the day before the ceremony for all the avid fans. When “Oceans 13” came out they did just that because George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt got their hands in one block of cement that day. Angelina Jolie was there with Brad.

The only other time I’ve seen bleachers was when the three young actors from “Harry Potter” got their hands in cement a couple of years ago.

Across the street from the Chinese Grauman Theater at Orange and Hollywood Blvd. is the El Capitan Theater (6838 Hollywood Blvd. 323-467-7674). It’s owned by Disney and is the most beautiful theater you’ll ever see with its teak wall paneling and ornate carvings.

Most of the time there is a live stage show before every movie with actors dressed in costumes from Disney or Pixar movies. This grand theater has been restored to its original elegance, boasting a Spanish colonial exterior and a colorful and lavish East Indian interior designed by San Francisco architect, G. Albert Lansburgh.

The El Capitan Theatre has undergone a museum-grade renovation. This includes the stage, which has been restored to its original 1926 legitimate-theater dimensions, a newly installed high-speed lift center stage, lights, recently remodeled dressing room, and state-of-the-art special effects. The theater offers 1,000 seats and a Dolby SR-D audio system.
Two years ago the Kodak Center was filled with kids and when I asked what was happening I was told Hannah Montana was going to sing there. That’s because she’s a Disney star and the El Capitan is right across the street. My granddaughter, Angel, quickly informed me of just how famous Hannah Montana is.

The first stop light just past Highland is Las Palmas where the tour began. As you stop at Hollywood Blvd. and Las Palmas, look left and you’ll see Bella, a restaurant owned by Ashton Kutcher. Connected to the restaurant is Central Hollywood (1710 N Las Palmas Ave. 323-871-8022), a very popular nightclub.