Shooters Bar & Grill from “Melrose Place”

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One location that had been on my “To Stalk” list pretty much ever since I first moved to Southern California over twelve years ago was Fellini’s “Old Country” Italian restaurant – the Hollywood-area eatery that stood in for Shooters Bar & Grill on the 1992 Beverly Hills, 90210-spinoff Melrose Place.  And while I was never a huge fan of the series (I think I was a bit too young for it as most of the storylines went right over my head), I did watch the entire first season and the pool hall/bar where the characters regularly hung out was a place that I had always wanted to see in person.  For whatever reason, though, I had just never made it out there.  So, while Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were out doing some stalking in the Hollywood area two weeks ago, I suggested that we stop by.  Sadly, this was a bit of a disappointing stalk for both of us, though, as the site has changed drastically since filming took place and is virtually unrecognizable from its weekly onscreen appearances as Shooters on Melrose Place.

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Unfortunately, I could not find much information online about the history of Fellini’s, which is surprising being that the establishment seemed to be something of a Hollywood landmark and was around for almost two full decades.  According to this December 1987 Los Angeles Times article, Fellini’s, which was named in honor of the legendary Italian film director Federico Fellini, was founded in 1976 by a man named Gary Michael Gilson.  The portion of the building that stood in for Shooters was not actually a part of the original restaurant, but was added in 1982 when Gilson decided to expand into a vacant former antique shop located next door.  During its heyday, such stars as Bonnie Raitt and Dennis Quaid were said to not only have hung out there, but were even known to jump up on the eatery’s tiny stage and sing a few tunes from time to time.  Fellini’s ended up shutting its doors sometime in the late ‘80s, at which point it was transformed into a short-lived nightclub named Trinity that closed after less than a year.  The establishment was then purchased by new owners and was reopened once again as Fellini’s, but not until 1993, so it seems that at the time Melrose Place was first filmed, the site was vacant.  I am not sure when Fellini’s officially closed for the second time, but in mid-2010 the place housed a furniture store, as you can see in these photographs on the Daveland blog here.  The storefront, which has since been painted a drab blue-grey color, currently houses MUSE Atelier hair salon.

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The exterior of Fellini’s showed up weekly on Melrose Place throughout the series’ seven-season run.  You can check out some pictures of what Fellini’s used to look like when it was still in business here and a close-up of its doors here.  As you can see in the photographs, not much was changed for the filming of Melrose Place.  Sadly, that is not the case today.  Gone are the familiar black awning, peach-colored paint, and arched double windows.  Today, the storefront is a bleak reminder of its former self.  As Mike said to me while we there, “This place looks like a morgue!”  LOL  Why the new owners would take a formerly very cute façade – not to mention a historic filming location – and turn it into something dismal is beyond me.

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While we were there, Mike did notice that some markings from the former arched double windows were still visible on the exterior of the building.  I SO love when there is some remnant, no matter how small, still in existence on filming locations that have been drastically altered.  So incredibly cool!

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While scanning through episodes of Melrose Place to make screen captures for today’s post, I noticed that something was not quite right about the close-up shots of Shooters’ front doors, and I came to the conclusion that a set of the entrance area had been created for all of the close-up filming.

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As you can see in the above screen captures, the wall just to the left of the Shooters’ awning is popped out in the close-up view, but not in the faraway shot.

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And in the close-up shot, the window to the left of the awning has no ornamentation surrounding it, but in the faraway shot it does.

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Being that, in real life, the façade of the building is flat and does have ornamentation surrounding its side window, the only explanation is that a replica of the entrance was created on a soundstage at Santa Clarita Studios in Valencia where the series was lensed for all of the close-up shots.  (You can see a pretty cool picture of the original Melrose Place apartment set on the Santa Clarita Studios website here.)

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The interior of Shooters was also just a set and, from what I read online, it did not at all resemble the dark wood-paneled, Old World-style of the real life Fellini’s.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have been able to have seen that place in person!

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And while Fellini’s was used almost entirely for establishing shots on Melrose Place, some actual filming did take place there.  In the pilot episode of the series, Jake Hanson (Grant Show) takes Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) on a date at Shooters and the two are shown pulling up to the front of the restaurant on Jake’s motorcycle.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for taking me to this location.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The former Fellini’s restaurant (now MUSE Atelier salon), aka Shooters Bar & Grill from the original Melrose Place, is located at 6808/6810 Melrose Avenue, just west of North Highland Avenue, in Hollywood.

Granville Towers – Portia de Rossi’s Former Home

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I just recently finished reading Portia de Rossi’s new memoir Unbearable Lightness and I have to say that it was easily one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life!  I literally could NOT put it down.  The memoir is a harrowing account of the actress’ long-time eating disorder which consumed her life during the years she portrayed Nelle Porter on the hit television series Ally McBeal.  Besides being a fabulous read, the book’s topic really hit home with me as I was once told by an acting teacher that I was “stocky” and needed to lose weight if I wanted to make it in this business.  I was a size two at the time.  Needless to say the notion of “there is no such thing as too thin” is alive and well in Hollywood.  Thankfully I had a strong foundation to fall back on at home and was able to blow off my acting teacher’s words – and eventually her class.  Winking smile  But it is easy to see why someone like Portia, who was already deeply insecure over the fact that she was gay and whose family lived a world away in Australia, would falter in that sort of environment.  Her story is both heartbreaking and fascinating and I honestly cannot recommend reading it enough.  Anyway, in the book, Portia talks about living in a penthouse unit at the legendary Granville Towers in West Hollywood, so as soon as I finished reading the tome, I immediately ran right out to stalk the place.

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The Granville Towers, which was originally an apartment building named The Voltaire, was built in 1930 in the French Revival style by architect Leland Bryant, who also designed one of my favorite hotels in Southern California – the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunset Boulevard.  The 7-story, 40-unit property was a celebrity magnet from the very beginning and such stars as Ann Sothern, Jack Lord, Arthur Treacher, Janet Gaynor, and Rock Hudson called the place home.  My girl Marilyn Monroe even stayed there for a brief while after her divorce from Joe DiMaggio in 1954.  In the 1980s, the property was transformed into a luxury hotel at which point it was renamed The Granville.  A few years later it was transformed yet again, this time into an upscale condominium building, and Hollywood luminaries once again began calling the place home.  Just a few of the celebrities who have lived there in more recent years include Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Greene (her boyfriend Joe Jonas is a frequent visitor), Mickey Rourke, Brendan Fraser, David Bowie, Amy Locane, and Michael Michele.

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Portia de Rossi lived in the building’s north tower penthouse from the late 1990s through mid-2002.  Of first seeing the penthouse apartment, she said, “I felt as though I had been transported to an artist’s loft in a city like Philadelphia, which was much more exciting to me than where I actually was.  Where I was, was predictable.  But the apartment made me think there was more to life than being an actress on a David Kelly show.”  She signed the papers on the spot and immediately set about transforming the upstairs attic loft into a workout room.  Of her makeshift gym, she says, “The treadmill was really the only thing up there and was perfectly centered in the attic, between the wall of windows that showcased the industrial city that was the roof of the Sunset 5 and the east windows through which I could see all the way downtown.  The wall opposite the smokestacks acted as a bulletin board where I had taped pieces of paper.  Mostly the pieces were exaggerated to-do lists.  I say ‘exaggerated’ because they said things that were more like goals that I wanted to achieve than things that needed to be done.  The largest piece of paper with the boldest writing stated ‘I WILL BE 105 POUNDS BY CHRISTMAS’.”  She also fastened a list of cards to the wall just to the left of her to-do list.  Each card featured a number, beginning at 111 and  running backwards.  Portia was 111 pounds at the time and each time she lost a pound, she would remove a card.  Of her weight wall, she says, “It helped keep me focused and it helped me to remember that once I’d achieved the new lower weight and the card stating my previous weight was gone, that I could never weigh that much again; that the old weight was gone.  It was no longer who I was.  It was getting more difficult to lose weight as I got thinner, so I needed all the incentive and motivation I could muster.  Putting my weight on the wall was a clever thing to do as it always needed to be in the forefront of my mind, otherwise I might’ve forgotten and walked on the treadmill instead of run, sat instead of paced.  I once saw a loft where a famous writer lived, and all over the wall was his research for the novel he was writing.  He described the book to me as his life’s work, his magnum opus.  I felt like controlling my weight was my magnum opus, the most important product of my brain and was worthy of devoting a wall to its success.”  See what I mean?  Absolutely riveting – and harrowing – stuff!

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The Granville is a truly beautiful building and features a 24-hour doorman, valet parking, a lobby with a piano, an indoor pool and spa, and a large garden patio area complete with statuaries and fountains.  You can view some great interior photographs of the building here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Granville Towers is located at 1424 North Crescent Heights Boulevard, just south of Sunset Boulevard, in West Hollywood.