The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles from “My So-Called Life”

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Fellow stalker/My So-Called Life aficionado Andrew recently went on a mission to try to track down the church that was used in the Season 1 Christmas-themed episode of fave show My So-Called Life titled “So-Called Angels”.  He had just picked up the most-recently released boxed set of the series, which came out in 2007, and was floored to discover that actor Wilson Cruz, who played Ricky Vasquez on the show, had recorded a commentary for the “So-Called Angels” episode and had described the location of the church as being on 6th Street close to Downtown Los Angeles.  Even with that detailed information, though, this locale proved to be a tough one to track down.  Thankfully, Andrew hit a stroke of luck, though, when he noticed that the doors of the church in the episode featured very intricate carvings.  He figured those doors had to be unique and, sure enough, they were!  Just type the words “carved doors”, “church”, and “Los Angeles” into Google and the very first entry that appears is for the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, located on the corner of South Commonwealth Avenue and West 6th Street, about a mile from Downtown Los Angeles, right where Wilson Cruz had said it would be.  Yay!  So, once Andrew told me the good news, I immediately dragged my dad right on out to stalk the place – just in time for Christmas, too!

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The Gothic revival-style First Congregational Church of Los Angeles was constructed in 1932 by brothers James Edward Allison and David Clark Allison, the same architecture team that designed the Beverly Hills Post Office and UCLA’s Royce Hall.  Both the exterior . . .

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. . . and the interior of the property are absolutely gorgeous in person.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that I have never seen a more beautiful place of worship in my entire life!  The church is literally breathtaking – especially decked out in all of its Christmas glory! 

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The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles’ main sanctuary, which stretches 198 feet in length and reaches 76 feet in height, is home to the world’s largest pipe organ, features carved oak pews, and is dotted with countless stained glass windows which were designed by Judson Studios in Pasadena.

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The bronze doors that Andrew noticed in the “So-Called Angels” episode were designed in 1946 by artist Albert Gilles and, unbelievably, they measure three inches thick and weigh in at a whopping one thousand pounds apiece!  The doors were so heavy, in fact, that I could hardly open them when we went to leave!

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In the “So-Called Angels” episode of My So-Called Life, the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles was the spot where Angela Chase (aka Claire Danes), along with the rest of the Chase family, and her friends Brian Krakow (aka Devon Gummersall) and Ricky wind up on Christmas Eve night after a heartbreaking course of events during which Ricky gets beaten up by his father and ends up first living on the streets and then in an abandoned warehouse.  I had actually forgotten how very heartbreaking the episode was until I re-watched it last week.  So incredibly sad!

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The area where Patty Chase (aka Bess Armstrong) found Ricky lighting candles is located just to the left of the church’s main altar, although that area looks a bit different today.  There are no candles located in that particular alcove (which I was seriously bummed about as I had planned on lighting one), nor is there a visible stained glass window.  The red carpet has also since been removed.

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The pew where Patty and Ricky sat in the scene is located just to the left of the alcove. 

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The exterior of the church looks a bit different today than it did during the filming, as well.  The large potted plants which flanked the front of the church in the episode are no longer there, but I have a hunch that those trees were actually props brought in specifically for the filming and were never actually there in real life.

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The street lamp that was pictured at the very end of the episode is actually there in real life, though, which I thought was just about the coolest thing ever!  Smile

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My So-Called Life is not the only production to have filmed at First Congregational.  The church also stood in for New York’s St. Thomas Episcopal where Wilhelmina Slater (aka Vanessa Williams) almost married Bradford Meade (aka Alan Dale’s) in the Season 2 episode of Ugly Betty titled “A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding”.

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First Congregational was also where the funeral for Preston Blake (aka Harve Presnell) was held in the 2002 Adam Sandler comedy Mr. Deeds.

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It was also used as the church where Mary Jane Watson (aka Kristen Dunst) almost married John Jameson (aka Daniel Gillies) in Spiderman 2.

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And it stood in for New York’s Trinity Church where the climactic final scene of 2004’s National Treasure took place.

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Both the opening and one of the closing scenes from 2003’s Daredevil were also filmed at the church.

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The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles has also appeared in episodes of Californication, The Riches, The West Wing, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Shark, The Closer, Bones, The Practice, Cold Case, Joan of Arcadia, Six Feet Under, Jag, and The X-Files and in the movies Nancy Drew and Into the Wild.  The church even has a page on its website which chronicles the many productions that have been filmed on the premises over the years (although My So-Called Life is ostensibly missing from the list).  So love it!

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Andrew for finding this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, from the “So-Called Angels” episode of My So-Called Life, is located at 540 South Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles.  You can visit the church’s official website here and you can check out its extensive filming resume here.

Donna and David’s Wedding

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A few months ago Mike, from MovieShotsLA, called to tell me that he had located the church where Donna married David on the very last episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.    He mentioned something about the church being located in Sunland, a small town on the outskirts of Burbank, and for the first time ever I thought Mike, God of stalking, had actually gotten a filming location wrong.  You see, I could say with absolute certainty that Donna and David did not get married in a church anywhere near Sunland.  How could I be so sure about the location of their wedding?  Because I was there!    🙂

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Back in the Spring of 2000, just a few weeks after I had first moved to Los Angeles, I was given the once in a lifetime opportunity of being an extra on the very last episode of Beverly Hills, 90210,entitled “Ode to Joy”.  I had just registered with Central Casting, Los Angeles’ premiere extras casting agency, and was calling the hotline to see what jobs were available for the week when I heard words which I will never forget: “Be a part of television history – press one to be a guest at Donna and David’s wedding on the very final episode of 90210.”  Well, let me tell I just about died!  I believe I stood with the phone in my hand screaming for a good two minutes.   LOL  I swear if you had told me back in high school that one day I would be attending the wedding of Donna Martin and David Silver I probably would have had a heart attack right then and there.  LOL  You can see me in the above screen captures dancing at Donna and David’s reception.  🙂

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Anyway, it turns out that Mike was not actually wrong about Donna and David’s wedding location.  I should have known – he’s never wrong!  🙂  For whatever reason, producers chose to film the set-up shots of Donna and David’s wedding church at the First Baptist Church of Sunland.  But all of the actual filming took place about twenty miles away from there in a small chapel right off the 101 Freeway in Hollywood.   So, last weekend I decided I just had to revisit the site of one of my very first acting jobs and I dragged my boyfriend out to stalk the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. 

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Donna and David’s wedding was not actually held in the First Presbyterian Church’s main building, but in a smaller venue named Wylie Chapel, which is also located on the church premises.   The wedding ceremony took one full day to shoot, as did the reception scene, which took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  And, if I remember correctly, we shot the reception scene first.  Both days lasted well over 14 hours – and, let me tell you, I loved every single minute of them!!!  I have to say that being on the final episode of 90210  was an absolutely magical experience for me.  Especially since it was one of my very first encounters with Hollywood.  I swear I spent the entire two days with stars in my eyes.  🙂  The cast and crew were incredibly  nice – especially Luke Perry and Ian Ziering.  I met Ian during one of our lunch breaks and I told him that in high school I had slept on 90210  sheets.  Well, he was absolutely shocked that there was such a thing as 90210  sheets and next thing I know he’s screaming “Luke! Luke!  You’ve gotta come hear this!”  Well, I just about keeled over as Luke Perry, love of my high school life, walked right up to us and Ian told him about my sheets.  Luke started laughing and said “Well, then I guess you can say we’ve slept together.”  LOL  Luke was even cuter in person that I ever imagined he could be and when I told him he was my first Hollywood crush he shook my hand and introduced himself.  Sigh!  I’m telling you, inside I was absolutely dying!  I’m amazed I was actually able to get any words out of my mouth while talking to him.  LOL  And if you’re wondering – Jennie Garth was the least friendliest of the bunch, which really surprised me.  

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The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood is actually used quite often for filming.  Besides 90210, it was also featured in the 2007 movie Welcome to Paradise. And while we were stalking the place, filming crews for the television series Chuck  pulled up.  🙂 

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The church was founded in 1903 and once boasted the largest Presbyterian congregation in the world!  The main building, which is still used for church services today, was erected in 1923.  The church property takes up an entire city block and has a huge courtyard and garden area which is where the extras hung out while 90210  was filming.   I can still remember Brian Austin Green playing chess in the courtyard with the extras during his breaks.  There is also a theatre on the church gounds.  🙂  First Hollywood Presbyterian also has amazing views of the Hollywood sign, but ironically enough, the church was there long before there ever was a Hollywood sign to view.  🙂 

 Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Donna and David’s wedding was held in the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood’s Wylie Chapel, which is  located at 1763 North Gower Street in Hollywood.  Their wedding reception was filmed in the Beverly Hilton Hotel’s former Coconut Club, which is now the Beverly Hills Ballroom

Tom and Gisele’s Big Day

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Last Friday night while watching my new favorite show Talk Soup (why on earth I was not a regular watcher before is beyond me!!!!), a news flash splashed across my screen announcing that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had wed supermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen the previous evening.  According to reports the hush-hush ceremony took place on the evening of February 26th at Saint Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica and only a few guests were in attendance.  Even though I am in no way, shape, or form a fan of Tom or Gisele, since I just happened to be in the area this weekend, I thought I’d stalk the church where their nuptials took place.  🙂

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I’ve actually been to St. Monica’s Church quite a few times over the years, as it used to be my boyfriend’s local parish.  It is an absolutely beautiful place, inside and out, and I am not at all surprised that Gisele and Tom chose it for their top-secret ceremony.  The church was established way back in 1886, but the church that now stands at the corner of 7th Street and California Avenue wasn’t built until 1926.  There is also an elementary school and a high school on the site.  Since it’s inception over 123 years ago, St. Monica’s has grown to become one of the largest Catholic congregations in the Los Angeles area.

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Saint Monica’s Catholic Church is no stranger to celebrity.  It was featured in both the 1956 film Full of Life and the 1944 Academy Award winning musical Going My Way.  Barry Fitzgerald, the lead character in Going My Way, was actually based on former  St. Monica Monsigor Nicholas Conneally.  Besides Tom and Gisele, other celebrities who are fans of the church include Martin Sheen, Brooke Shields, architect Frank Gehry, and Lawrence Welk.  Lucy Lawless aka Xena, Warrior Princess, was married at St. Monica’s in 1998 and the memorial services for both Chris Farley and Lucille Ball were held there in 1997 and 1989 respectively.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

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Stalk It: Saint Monica’s Catholic Church is located at 725 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica.

The 90210 Pilot Church

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A few days ago I sent Mike, from MovieShotsLA, a screen capture of the church featured in the pilot episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. I had a hunch he might know where it was located – and, sure enough, he did! He immediately called me and said “That’s the Spiderman church!” as it was also used in the filming of Spiderman 3. 🙂 God, he’s good! St. Brendan Church – or as Mike and I like to call it, the “pilot church” – was built in 1927 by Los Angeles area architect Emmett Martin.

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In the pilot episode of 90210, Brenda, not wanting her new twenty-something boyfriend Jason to know that she is only sixteen years old and still living at home with her parents, lies and says that she is attending UCLA and living in a sorority house named Sigma Rho Tau. After their first date, Jason drops Brenda off in front of her fake sorority house, which just happens to be located next door to a church. That church is St. Brendan and that sorority house is not really a sorority house at all, but the church rectory. As you can see in the above screen captures, all the producers had to do was add a sign with the sorority’s name to the outside of the rectory and cover up the stained glass window with a bulletin board – and voila, they had themselves a sorority house!

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While researching St. Brendan Church earlier today I remembered something very ironic from my past. I can’t even believe I’m admitting to this – in a public forum no less – but you only live once, so here goes! When I was in high school I receieved the Sacrament of Confirmation. At the time I was fifteen years old and deep in the throws of my 90210 obsession. So much so in fact, that I chose Brendan, after St. Brendan, as my confirmation name. In the Catholic faith, when ones receives the Sacrament of Confirmation, they are to adopt the name of a patron saint who is said to then guide and protect them. Confirmation candidates are supposed to study the history of the saints and find one that represents the type of Christian they want to become. But for me the choice was easy. Once I found out there was a saint named Brendan, that was it for me! Of course, the female version of the name Brendan is Brenda. 🙂 Yes, I was THAT obsessed. LOL Being that my mother wanted to kill me when she found out the saint name I chose, this little episode of my life has been a long running joke in my family. LOL So earlier today when I found out that St. Brendan was the name of the 90210 church, I just about fell out of my chair.

St. Brendan actually has quite a rich filming history. Besides the pilot episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, the church was also featured in Armageddon as the location of Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler’s wedding.

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You can watch the wedding scene below:

It was the location of Stephanie Seymor and Axl Rose’s wedding in the Guns N’ Roses music video for the song “November Rain”.

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On a side note – I must say that I absolutely LOVE Stephanie Seymour’s wedding dress from the video (pictured above). I am gonna have to get me one of those for my wedding! LOL As if!! 🙂 You can watch the “November Rain” music video below:

In the Season Four episode of CSI: Miami entitled “From the Grave”, my fave Horatio Caine confessed his sins at Saint Brendan.

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The church was also featured in the 1953 version of War of the Worlds (as the location where the residents of L.A. gather during the final scenes of the movie), Spiderman 3 (the interior is where Topher Grace prayed for God to kill Peter Parker), Fight Club (Edward Norton’s cancer support group was held there), and an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. You can see interior pics of the church on the Saint Brendan website.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Beverly Hills, 90210 pilot church, aka St. Brendan, is located at 310 South Van Ness Avenue in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.