West Hollyood Babylon Crime Tour Travel Attractions Sunset Strip Hotels Restaurants Clubs

8977 On August 28, 1963, actress Susan Petrone, 32, of 8977 Keith Ave., was killed near San Simeon when she slipped on loose shale on a cliff overlooking the sea and plunged 400 feet to her death. Petrone had appeared in the TV shows, "Gunsmoke," "Dr. Kildare," and the "Bob Cummings Show."

8995 Adamant to the court's demand either to give up her automobile for thirty days or pay a $10 fine for speeding across the intersection of Crescent Heights Boulevard and Fountain Ave. in October, 1927, Mrs. Vera Groves of 8995 Keith Avenue, finally borrowed the $10 from a friend and paid the fine Groves, the mother of five children, was caught speeding thirty-five miles an hour in a fifteen-mile zone.

9039 Mrs. Babe Blum, sister-in-law of Jack Benny, was arrested here T 9039 Keith Ave. on October 21, 1953, along with two men. The trio had tried to break the door down of the apartment of actor Robert Hannon, 26, and airline steward Edward Costley, 26. Mrs. Blum told arresting officers that she "would get their jobs for this." It took four cops to drag her from the apartment to the police car. She was booked on charges of drunkeness and disturbing the peace. She later pled guilty and was fined $75.

9053 John W. Smith, 35, of 9053 Keith Ave., a brother-in-law of director John Ford, committed suicide in 1932 in Ford's home at 6860 Odin in Hollywood. He shut himself in Ford's garage and allowed the motor of his car to run while the small compartment filled with deadly onoxide gas. A cross-word puzzle he was working was half-finished when death struck. His body was discovered when a terrific explosion wrecked the garage, hurling the garage doors seventy feet against the house across the street. The garage and car caught on fire, and his body was found badly burned in the back seat. In one hand, he held a tightly clasped pencil, while in the other was a slightly charred unaddressed note. Part of the note said: "In closing, I'll remind you of the old song, Don't talk about Me When I'm Gone." Smith had been living in the house for about a year while the Ford's were in Europe.

724 Financially embarrassed, T-Bone Riley of 724 N. Kilkea, a nationally known restaurant man, filed bankruptcy on July 14, 1932. Riley, whose true name is Clyde Van Hoose, ran a cafe on Second Street between Broadway and Hill streets and catered to the public who liked T-Bone steaks. He had liabilities of $20,505 and assets of $100 in furniture.

740 Novelist, screenwriter, Aldous Huxley and his bisexual wife Maria, bought a large Spanish-style home at 740 N. Kings Road in May, 1949 for $23,000. They paid $10,000 down with $13,000 to be paid off in ten years at $135 a month. The kitchen drain would not take a garbage disposal under $350 so they did without one. There was a study, music-room, breakfast nook, and an Arbor in the large backyard. Their phone number was WEbster 3-0455. Maria died of breast cancer here in her bedroom on February 12, 1955 at age 57. In March, 1956, Huxley, author of "Brave New World," married violinist and psychotherapist Laura Archera. They moved out of the house in July, 1956. In the late 1950s, Los Angeles Mirror columnist Paul Coates wrote that the house was haunted by Maria.
Where Are They Now? Aldous, 69, died of cancer on November 22, 1963 (the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated). At his request, as he lay dying he was injected with LSD. He is buried in Compton Village Cemetery in Guildford, Surrey, England. Maria was originally buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles when she died in 1955, but after Aldous died, her body was reburied in England next to her husband of 35 years.

1000 Block Actor Ray Milland and his wife Mal rented a small house in the 1000 block of N. Kings Road for 8 months in 1936. While here, not a month would go by without two or three men knocking on the door late at night looking for Elaine, Yvonne or Arleen. Milland later found out that several women rented the home before he and his wife moved in. Suspecting that the women were running a whorehouse, the landlord, with the help of police had the girls evicted.
Where is He Now? Milland died in 1986 at age 81. Cremated, his ashes were scattered at sea near Pacific Crest, Redondo Beach, California.

1221 Actor Jack Cassidy, died in a fire here in his top-floor penthouse at 1221 N. Kings Road on December 12, 1976. Firemen found a single body lying on the fold-out sofa in the living room. The body was so badly burned that he had to be identified by his dental records. He was 49.

Where is He Now? Cremated, his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

1260 Mrs. Anne Karger Lyons, 53, widow of Maxwell Karger, pioneer film producer, was living at 1260 Kings Road in October, 1938, when she filed for divorce from her husband James Lyons, 39. She charged that Lyons used profane language and mistreated her. She also demanded the return of her home here worth $20,000, and Lake Arrowhead property valued at $18,000 which she says Lyons induced her to place in his name. In a cross-complaint Lyons denied her charges and raised the contention that the home and idle mountain properties were purchased after the marriage with money he had earned as well as money belonging to her and she had then given him title voluntarily. He said that at the time of the marriage on August 14, 1922, he was a boy of tender years and she a mature woman, and that in order to induce him to marry her she had showered him with money, presents and affection and had promised him a life of ease.

1260 Steven Brandt, 30, a Hollywood gossip columnist and a close friend of actress Sharon Tate and her director husband Roman Polanski, was found near death on October 31, 1969 in his exclusive three-story town-house apartment at 1260 N. Kings Road. He had taken an overdose of drugs. Slight, pale and longhaired, Brandt, a columnist for Photoplay Magazine and a member of the drug oriented international jet set that revolved around Miss Tate and Polanski, was questioned repeatedly by detectives upon his return from the East the day after the August 9, 1969 mass murder at the Polanski’s' rented Benedict Canyon estate. Brandt, who was widely acquainted in the movie colony, stood as their witness when Miss Tate and Polanski were married in London's Chelsea Registry Office in January, 1968. At the time of the Tate murders, he was With Peyton Place star Barbara Parkins in New York City. He was Miss Parkins' publicist at the time. Friends said he was very depressed over the death of Miss Tate. After he recovered from his suicide attempt he moved back to New York.
Whatever Happened to Him? On November 28, 1969, Brandt's body was found in his room at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City where he had gone after spending the evening with friends, including underground movie actress Ultra Violet. In telephone conversations with friends shortly before he died, he said he had taken "22 pills." The coroner said he died of a drug overdose at age 30.

1300    Yiorgos "Greek George" Caralambo was a camel driver from Asia Minor who came to the United States with the second load of camels purchased by the War Department in 1856 as an experiment to open a wagon road to Fort Tejon from Fort Defiance, New Mexico. When the experiment was abandoned, Greek George settled on a small ranch at the southern base of the Hollywood Hills, on land belonging to Rancho La Brea where he built an adobe.
      Beginning in the 1850s, Tiburcio Vasquez a notorious Mexican bandit, terrorized Southern California. His criminal activities were centered almost exclusively in Los Angeles County or on the wagon routes leading from Los Angeles to the Cerro Gordo Mines and the San Joaquin Valley. He often used Greek George's adobe as one of his many hideouts. In April, 1874, Vasquez emerged from his hideout in the San Gabriel Mountains and rode here the ranch of Greek George where he planned to hideout. He slept in the hills just above the ranch house and came down for meals and to visit his senorita. Then, in early May 1874, came the break the lawmen had long awaited. Sheriff Morse, while hunting Vasquez near Fort Tejon, was told that the bandit was hiding in the Cahuenga Mountains at the ranch of Greek George.
      On the evening of May 13, 1874, a hand-picked a posse of six slipped out of downtown Los Angeles in the wee hours of the morning. By daybreak they were camped near the mouth of Nichols Canyon in West Hollywood, a mile and a quarter northeast of Greek George's. A morning fog obscured their vision of the ranchhouse. Around noon, the fog lifted and the lawmen were able to clearly see the ranch surrounded by fields of tall mustard grass and clumps of willow and the hills on the north.
      When two Mexicans in an empty wagon drove by the mouth of Nichols Canyon. The Sheriff stopped them and took over their wagon. The posse of six climbed in and hid themselves on the floorboard. The drivers were ordered to head for the ranchhouse and warned not to alert Vasquez. Vasquez noticed the wagon approaching, but knowing the drivers, suspected nothing. As the wagon drew up outside the ranchhouse, the lawmen leaped out and took positions. In seconds the house was surrounded. Just then, a woman opened the door, saw the officers and shouted the alarm. Vasquez, who had just sat down to lunch, sprang to his feet just as two officers broke through the front door with guns blazing. Quick as a cat, Vasquez made a flying leap out the kitchen window, right into the drawn pistol of an officer. Throwing up his hands, he cried, "No shoot! No shoot!" He was loaded into a wagon and taken into Los Angeles, He was later taken to Monterey County where he was tried and convicted of his crimes.
Where Was Greek George's Adobe? Various writers have placed the adobe at the mouth of Cahuenga Pass, the Hollywood Bowl, the Hollywood Fire Station and in Laurel Canyon. The best source as to the ranch's location is a map provided by Ben Truman in his 1875 book on Vasquez's capture. A study of this map, along with Truman's description, clearly reveal that Greek George's ranch was well west of both Cahuenga and Laurel Canyon. Most recent research places the site near the intersection of Fountain Avenue and Kings Road in West Hollywood, an area now crowded with apartment houses.
Where Are They Now? Vasquez, 40, was hanged in San Jose on March 19, 1875. He is buried in the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara California. Vasquez is "honored" today by two place names in Southern California. Vasquez Canyon, and Vasquez Rocks above Soledad Canyon now a Los Angeles County park. The rocks were one of his favorite hideouts.
        Greek George died in Montebello, California on September 2, 1913 and was buried in Whittier Mt. Olive Cemetery at Broadway and Gregory Avenue, in Whittier, California The cemetery was abandoned in the 1930's. In 1968, the City of Whittier created Founders Memorial Park on the four acres of land. All grave stones were removed and stored in back of the old Pio Pico mansion on Pioneer Blvd. in Whittier. The city then planted lawns and built playgrounds over the graves of the dead. Greek George and 2380 persons still lie buried beneath where people picnic and children play. The site is State Historical Landmark 646.

1437 Paris Hilton was living at 1437 Kings Road in 2007 when she was arrested for drunk driving and sentenced to serve 45 days in jail. She has since sold the house.

1458 What is believed to have been an attempt to kidnap Madeline Kennedy, 9, daughter of Tom Kennedy of 1458 N. Kings Road, was frustrated on April 20, 1928, when the little girl's brother Donald, 6, screamed and caused the would-be kidnapper to flee. The children told police that they were on their way home from the Gardner Avenue School, when at Laurel Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, a well-dressed man about 35 years of age, stopped them and asked them to step behind a billboard where he asked the girl her name and where she lived . Donald became frightened, broke away and ran out into the street with his sister. The man then ran to his automobile and drove away

1494    On May 24, 1930, Actress Jocelyn Lee, 26, was arrested at the home of Hollywood fan magazine editor, Ivan St. Johns, for disturbing the peace. Police charged her with fighting with her husband, film director Luther Reed, 42, who was attending a party in the St. Johns home at 1494 N. Kings Road. St. Johns, the owner of the house, testified in court that “It was a warm night, and we had invited a few girls over for a social evening and played the radio,. danced, and had a few drinks. The windows were open. I retired from the party early, went to my room and disrobed. I heard screams and curses in a feminine voice. Thinking that had been an accident, I grabbed a sheet from an adjacent bedroom and rushed toward the noise. There in the south bedroom were Mrs. Reed and Mr. Reed, screaming, and having a tug of war with a fur collar."
      In court, Jocelyn testified that "I went up the steps of the house until came to a window where I could see in. I heard my husband's voice, and that of a woman, so I stayed there, and listened. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer, and I busted In through the French windows. As I entered, the light went on., and there was a woman sitting on the edge of the bed. At the foot of the bed was Mr. Reed. Both were staring at me. The girl grabbed something black from the chair, and ran out of the room. Mr. Reed began swearing, and told me that I had a lot nerve to come busting In on him like that and he hit me. I hit him back with a cane I was carrying. Then I tried to grab the girl's clothes for evidence, but Mr. Reed snatched them away from me." Charges were later dropped.
      Six months later, on the evening of November 8, 1930, J. F. Hudson of 1488 N. Kings Road was awakened by a noises in his yard. Looking out a window, he saw a man prowling around his house. Grabbing a gun, he slipped out a rear entrance and, before the suspected burglar had a chance to explain, he found himself gazing into the barrel of a .30-caliber pistol. "Sh-sh-sh," said the man, "I'm not an ordinary burglar. I'm a private detective and I'm gathering evidence." When Hudson asked "How do I know you're not a burglar?" the man produced his credentials which showed that he worked for a well-known private detective agency. Hudson called Hollywood police anyway, who came to investigate. The man explained that he had been retained to watch the supposed home of Luther Reed, motion-picture director, by his wife, red-haired actress Jocelyn Lee for evidence of infidelity to be used by Miss Lee in her cross-complaint to a divorce proceeding filed by the director. Hollywood police said an attractive blonde lurking in the vicinity gave her name as Jocelyn Lee an confirmed the story told by the supposed burglar. The police accepted the explanation and released the both of them. Reed later said that his wife and her detective were watching the wrong house as he was staying at the home of Ivan St. John, who lived at 1494 Kings Road, several houses away from the Hudson house. Charges were later dropped.
      On May 24, 1931, Lee, who now was called "The Red-headed Fury," made news again , when she appeared on the front porch of St. Johns's home with her two children, 2 and 4 years of age and insisted upon seeing her former husband who was living there with St. Johns. He declined to talk to her, but requested he be allowed to accompany the children to dinner alone. St. Johns tried to persuade her to leave but she scratched him on the face. St. Johns, a Hollywood fan magazine editor, and former Herald Examiner chief copy editor, told police, "She demanded entrance, saying she wanted to talk to her former husband, and when I refused, she called me profane names and screamed loud curses at me and at the others. I begged her to leave and to take her two children, who were sitting in a porch swing a few feet away.
      "She kicked out several panes of glass from the French door and then, removing one shoe, hammered out some more. When I asked her to stop, she laughed and. moved over to another door and smashed glass in that, too. She knocked out eighteen panes of glass. I telephoned for the Police and then went out on the porch and held her wrists in an effort to quiet her until the officers arrived. When I let go of her afterward she scratched my face. She finally left after the officers talked to her for fifteen or twenty minutes. But before she left, she turned to one of the other guests and called him a "drunken little bum, who would drink anything from perfume to bilge water." Then she screamed vulgarities at everybody. "I had only 15 cents and I just wanted to get a couple of dollars from him," the actress said. Charges were later dropped.
Where Are They Now? Miss Lee's last picture was in 1936. She moved to New York in 1940 and was never heard from again. Reed, a director of silent films and early talkies, faded into obscurity. He died on November 17, 1961 at 73. St. Johns, who had been married to writer, reporter Adela Rogers St. Johns for 14 years. died of a heart attack in his home at 3014 N. Beachwood Drive on November 25, 1935, at age 46.

941 Early in the morning on July 17, 1949, Thomas B. Hoy, 45, a writer and ex-Navy pilot, beat on the door of composer Ralph Blane's home at 941 S. Kings Road. "I've just done something foolish," he told Blane, "I'm sorry. Tell my wife I love her. Call an ambulance." Blane said Hoy stumbled back to his car parked in front of the residence. Police later found him there unconscious. He was rushed to the Citizen's Emergency in West Hollywood where. his life was saved. Hoy had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets.
His wife Elizabeth, near hysteria, told this story: “Hoy loved to fly. He learned the air while in his teens. He was among the first pilots to ever cross the perilous Andes in South America. He later became an Eastern Airlines pilot. Then tragedy struck. In a plane crash he lost his right leg. When WWII started, Hoy enlisted in the Navy as a public relations officer. But he still loved the air. He requested and was granted permission to become a Navy pilot. He won his gold wings despite his artificial leg.” Hoy rose to the rank of lieutenant commander and served overseas. According to Naval records, he was the only one-legged pilot in the reserve service. She said that her husband was a man that nothing could keep down. He never stopped trying, never stopped fighting." When the war ended he came to Hollywood to write for his living. But, she said, he missed the flying and the leg injury began to bother him. His doctor prescribed sleeping tablets to alleviate the pain. But he did not take them until a day before he pounded on Ralph Blane's door. It was a Saturday-night gathering with old friends in the Hoy home at 613 N Sweetzer Ave. It lasted almost till morning. Then Thomas B. Hoy got into his car and suddenly drove away. The pain was too much. He took the pills with him.

8325 Carter De Haven, stage and screen actor of 8325 Kirkwood Drive, was ordered arrested in 1937, on a warrant charging him with a violation of a traffic ordinance. The warrant was issued by a judge in Pomona where De Haven assertedly failed to appear on a complaint accusing him of going through a boulevard stop on June 23. Bail was fixed at $15.
Where is He Now? Father of actress Gloria De Haven, he died in 1977 at age 91. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale, in the Great Mausoleum, Nativity Columbarium, N-20966.