Tal Weaver’s House from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

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Oh man, have I been wanting to say this for years – Tal Weaver’s house has been found!  It is thanks to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, that I finally get to!  For those who have no earthly idea what I am talking about, Tal Weaver – and his house – appeared in the Season 2 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Leading from the Heart.”  In the episode, Tal, played by a very young and very long-haired Gabriel Macht (aka Suits’ Harvey Specter – my latest celebrity crush), throws a raving party at his sprawling Beverly Hills manse that is attended by Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty), her brother Brandon (Jason Priestley), and their wheelchair-bound cousin, Bobby (Gordon Currie).  Though the home’s onscreen role was brief, it was extremely memorable and I have spent the past few years trying to track it down.  I recently brought Mike in on the hunt and he managed to get in touch with Phil Buckman, aka the episode’s “Surfer Dude” – “Did you hear what that dude in the wheelchair said to me?” – who, thankfully, remembered where filming had taken place.  Come to find out not only is Tal’s house one of L.A.’s most famous, but it’s a spot I had actually stalked and blogged about previously.  As Phil informed Mike, Tal’s mansion is none other than the Cecil B. DeMille Estate located at 2000 De Mille Drive in Los Feliz.  How I never realized it is beyond me!  So, thank you, Mike and Phil!  (When Mike gave me the good news, I told him, “You’re my hero!” to which he responded, “Some heroes don’t wear capes!”  Winking smile)

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Though I covered the DeMille Estate’s history in my previous post on the pad, I figure a brief recap is in order here.  Built in 1914, the Beaux Arts-style dwelling was originally designed by architect B. Cooper Corbette for Homer Laughlin, co-developer of Los Feliz’ exclusive Laughlin Park community.  Homer did not live at the site long, selling the massive manse to DeMille in 1916 for $27,893.  Five years later, the famed director acquired the home next door – formerly occupied by Charlie Chaplin – and connected the two with an atrium-like breezeway, meshing them into one ridiculously large compound with the Chaplin portion serving as a screening room/offices/guest quarters.  Cecil remained on the premises until his passing in 1959.  His estate then held onto the property for the next three decades, reportedly changing nothing from the time DeMille called it home, even going so far as to put fresh flowers on his desk daily.  The compound was eventually sold to attorney Terry O’Toole and his wife, Evelyn, in 1988.  According to a few articles I dug up via newspapers.com (which I cannot link to as a subscription is needed to view them), the couple briefly updated the estate before selling it to a Japanese company in 1990.

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In 1996, the hilltop abode was purchased by art consultant/curator Lisa Lyons and her husband, art consultant/writer Richard Grossman.  Prolific rehabbers, the couple enlisted architect Brian Tichenor of Tichenor & Thorp to separate and restore the two properties, first the Chaplin home (which they subsequently sold to producer/writer John Wells) and then the DeMille Estate.  The renovation of the latter took a whopping six years.  You can read a great Town & Country article about the extensive restoration here.

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Grossman and Lyons put the 6-bedroom, 10-bath, 7,472-square-foot pad (which also boasts a pool, a pool house/gym, a detached studio, a rose garden, arched windows, iron balconies, molded ceilings, Doric columns, a mahogany-paneled dining room, a formal library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a whopping 2.1 acres of land) up for sale in 2008 for $26.25 million.  There were no takers, though, so the listing was removed the following year.  It then hit the market again in early 2017 (you can check out the MLS photos here), this time selling after just a couple of months for $24.5 million to none other than Angelina Jolie.  Considering Laughlin Park’s long tenure as a celebrity enclave, the purchase was not surprising.  Besides DeMille, Chaplin and Jolie, just a few of the stars to call the community home over the years include Natalie Portman, Jenna Elfman, Portia de Rossi, W.C. Fields, Carole Lombard, David Fincher, Lauren Graham, and Ellen Pompeo.  Though the neighborhood is gated and not accessible to the public, the Grim Cheaper’s best friend’s parents are longtime residents and we’ve been fortunate to visit many times.  During one of those visits, I did some stalking of the DeMille Estate, which is where the photos in this post come from.  I am so thankful I snapped them, too, because I’m fairly certain getting any pics of the place now would be virtually impossible considering its current resident.

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In “Leading from the Heart,” which originally aired in October 1991, Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) takes a liking to Cousin Bobby, who is visiting from Minnesota, and invites him to a party at her friend Tal Weaver’s house.  As Kelly tells him, “Tal throws the best parties!”

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When Kelly, Bobby and the rest of their group arrive, though, trouble ensues as the only way to gain entrance to the soiree is via a massive set of exterior steps that leads to Tal’s front door.

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So it’s Brandon, Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) to the rescue!  With Brenda and Kelly clearing a path, the three carry Bobby up the steps.

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As you can see in the screen captures below (as well as the many above) as compared to the photographs above, when 90210 was filmed on the premises 27 years ago, the DeMille Estate was enclosed with fencing mainly consisting of wrought iron.  Though the posts remain, the ironwork has since been replaced with a stucco wall and wooden gates, making the front steps much less visible – which is perhaps why I didn’t recognize the place as Tal Weaver’s pad.  (Yeah, I’ll just keep telling myself that. Winking smile)

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Things don’t improve much for poor Cousin Bobby upon venturing inside Tal’s residence, for which the real interior of the DeMille Estate was utilized.

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Not only does someone fall onto Bobby’s lap and accidentally spill a drink on him, but Tal asks Kelly to dance, which sends Bobby into an ugly downward spiral.  It is not long before he begs Steve, Dylan and Brandon to carry him back down the steps so that he can call a cab and leave.  While re-watching the episode, I came to the conclusion that Cousin Bobby is actually kind of a jerk.  Pretty much everyone he encounters at the party is incredibly friendly, nice, and accommodating (including Tal and the girl who spilled a drink on him), but he is curt and rude (towards Brandon and Steve, too!) and seemingly does his best not to fit in, even going so far as to read Kelly the riot act when (for the first time in the history of the show!) she has not actually done anything wrong.  (I cannot believe I’m defending Kelly here!)  By the time the credits roll, though, all is good again in Walsh-land, Kelly and Bobby have mended fences, and the gang heads out for a drive – with Brenda behind the wheel (gasp!) – before Bobby’s flight back to the Midwest.

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I would be remiss if I did not post a photo of Tal in all of his long-haired glory.  The role was actually Gabriel Macht’s first television job and, of the experience, he told BuzzFeed, “I remember Jason Priestley being on his phone a lot and dropping all these F-bombs.  I thought that was funny because he was like America’s apple pie golden boy.  I also remember having no idea what to talk about with Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth while we were hanging around the set.”  So he did what any good theatre student would do – he created a backstory.  In the episode, it is said that Tal and Kelly once attended a Sting concert together, so Macht used that as a jumping-off point.  As he explained to BuzzFeed, “I was coming from theater school, so I was coming up with backstory about our time at the Sting concert and she looked at me like I was crazy.  It was my first TV gig and I wanted him to be this sensitive guy — but I don’t think anyone named Tal Weaver, which is the greatest name in all of television, will ever come across like the good guy.”  (No surprise that Jennie doesn’t sound all that friendly in his story.  Winking smile)

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As I mentioned in my original post on the DeMille Estate, the director is reported to have shot the Garden of Gethsemane scenes from his 1927 film The King of Kings on the grounds of the mansion, but, unfortunately, due to the passage of over ninety years time and the fact that the property and its acreage have been extensively renovated, I was unable to verify that.

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

A MONUMENTAL thank you to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location and to Phil Buckman for helping him to do so!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Cecil B. DeMille Estate, aka Tal Weaver’s house from the “Leading from the Heart” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, is located at 2000 De Mille Drive in Los Feliz.  The residence is located in the gated community of Laughlin Park and is, unfortunately, not accessible to the public.

The “‘Til There Was You” Apartment Building

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Another day, another elusive location found thanks to Mike – God of Stalking – over at MovieShotsLA.  🙂  I have been challenged several times over the past few months to find the beautiful courtyard apartment building featured in the 1997 movie ‘Til There Was You. Unfortunately I had never seen the movie before and my local Blockbuster did not carry the title.  And according to Amazon.com, the DVD had been discontinued by the manufacturer.  So I thought I was really out of luck on this one, as without seeing the movie firsthand I had no idea what I was looking for.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, I just happened to mention my quandry to Mike and he set out to find the location.  Within about fifteen minutes Mike called me back with an address.  Amazing!  He had found the location by doing a simple Google search.  And all this time I had been trying to find the DVD.  But who needs a video or screen captures when you’ve got mad stalking skills like Mike?  LOL  🙂

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Once Mike had found the location – and once I found out that BOTH my girl Jen Aniston and SJP starred in the movie – I decided to make one last ditch effort to purchase the DVD.  And sure enough, I found it on Ebay!  The only problem?  For sale was a Region 2 DVD, which meant it would only work on European DVD players.  LOL  Thank God my boyfriend is good with computers, because somehow he was able to rig my laptop so that I could watch the movie.   So, finally – after about a six month long wait – I got to see ‘Til There Was You.  I must say that the movie was pretty cute.  I wouldn’t recommend going through what I did to watch it, but if you happen to see it in a video store, it’s worth a rental.  🙂

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The entire premise of ‘Til There Was You centers around the proposed demolition of a Spanish style courtyard apartment building named La Fortuna.  In the movie the building has a very romantic quality to it and everyone who sets foot inside of its picturesque courtyard immediately falls in love with it.  In real life that apartment building is named El Cabrillo and it is no stranger to the film industry.  El Cabrillo was constructed in 1928 by none other than Cecil B. DeMille who needed a place to house his out of town actors.  The building was designed by noted architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell, who built numerous Los Angeles courtyard style apartment buildings in the 1920’s, many of which are now on the National Register of Historic Places. Notables who have lived in the building at one time or another include transvetite actress Divine, actress Ann Harding, director Lowell Sherman, makeup artist Perc Westmore, and playwright John Willard.

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Besides being featured in ‘Til There Was You, legend has it that El Cabrillo was also used in a Rudolph Valentino movie many moons ago.  It is also currently being used as the home of the main character on the television series Chuck. Interestingly enough, Chuck’s pilot episode was actually filmed on location at El Cabrillo.  The courtyard area and three different apartments were used for that episode.  But once the show got picked up by NBC a replica of the apartments and the courtyard were rebuilt on a soundstage at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank.

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Sadly, El Cabrillo’s gates were closed while I was stalking it, so I did not get to see the interior courtyard area.  From the outside El Cabrillo is amazingly non-descript and completely covered in foliage.  You could easily drive right past the building without realizing the beauty that lies just on the other side of its gates.

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But for those of you who would like an up-close-and-personal look at the building, I have some good news!   A few of the units are currently available as vacation rentals. And it appears from the rental website photographs that El Cabrillo’s interiors are absolutely beautiful!!  They actually remind me a lot of the interior of Amanda Peet’s apartment in fave movie A Lot Like Love.  In fact the interiors are so similar, that I can’t help but wonder if the A Lot Like Love set was modeled after the interior of a real El Cabrillo apartment (both are pictured above).

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It:  The ‘Til There Was You apartment building, aka El Cabrillo, is located at 1832-1850 North Grace Avenue in Hollywood.