Historic Hollywood

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Top: The Sunset Strip in West
Hollywood became a mecca for
nightclubs and restaurants from the
1920s where Hollywood stars would
be seen in the media around the
world. The Mocambo was a favorite
of such stars as Errol Flynn, Frank
Sinatra, Joan Crawford and Rita
Hayworth among many others. With
the coming of the 1960s the Mocambo
was demolished, becoming one of the
lost landmarks of Hollywood history.
Middle: Located on the northeast
corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine
Street, NBC was built on the original
site of the old Paramount Studios that
were demolished in 1926. NBC’s first
Hollywood studio, opening in 1936,
was on Melrose Avenue next to the
current Paramount Studios, where it
quickly outgrew that space. This
Streamline Moderne studio facility
was constructed in 1938 and housed
eight broadcasting studios. Radio
programs here included those of Bob
Hope, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor,
Dragnet, Your Hit Parade, and many
more. The entire studio complex was
demolished in 1964 to make way for
a bank after NBC had moved to a
larger television studio in Burbank.
Bottom: Looking east down Hollywood
Boulevard is Grauman’s Chinese
Theater on the left, the First National
Bank Building (1928) center, and the
El Capitan Building (1926) right. All
three buildings became Hollywood
historic landmarks. The old
Hollywood Hotel on the northwest
corner of Hollywood and Highland
Avenue (behind the palm trees) was
demolished in 1956 later being
replaced by the new Hollywood-
Highland shopping complex in 2001.
Chapter VI ✦ 29