by James Roman
4. The Venice Canals
Created in 1905, the Venice Canal district was honored as a National Landmark in 1982. There are sidewalks along the canals. Step forward to experience the surreal beauty. Every house has a dock with a boat mooring.
Continue walking south along the canal. Traffic crosses at West Washington Boulevard. Cross the bridge, then follow the sign to stroll back on the opposite side of the canal (toward your car).
Less than a quarter of Abbot Kinney’s canals exist today. Nearby canals once included a dance hall, an auditorium, a ship restaurant and a block-long shopping arcade. When Venice became part of the City of Los Angeles in 1911, Huntington’s Red Cars stopped here, but when the trolleys were dismantled, LA paved many canals into streets. Remember Grand Boulevard? It was originally the Grand Canal.
Your stroll ends at South Venice Boulevard, where you started. From the Boulevard, walk to Pacific Avenue. Turn Left on North Venice Boulevard, heading toward the ocean.
5. You’ll pass the giant mural of Venice’s founder, Abbot Kinney. The 50-foot by 20-foot mural was created by Rip Cronk, one of America’s most prominent muralists. This tour visits two more murals by Rip Cronk.
At the corner where North Venice Boulevard meets the intersection, turn right to visit the famous …
6. Venice Boardwalk
Different from the Santa Monica waterfront, the Boardwalk in Venice is a more honky-tonk affair, with vendors selling everything from fast food to T-shirts and henna tattoos.
The Venice community includes a number of rich eccentrics, and an assortment of famous artists, writers, actors and musicians. Each summer, more than 200,000 people from all over the world visit the boardwalk daily.
It was here at Ocean Park Beach in Venice that Sister Aimee Semple McPherson went for a dip and didn’t come up in 1926. It is also the site where thousands of followers fell to their knees to pray for McPherson’s entrance into heaven.
And, the other half of Muscle Beach is installed here. The concrete structure on the left features weight lifting equipment and a posing amphitheater now maintained as a club. Young Arnold Schwarzenegger made this place famous. You can see young Schwarzenegger work out at this site in the 1977 documentary film Pumping Iron.
More than 200 movies and television episodes have been filmed on the Venice Beach and Boardwalk. Other titles include White Men Can’t Jump (1992), Get Shorty (1995), American Gigolo (1980), The Doors (1991), Thirteen (2003), Lords of Dogtown (2005) and, of course, television’s Baywatch, NCIS: Los Angeles, Three’s Company and Beverly Hills 90210.
Near the sand, across from the bookstore, you’ll discover Xtreme Sports, where skateboarders perform tricks that seem to defy gravity.
In California, marijuana is legally dispensed to adults with a prescription. One of the attractions on today’s boardwalk: a proliferation of medical professionals selling marijuana prescriptions.
Final destinations: Continue north on the boardwalk to visit two of Rip Cronk’s murals.
7. At 17th Avenue, turn right, away from the ocean. The parallel street is called the Speedway. Turn right on the Speedway to see Rip Cronk’s mural of The Doors frontman Jim Morrison, painted in 1980, nine years after Morrison’s death. Morrison grew up in LA, a friend to the Venice arts community for years.
8. Back on the Boardwalk, head north to see another of Cronk’s murals. Walk north on the Boardwalk, to Wave Crest Avenue. Turn right to see Homage to A Starry Night. Measuring 17-feet tall and 37-feet wide, the work was completed in 1990.
The day comes to an end. You can retrace your steps along the Boardwalk and the sand to reach your car.
INDEX
24/7 Coffee Shop 274
500 Days of Summer 224
A
Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops 48
Academy Awards 94, 99, 191, 233, 238, 261, 262
Aykroyd, Dan 121, 275
Adam-12 239
Aguilar, Antonio 222, 225
Ahmanson Theater 230, 238, 239
Ain’t Misbehavin’ 218
Airplane! 251
Albuquerque Morning Journal 117
Alice’s Wonderland 95, 96
Alien Nation 234
All of Me 121
Ally McBeal 233
Alston, Walter 170, 172
Alta California 10, 12, 16, 23
Ambassador Hotel 160, 161, 186, 188, 190, 191
American Gigolo 185, 290
América Tropical 130, 132, 133, 134, 222, 226
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery 218
Angelus Temple 106, 108, 109, 110, 111
Animated Cartoons: How They Are Made, Their Origin and Development 95
Aniston, Jennifer 121
Annie Hall 129
A Place in the Sun 161
Apollo 13 191
Argo 105
Arizona 14
Armstrong, Louis 160
Arnaz, Desi 275
A Star is Born 250, 261
A Starry Night 284, 291
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad 47, 54
Autry, Gene 48, 104
Avalon 242, 244
Avery, Charlie 79
Avila Adobe 222, 225, 226
Avila, Francisco José 225
B
Bacall, Lauren 164, 260
Bahia de los Fumos 10
Baker, City Marshal Frank 37
Bale, Christian 121
Ball, Lucille 217, 275
Barr, Roseanne 273
Barrymore, Ethel 100, 251
Barrymore, John 191, 192, 251
Barrymore, Lionel 192
Basie, Count 160
Batman 121, 176
Baum, L. Frank 217
Baxter, Leone 140, 141
Bay of Smokes 10, 13, 16, 45
Baywatch 290
Beach Boys 5, 178, 183, 184, 245
Beatles 212, 245, 267
Beatty, Ned 105
Beaudry, Prudent 230
Beechwood Canyon 100, 105
Beechwood Drive 103, 245, 246, 247
Beginners 198
Bell, Horace 32
Belushi, John 214, 215, 273, 275
Ben Hur 89
Benny, Jack 218
Bergman, Ingrid 164
Berle, Milton 218, 270, 281
Betzhold, Estelle 112
Beverly Hills 20, 25, 91, 112, 115, 116, 120, 121, 122, 124, 129, 162, 214, 215, 217
Beverly Hills 90210 25, 290
Beverly Hills Cop 91, 129, 233
Beverly Hills Hotel 270, 272, 279, 280
Beverly Wilshire 270, 283
Big Four 42, 44, 45
Bilderrain, Jesús 36, 37
Biltmore Hotel 55, 230, 232
Birth of a Nation 92, 98, 217
Black Sabbath 267
Blade Runner 224
Blake, Tom 181, 182
Blanc, Mel 248
Blood and Sand 268
Bogart, Humphrey 105, 126, 162, 164, 260
Bonanza 251
Bonaventure Hotel 230, 233
Borgnine, Ernest 121
Bounds, Lillian 95
Bowie, David 277
Bowron, Fletcher 150, 152
Brice, Fannie 218
Bridges, Jeff 121
Bronson, Charles 121
Brother 152
Buena Vista Café 270
Buena Vista Drive 21
Bugsy 105, 124, 125, 212, 214, 215, 217, 224, 275, 276
Bundle of Joy 166
Bunker Hill 6, 220, 230, 232, 233, 234, 235
Burbank 21, 47
Burns, County Sheriff James 37
Burton, Richard 167
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 273
Butterfield 8 167
Bye Bye Birdie 247
C
Cabrillo 10, 12
Cadillac Café 156
Caine, Michael 275
Cain, James 105
Cajon Pass 45
California Constitution 31
&nb
sp; California Institute of the Arts 132
Calle de los Negros 29, 37
Calle del Toro 21
Cab Calloway 160
Cambridge, Godfrey 218
Campaigns Inc. 140, 141, 142, 143
Canfield 50, 52, 53, 54
Cantor, Eddie 218
Capitol Records 242, 244
Capote, Truman 218, 275
Carney’s 270, 274
Carradine, David 217
Carrey, Jim 275
Carroll, Diahann 278
Carter, Nell 218
Casablanca 164
Catch Me If You Can 224, 262
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels 33, 230, 231, 239
Cession Treaty 31
Chalifour, Martin 202
Chandler, Harry 59, 71, 100, 102, 140
Chandler, Norman 238, 242, 251, 252
Chandler, Otis 144
Chandler, Raymond 260
Chan, Jackie 121
Charlie Chaplin 17, 78, 79, 81, 87, 92, 97, 98, 138, 146, 150, 217, 260
Chateau Marmont 214, 270, 273, 274
Chavez, Julian 172
Chavez Ravine 5, 172, 173, 174, 175, 301
Chee Long Tong 38
Cheers 251
Cher 278
Chinatown 6, 21, 38, 40, 41, 75, 129, 220, 222, 224, 227, 228, 229, 233, 300, 301
Chinese American
Museum 222, 226, 227
Chinese Exclusion Act 40
Chinese Theatre 76, 219, 254, 255, 259, 261, 263
Chinigchinich 12, 15
Chiye Nagano 149
Chouinard School 132
Church of the Good Shepherd 270, 283
Citizen Kane 138, 185
City Cemetery 39
City Hall 10, 39, 231, 238, 239, 240, 270, 282
Civil War 30, 32, 98, 217
Clark, Eli P. 100
Clark Jr., William 248
Cleopatra 167, 168
Clooney, George 121
Club Alabam 154, 159, 160, 161
Cobb, Lee J. 218
Cocoanut Grove 160, 162, 188, 191, 192
Cohan, George M. 164
Cohen, Meyer H. 126
Cohen, Mickey 5, 122, 124, 125, 126, 218, 276, 300
Cole, Nat King 217, 245
Colors 137
Colt, Samuel 29
Comedy Club 270, 275
Commercial Street 38
Cooke, John 214
Cook, James 178
Coolidge, Calvin 117
Cooper, Alice 104
Cooper, Chris 121
Cooper, Gary 260
Cornwell, Dean 234
Coronel Building 36, 37, 38
Cosby, Bill 267
Costello, Dolores 251
Costner, Kevin 121
Courtley’s Exclusive Jewelry 125
Cox, Courtney 278
Crabtree, Lotta 4
Crocker 18, 44, 46
Cronk, Rip 135, 289, 291, 301
Cryer, George 159
CSI: NY 233
D
Damaged Goods 144
Dana, Jr., Richard Henry 23
Darren, James 182, 185
Davis, Bette 121, 217
Davis, Clive 216
Davis Jr., Sammy 217, 244, 275
Day, Doris 105
Day-Lewis, Daniel 121
Day of the Locust 105, 273
Dead Ringer 121
Death Becomes Her 121
Death Valley Days 250
Death Wish II 25
de Batuc, Alfredo 135
Dee, Sandra 182, 185
DeGeneres, Ellen 251
DeMille, Cecil B. 82, 85, 87, 217, 248
DeNiro, Robert 273
De Palma, Brian 121
Depp, Johnny 215, 276
Devil in a Blue Dress 161
Dexter 247
Diaz, Porfirio 53
DiMaggio, Joe 218, 260
Directors Guild of America 270, 272
Disneyland 201, 207, 210
Disney, Lillian 96, 201
Disney, Roy O. 95
Disney, Walt 21, 50, 95, 97, 104, 174, 201, 202, 203, 217, 300, 304
di Suvero, Mark 235
Dodger Stadium 52, 153, 175, 176, 177
Doheny, Edward L. 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 300
Dolby Theatre 260, 256, 261
Dolemite 161
Dolores del Rio 135
Dora, Miki 182, 183
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 230, 238
Double Indemnity 17
Downey, John G. 45
Dragnet 239
Dragon Seed 41, 229
Dr. Strangelove 247
DuBois, W.E.B. 157, 158, 159
Dunbar Hotel 159, 161
Dunbar, Paul Lawrence 159
Duncan, U.S. Corporal Lee 99
DuPont 140
Duran Duran 245
E
E.T. Earl 71
Easy Rider 185
Eaton, Fred 68, 70, 73
Ed Sullivan Show 183
Egyptian Theatre 254, 259, 261
Einstein 144
Eisenberg, Jesse 121
Eisenhower 143, 252
El Camino Real 12
El Capitan Theatre 254, 261
Eli P. Clark, 100
Ellington, Duke 160
Elliot, “Mama” Cass 218
El Pueblo 6, 13, 18, 220, 222, 224, 225, 226
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúnculá 13, 18
El Rio de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúnculá 13
Embarcadero 6
Entourage 251
Entwistle, Peg 103, 104
ER 233
Eraserhead 121
Essanay 80
Eveleigh 270, 276
F
Fairbanks, Douglas 100, 116, 248, 260
Fall, Albert B. 50, 52, 114, 115, 116, 117
Fandango 18, 21
Farnum, Dustin 82, 83
Fast and Furious 4 41
Fatty Arbuckle 79, 87
Ferenz, F. K. 132
Fields, Totie 218
Firehouse 222, 226
Firestone Tires 56, 62
Fisher, Carrie 166, 168
Fisher, Eddie 166, 167
Fisher, Todd 166
Fitzgerald, F. Scott 260
Flynn, Errol 275
Flynt, Larry 105, 277
Foo Fighters 245
Foreign Miners Tax Law 28
Forest Lawn Cemetery 111, 166
Forest Lawn Glendale 216, 217
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills 215, 217
Forrest Gump 191, 251
Fort Hill 33
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 268
Francis, Anne 105
Franciscan Friars 12, 16
Franklin, Aretha 245
Franklin, Bonnie 218
Frasier 251
Frederick’s of
Hollywood 254, 260
Freeman House 254, 263, 264, 269
Freeth, George 178, 180, 181, 184
Freleng, Friz 95
Frémont 24, 25
Fresh Prince of Bel Air 247
Funicello, Annette 218
Funny Girl 247
G
Gable, Clark 162, 165, 217, 262, 275, 280
Gabor, Zsa Zsa 275
Gandhi, Mahatma 111
Gangster Squad 41, 63, 105, 239
Greta Garbo 260, 273
Gardner, Ava 125, 126, 191, 275
Garfield II 121
Garland, Judy 89, 125, 126, 275
Gaye, Marvin 215
Gay Pride Parade 128
Geffen, David 277
Geffen Records 270, 277, 278
Gehry, Frank 201, 236, 300
General Hospital 248
General Motors 56, 62
Gere, Richard 283
Get Shorty 275, 290
Getty Center 204, 209, 210, 236, 301
George Getty II 242, 252
Getty, J. Paul 6, 204, 206, 207, 251, 252, 300, 301
Getty Oil Company 207
Getty Villa 206, 207, 209
Ghost 251
Ghostbusters 121, 233
Ghostbusters II 121
Gibb, Andy 218
Gibson, Mel 121
Gibson’s Gambling House 23
Gidget 5, 178, 182, 183, 184, 185
Glee 251
Glenn, John 188
Goddard, Paulette 275
God Is The Bigger Elvis 169
Goldberg, Whoopi 121
Golden Boy 247
Goldfish, Samuel 82
Gold, Joe 286
Gold Mountain 30
Goldwyn, Samuel 85
Gone With the Wind 166, 192
Goodman, John 121
Googie’s 199, 201, 274
Grand Boulevard 288, 289
Grand Park 230, 231, 232, 240, 241
Grauman, Sid 261
Graves, Nancy 235
Grease 185
Great Depression 75, 103, 111, 120, 138, 140, 149, 159, 165
Great Plains Indians 12
Greystone Mansion 112, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 270, 278
Grier, Rosey 188
Griffith, D. W. 79, 98
Guber, Peter 176
Guitar Center 270, 272
Gulf Oil 114
Gunsmoke 250
H
Hampton, Lionel 154
Hanks, Tom 104
Happy Days 251
Harding 50, 114, 116, 117
Hardwick, Lois 95
Harlow, Jean 86, 192
Harman, Hugh 95
Harman, Walker 95
Harriman, E. H. 71
Harrison, George 212, 214
Harry Potter 261, 262
Hart, Dolores 169
Hartman, Brynn 215
Hartman, Phil 215
Hawn, Goldie 121
Hay, Harry 127
Hearst, William Randolph 109, 138, 141, 142
Heche, Anne 251
Hefner, Hugh 104, 126, 217
Hepburn, Katharine 191
High Tower 254, 255, 265
Hillside Memorial Cemetery 91, 126
Hillside Memorial Park 218
Hit Man 137, 161
Hockney, David 262, 273
Holliday, Billie 160
Hollyhock House 194, 196, 197
Hollywood and Highland Center 254, 256
Hollywood Bowl 85, 254, 255, 266, 267
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce 104, 105, 300
Hollywood Forever 212, 214, 216, 217, 218, 242, 248, 250
Hollywood Heights 6, 220, 256, 263, 264, 265, 269
Hollywood Heritage Museum 254, 267, 268