Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)
Ambassador Hotel | |
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Paul Williams (1949) | |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 1,000 |
The Ambassador Hotel was a
Prominent figures such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Yma Sumac, Ray Charles, and The Supremes were some of the many entertainers who attended and performed at the Cocoanut Grove.
The hotel was the site of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005, completed by early 2006.
Background
Located at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, between Catalina Street and Mariposa Avenue in present-day Koreatown, The Ambassador was set back from Wilshire Boulevard on 24 acres, which included the main hotel structure, a garage and numerous detached bungalows.[4]
The Ambassador was built as part of the Ambassador Hotels System. At the time the hotel opened, on
The Ambassador Hotel was frequented by celebrities, some of whom, such as
History
Early history
Designed by American architect Myron Hunt, the Ambassador Hotel opened for business at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1921, and quickly established a new standard of hotel luxury.[8] Guests were greeted by a grand lobby upon arrival, with an oversized Italian fireplace, crystal chandeliers, oriental carpets and luxurious draperies adorning the lobby, along with a choice of 1,000 guestrooms and bungalows. The hotel occupied 23.7 acres at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, bordered by Wilshire Boulevard at the north, 8th Street at the south, Catalina Street at the east, and nearly to Mariposa Avenue at the west.[9] When the hotel's Cocoanut Grove nightclub opened on April 21, 1921, it had officially solidified the hotel's social scene. In the 1980 book, Are the Stars Out Tonight?, former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove's opening night:[8][10]
"...on the night of April 21, 1921… the new club officially opened its
Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of the 1921 classic, The Sheik. Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall."
The Cocoanut Grove was frequented by celebrities such as
The names of the hotel and its nightclub quickly became synonymous with glamour. As a result, “Cocoanut Grove" would become a trendy name for bars and clubs across the United States.Beginning in 1928,
During World War II, servicemen from the U.S. military mingled with movie stars at the hotel during numerous galas and fundraising events to help with war efforts.[8]
Loyce Whiteman, singer for the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra, recalled, "the most beautiful thing about the Grove is that they stood in front of you when you sang and just swayed to the music. Joan Crawford would stand at the stand and sing a couple of choruses with the band. It was a house full of stars."[12]
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
On June 5, 1968, the winner of the
Decline and closure
The death of Robert F. Kennedy marked the demise of the hotel coinciding with the decline of the surrounding neighborhood during the late 1960s and 1970s. The area also saw a surge of
Preservation efforts
From 2004 and 2005, the Ambassador Hotel became the topic of a legal struggle between the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which planned to clear the site and construct a school on the property, and the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, who wanted the hotel and its various elements preserved and integrated into the future school.
The Location Managers Guild organized an event together with the Jefferson High School Academy of Film and Television in March 2005, entitled Last Looks: The Ambassador Hotel. They mentored students in script breakdown and location scouting, using the hotel as a potential location to be scouted, documenting the property one last time. The images taken by both the students and the professionals were then exhibited side by side at Los Angeles City Hall.[17]
After much litigation, a settlement was attained at the end of August 2005, allowing the demolition to begin in exchange for the establishment of a $4.9 million fund, reserved for saving historic school buildings in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Demolition
On September 10, 2005, a final
The Cocoanut Grove was renovated several times before, which destroyed much of its architectural integrity.[
New school
The Central Los Angeles New Learning Center #1 K–3,[21] and Central Los Angeles New Learning Center #1 4–8/HS, along with the Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park, were built on the site.[22]
The six schools were named as the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools. The K–3 facility opened on September 9, 2009, and the 4–8 and high school facility began operation on September 14, 2010. The north side of the new school has a slightly similar appearance to the original facade of the hotel and north lawns will remain much the same, as seen from Wilshire Boulevard.
In popular culture
The Ambassador Hotel was a filming location and backdrop for
The interactive movie/game based on the 1995 film "Johnny Mnemonic" was filmed here with a $3 million budget.[citation needed]
The last project filmed in the Ambassador Hotel's kitchen was "Spin the Bottle", a 2004 episode of the TV series Angel.[25] The 2006 film Bobby was the last project to film on the hotel property, gaining access in late 2005 to film crucial establishing shots even while portions of the hotel were already in the process of being demolished.[26]
The Ambassador Hotel itself has also been depicted in films. The Cocoanut Grove was recreated in the films The Thirteenth Floor and The Aviator.
The Cocoanut Grove hosted musician Roy Orbison and several performers on September 30, 1987 for the television special Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night, first shown on Cinemax on January 3, 1988. Rock band Linkin Park held their press photo shoot for their 2003 album Meteora at the hotel. Guns N' Roses filmed the music video for their song, "Patience", in the hotel in 1989. R&B singer Chuckii Booker filmed the music video for his song "Games" from the album Niice 'n Wiild at the hotel in 1992.[citation needed] The hotel also served as the filming location for the music video of the 1997 Marilyn Manson single "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" off the soundtrack for the Todd McFarlane motion picture Spawn.[27] Rock band 311 used the lobby of hotel as the backdrop for a photo shoot of the album cover of their 2003 album Evolver.[28] In November 1997, punk-rock band Green Day filmed the music video to the song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" in the hotel.
References
- ^ "Nineteen-Twenty in Retrospect". The Hotel World: The Hotel and Travelers Journal. 92: 11. 1921.
- ^ a b c "The Ambassador Hotel". seeing-stars.com. Gary Wayne. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ Not stated. "Ambassador Hotel (Demolished)". laconservancy.com. The Los Angeles Conservancy. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- ^ Not stated. "Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, CA". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Alan Michelson. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-8041-3777-5.
- ^ Shep Fields Obituary - Shep Fields with Veloz & Yolanda at the Ambassador Hotel in 1934 - United Press International Feb. 23, 1981 on UPI.com/Archive
- ^ Shep Fields Obituary -Shep Fields with Veloz & Yolanda at the Ambassador Hotel in 1934 United Press International Feb. 23, 1981 on UPI.com/Archive
- ^ a b c d e Not stated (December 13, 2017). "The Ambassador Hotel & Cocoanut Grove". findinglosangeles.com. Finding Lost Angeles. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- ^ "The Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles". The Ambassador Hotel.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-937-80600-5.
- ISBN 978-0-786-43708-5.
- ^ a b Staff writer (December 21, 2013). "Six Big Band singers reminisce". YouTube. YouTube, LLC. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-306-81207-1.
- ^ "Correspondents Announce Film Award Winners". Los Angeles Times. February 27, 1953. p. 2.
- ISBN 978-1-4596-0809-2.
- ^ Dimassa, Cara M. (September 2, 2005). "For Sale: Stardust Memories". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ Reynolds, Christopher (December 16, 2005). "Remains of the day". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^ Streeter, Kurt (September 11, 2005). "Ambassador Has Its Final Checkout". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ Meares, Hadley (June 21, 2013). "The Gaylord Apartments: Luxury, Socialism, and L.A.'s First Failed Co-op". Departures. KCET. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
- ^ Larrubia, Evelyn (January 16, 2008). "Deal seals fate of Cocoanut Grove". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
- ^ Facilities Services Division (February 26, 2010). "Project Details: Central LA New Learning Center #1 K-3, 55.98046A". Los Angeles Unified School District. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
- ^ Facilities Services Division (February 26, 2010). "Project Details: Central LA New Learning Center #1 MS/HS, 55.98046". Los Angeles Unified School District. Archived from the original on August 27, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-483-64517-9.
- ^ Nichols, Chris (January 22, 2014). "Movies Filmed at the Ambassador Hotel". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- ^ Commentary. Episode "Spin the Bottle". Angel, Season 4 DVD set.
- ^ Levy, Emanuel. "Ambassador Hotel and Bobby: Robert Kennedy's Assassination". Emanuel Levy Cinema 24/7. Archived from the original on March 14, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- ^ Louvau, Jim (May 30, 2013). "Marilyn Manson: "I Like to Smoke and Hang Out with the Gangsta Rappers"". Phoenix New Times. Voice Media Group. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ Evolver : Album Cover Photo Shoot, September 24, 2018, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved September 7, 2019
External links
- Image of the Ambassador Hotel, aerial view, Los Angeles, California, 1986. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.