Then and Now in Hollywood

The bewildered faces of tourists strolling the area around Hollywood and Vine, seeking a glimpse of Hollywood’s famed golden era, tell all regarding the fate of this once glittering mecca of the film industry. With many notable exceptions’the Egyptian, Pantages and El Capitan Theaters, to name a few’most vestiges of the early, glory days of Hollywood have met the wrecking ball. Rosemary Lord’s ‘Hollywood Then and Now’ (Thunder Day Press) takes a fascinating look, both in text and photography, of the then and now, tracing Hollywood from its earliest days when in 1883 Harvey Wilcox, a Prohibitionist from Kansas, and his wife arrived in California and bought 160 acres to develop a Protestant Christian temperance community. Author Lord, an actress and writer who moved to Los Angeles from London two decades ago, will appear and sign copies of her book on Thursday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore. While the book spans ‘before the movies’ history of the area to the present day, the focus is mostly on the golden era of the 1920s and ’30s, when film studios lined the streets and restaurants and nightclubs filled its busy thoroughfares. When Lord first wrote ‘Los Angeles Then and Now’in 2002, she quickly realized Hollywood required its own tome. Her research was bolstered by a few key contacts, among them Bruce Torrence, who supplied much of the ‘then’ photography from his vast collection, the largest in the world on the subject of Hollywood. Torrence is the grandson of Charles Toberman, the legendary real estate developer who created and supervised the building of many Hollywood landmarks including Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Roosevelt Hotel. Seventy ‘then’ photos are paired with the same number of ‘now’ photos, most taken by photographer Simon Clay. Old black-and-white shots of screen legends, studios and the grand movie palaces abound, along with more obscure prints such as one of the Hollywood School for Girls, where appearing in a 1924 class picture of eighth graders is Harlean Carpenter, who later became Jean Harlow. Among the school’s great legends is the story of a young French teacher named Edith Spare, who later became the famed costume designer Edith Head. Her career got its start when Head was asked to teach art as well as French. She took art classes at night and was encouraged by her students to apply for a summer job at Paramount in the costume design department. This was the humble path leading to her status as the most honored woman in Academy Award history. While gathering information, Lord was privy to many firsthand accounts of Hollywood history, including speaking to people who remember the young Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe) when she was a resident at the Los Angeles Orphans Home Society (now Hollygrove). ‘They recall her as being a very quiet little girl who loved to play the piano,’ says Lord, marveling at the contrast to her later larger-than-life celebrity. ‘Hollywood Then and Now’ is only the beginning for Lord on the subject of Tinseltown.’ She’s at work on two other books, another history and a novel. ”’There are so many rich stories out there that need to be shared before they’re forgotten,’ says the author. ‘Hollywood is not like London or Paris or even New York, where people appreciate that it has a history. They still think it’s sort of a shallow place.’