Category Archives: Stage

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Rose McClendon, First Lady of Black Theater

Posted on February 23, 2023 by lmharnisch

Rose McClendon, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, via the New York Public Library. The first lady of the early Black stage, largely forgotten today, Rose McClendon set a blazing example of how talent could offer opportunity, even in difficult, discriminatory … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Bowl Celebrates 100 Years

Posted on July 5, 2022 by lmharnisch

100 years ago, the Hollywood Bowl hosted its first official summer Symphonies Under the Stars concert, inaugurating a tradition that continues today. Constructed as a way to celebrate the arts in a magnificent outdoor setting, the Hollywood Bowl sprang to … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Julian Eltinge Says ‘I’m at Your Service, Girls’

Posted on June 6, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2016.   One of the most famous female impersonators of all time, but now also one of the most forgotten, Julian Eltinge stood as one of the most successful headliners of the early … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – the Photoplayer

Posted on September 6, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Joe Rinaudo with his Fotoplayer.  Credit: Joe Rinaudo. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. For a short time in the 1920s, 8,000-10,000 photoplayers ruled the roost at medium-sized motion picture theaters. Basically organs with player piano rolls … Continue reading →

Posted in 1912, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 2, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1955 film The Big Knife, with Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane, Wesley Addy, Paul Langton, Nick Dennis, Bill Walker and Mike Winkelman. And Miss Shelley … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 55 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – A Perfect Villain

Posted on April 12, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: “Rasputin and the Empress,” with Gustav von Seyffertitz, center, with Ethel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, John Barrymore, Tad Alexander and Lionel Barrymore. Photo listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Obituaries, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights — ‘Julius Caesar’

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Beachwood Canyon in a panorama from the Library of Congress. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Throughout history, people have come together to communally celebrate.  From groups worshipping at Stonehenge, rejoicing in Times Square at the end … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM picture “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” with Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young,  Karen Morley, Charles Wininger, Alan Hale, Halliwell Hobbes, Lennox Pawle and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ethel Barrymore Dons Blackface for ‘Scarlet Sister Mary’

Posted on September 7, 2020 by lmharnisch

Ethel Barrymore in “Sister Scarlet Mary” Stage legend Ethel Barrymore continually sought challenges to advance her craft through her many decades in the theater. In the late 1920s, she took on perhaps her biggest challenge, portraying the lead character in … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Samuel S. Hinds, Pasadena Playhouse Founder, Movie Actor

Posted on August 26, 2019 by lmharnisch

Samuel S. Hinds, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Some people are lucky enough to work in a profession doing something they love, offering both pleasure and satisfaction. Others work at jobs that allow … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Pasadena, Stage | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Remembering Herbert Berghof

Posted on July 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

Gary writes of Herbert Berghof, as seen in “5 Fingers.” In the mid late 1970’s I took some acting classes at HB Studios near my apartment in the West Village. For the most part we studied the Uta Hagen text … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Julian Eltinge Says ‘I’m at Your Service, Girls’

Posted on June 10, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2016.   One of the most famous female impersonators of all time, but now also one of the most forgotten, Julian Eltinge stood as one of the most successful headliners of the early … Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 8, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1973 American Film Theatre production of “The Iceman Cometh,” with Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Bradford Dillman, Sorrell Booke, Hildy Brooks, Nancy Juno Dawson,  Evans Evans, Martyn Green, Moses Gunn, Clifton … Continue reading →

Posted in 1973, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

December 1947: Igor Stravinsky at Work on ‘The Rake’s Progress’

Posted on December 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In late November, composer Igor Stravinsky had a guest at his home in the Hollywood Hills (The Times is elusive as to its exact location). His … Continue reading →

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Follies Theater’s 1927 ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on December 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

A EBay vendor posted this photo of a woman named Aline or Alene Carberry, and I could not resist unleashing the hounds of research. Bidding on the “Hot Mamma” photo is currently at $34.50.

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Oct. 14, 1897: ‘La Boheme’ Receives American Premiere in Los Angeles

Posted on October 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

    Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. San Francisco has long claimed the first American performance of Puccini’s “La Boheme” in March 1898 and is given credit for that distinction in … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Herb Jeffries Cast in All-Black Production of ‘Camille’

Posted on September 19, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sept. 18, 1947: The Sentinel reports the intriguing production of an all-black, musical version of “Camille,” produced by Thomas Hammond with a score by Serge Walter, lyrics by Rene Du Plessis, starring Herb Jeffries.  A previous commitment prevented Lena Horne … Continue reading →

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Aug. 23, 1947: Sartre’s ‘No Exit’ Opens in L.A.

Posted on August 23, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Coronet Play Has ‘No Exit’ BY PHILIP K. SCHEUER Everyone is on his own at the Coronet Theatre, where Pelican Productions last night presented Jean-Paul Sartre’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Comics, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: When Hollywood ‘Toned Down’ Black Actors

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Nina Mae McKinney, above, was “toned down” for MGM’s movie cameras in filming “Hallelujah,” Harry Levette said. June 19, 1947: Harry Levette, a longtime Sentinel columnist, sports editor and publicist, reflects on the Lafayette Players. The Lafayette Players was established … Continue reading →

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June 21, 1947: ‘The Drunkard,’ L.A.’s Favorite Melodrama

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the summer of 1933, expecting nothing but a brief run and modest ticket sales, two theater people from Carmel, Preston Shobe and Galt Bell, hatched … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments