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Avalon Hollywood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Avalon is a historic night club and music venue in Hollywood, California. Located near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, at 1735 N. Vine Street, it has previously been known as the Hollywood Playhouse, The WPA Federal Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, The Jerry Lewis Theatre, The Hollywood Palace, The Palace, and presently, as Avalon (or Avalon Hollywood).
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Originally known as The Hollywood Playhouse, 1735 Vine St. opened for the first time on January 24, 1927[1]. It was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by the architectural firm of Gogarty and Weyl. [2]
During the Great Depression, the theatre was renamed The WPA Federal Theatre (after the Works Progress Administration), and used for government-sponsored programs[3].
Later, the theatre hosted numerous CBS Radio Network programs, including Fanny Brice's Baby Snooks show and Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband program[4].
In the 1940s, 1735 Vine was renamed The El Capitan Theatre, and was used for a long-running live burlesque variety show called Ken Murray's Blackouts[5]. This should not be confused with the nearby movie theatre of the same name and age, the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
In the 1950s, still under the name of El Capitan, the theatre became a television studio, and it was from a set on its stage that Richard Nixon delivered his famous "Checkers speech" on September 23, 1952.[6] This event is often mistakenly said (especially on the Internet) to have taken place at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, though that theater was never a television studio, and in 1952 was operating as a movie house called the Paramount Theatre.
In 1963, ABC television used 1735 Vine for Jerry Lewis' weekly television program[7], and appropriate renamed the theater The Jerry Lewis Theatre.
After the termination of Jerry Lewis' television program, ABC renamed the building the Hollywood Palace and launched The Hollywood Palace television series which had guests such as Judy Garland and Louis Armstrong[8]. The program was successful and continued for seven years, until 1970, after which ABC continued to use the building as a studio for occasional broadcasts.
In 1978, ABC sold the theatre to private businessman Dennis Lidtke, who restored it and reopened it four years later with an abridged name, The Palace.
Avalon appears (as The Palace) is featured promenenly in the film Against All Odds.
1735 Vine was purchased by Hollywood Entertainment Partners in September 2002, and renamed as Avalon.
The building has hosted the American Music Awards[9], and was once home to The Colgate Comedy Hour, the Lawrence Welk Show, and This is Your Life[10].