Celebrity Homes – Page 2

October 10, 2018October 16, 2019

Gia Scala’s Former House

I am embarrassingly ignorant when it comes to Old Hollywood. So much so that when a fellow stalker named Alan tipped me off to a few celebrity death sites including that of Gia Scala via a comment on my Challenge Lindsay page in early 2017, I thought he was referring to the ‘70s supermodel who was the subject of an eponymous biographical film starring Angelina Jolie. As soon as I inputted the name into Google, I realized my mistake – he was actually alluding to a raven-haired actress best known for her role in 1961’s The Guns of Navarone. Upon researching further, I became quite a bit transfixed by the starlet’s mysterious death, as well as the pedigreed Hollywood Hills home where it occurred. So I added the address to my To-Stalk List and headed on out there earlier this year.

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Born Giovanna Scoglio in Liverpool, London on March 3rd, 1934, Scala migrated to Italy with her parents at three months old. At 15, she headed to the U.S., Long Island specifically, where she lived with an aunt and attended high school. The acting bug hit her early and upon graduation, Gia moved to New York City, began studying under Stella Adler and worked as a reservations clerk at Scandinavian Airlines to make ends meet. She landed a studio contract in 1954, a role in All that Heaven Allows with Rock Hudson the following year, and fame came shortly thereafter.

Image result for gia scala

Sadly, her years in show business were marred by scandalous headlines and severe despondency, both largely stemming from the passing of her mother in 1958, a death which she was said to have never gotten over. Gia attempted to jump off the Waterloo Bridge just a few months later while filming The Angry Hills in London.

Scala found temporary happiness in 1959 when she married actor/stock broker Don Burnett. The two settled into a picturesque 1940 Cape Cod home boasting two bedrooms, three baths, maid’s quarters, and a den at 7944 Woodrow Wilson Drive in Hollywood Hills West.

The couple eventually separated in 1969, divorced the following year and Gia was given the residence in the settlement. Following the dissolution of her marriage, she found herself disconsolate and the subject of tabloid fodder once again. In May 1971, the actress was arrested for drunk driving and, during the subsequent hearing, she passed out in the courtroom. The judge sent her to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, which caused her to miss a different hearing for a different charge – this one for assaulting a parking lot attendant the month prior. Photos from that arrest are a far cry from images of the actress taken early in her career. In July, Gia suffered injuries, including the loss of a portion of her index finger, after her car overturned on an embankment. It took rescue workers 45 minutes to retrieve her from the wreckage. In November, she was in court yet again for harassing her ex-husband who had since remarried. Gia, Burnett claimed, had not only set his car on fire, but had kicked a hole in his front door. Scala was not in a good place.

Things came to a tragic end on April 30th, 1972. As reported in the newspapers of the day, early that morning, Gia got into an argument with Larry Langston and three other “hippie-type” young men who were staying in her home. The actress had apparently hired the men to do odd jobs around the property. When Gia informed them the arrangement was no longer working out, an altercation occurred. Langston and his friends, who claimed Gia had been drinking heavily and taking barbiturates, decided to leave. They supposedly put her to bed at 6 a.m. Langston then returned that evening at 8 p.m. to gather his belongings and say goodbye to Scala. When he headed upstairs to her bedroom, he found her nude lifeless body sprawled on the bed surrounded by both liquor and prescription bottles – which all sounds rather suspicious to me. Gia fires four men working in her home, an argument ensues and one of those men then finds her dead a short time later? That’s a lot of red flags, especially considering some reports claim her body was bruised and her pillow stained with blood. Coroner Thomas Noguchi (who also performed Marilyn Monroe’s autopsy) ruled the death accidental, though, caused by acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication and advanced arteriosclerosis. Gia’s good friend, male model William Ramage, thinks the latter explains her erratic behavior in the years leading up to her death. As he said in a 2009 interview, “Her brain simply was not getting enough oxygen.” It was a grim ending for someone with such potential.

Shortly after the actress’ passing, her home was purchased by Sally Kellerman, aka Major Margaret ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan from M*A*S*H, who proceeded to live there for the next four decades, initially with first husband, Rick Edelstein, and then with second husband, Jonathan D. Krane, and their two children, Jack and Hannah. At some point, she also purchased the cottage next door at 7932 Woodrow Wilson. Jack, who grew up on the premises, became convinced the two pads were haunted. As he told People magazine in 2016, “I always asked if someone died in one of these houses, and my parents said no. I have always felt something strange. That house is haunted, for sure. I’ve had a few ghost stories over there. It’s creepy.” He didn’t elaborate on who exactly the spectral visitors were, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one was Gia Scala.

Several years after moving in, Kellerman invited her friend Frank Gehry over for a meal. The renowned architect took one look at the property and immediately suggested a renovation. As Sally told the Chicago Tribune, “Frank Gehry came to dinner and he was like, ‘This is how you live, big movie star? We can gut the upstairs, and change everything in every room, and add a three-story contemporary wing with a rooftop garden.’ So I have a combination Frank Gehry-Cape Cod house.” (The three-story contemporary addition is pictured below.)

Gehry completed his work on the pad in 1983. During the renovation, he left many of the dwelling’s original, traditional elements intact, partially covering them with modern touches. The result of his efforts is a home that looks much like Gehry’s own residence in Santa Monica.

Sadly, Kellerman and Krane lost the property to foreclosure in 2014. You can check out some photos of what it looked like around that time here. It was then snatched up by flippers who gave the place yet another renovation before putting it on the market once again in 2015. (Post-reno pics can be viewed here.) The home, which today boasts 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 4,412 square feet, a pool, a spa, beamed ceilings, a massive walk-in closet, gardens, and a 0.22-acre lot, was purchased later that year by One Direction’s Niall Horan for $4 million. But its Hollywood pedigree doesn’t end there! Per the 2015 real estate listing, at some point during his pre-acting days Harrison Ford did carpentry work on the residence. Talk about some major Tinseltown connections!

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

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Alan for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Gia Scala’s former home is located at 7944 Woodrow Wilson Drive in Hollywood Hills West.

October 8, 2018October 16, 2019

Neve Campbell’s Former Haunted House

I love a good haunted house, especially at this time of year. One owned by a celebrity is even better. One owned by the star of my favorite horror film of all time? Well, I can’t think of anything more thrilling – or more perfectly suited to my annual October postings. So when I came across a mention of a ghost-inhabited pad formerly belonging to the Scream Queen herself, Miss Neve Campbell, in the book Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites (written by my buddy E.J. Fleming, from the Movieland Directory website), I just about came unglued and promptly added the place to my To-Stalk List. Identifying the residence in person wound up taking quite a bit of legwork once I finally got out there, though, thanks to a mysterious and misleading address placard. But more on that in a bit.

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Per Berg Properties, Neve purchased the 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 2,347-square-foot home at 8875 Wonderland Avenue in 1996 for $745,000. Upon moving into the dwelling with then husband Jeff Colt that summer, shortly after wrapping production on the first Scream installment, Campbell, a classically-trained ballerina, installed a dance studio on the premises. Other amenities included a pool, a spa, a 0.17-acre lot, and plenty of privacy thanks to a large amount of foliage surrounding the perimeter. Of the purchase, the excited actress told Detour magazine, “I just moved into my first house with Jeff Colt and we’re very, very excited. It’s in the Hollywood Hills . . . all of a sudden I’m obsessed about houses and furniture. I walk around the Party of Five set thinking, ‘That’s a nice table.’”

Things weren’t all sunshine and roses, though. As author Elina Furman explains in her 2000 book Neve Campbell: An Unauthorized Biography, the star awakened one night “after sensing what she believed to be the presence of a young woman’s ghost. Concluding that her new house was haunted, Neve dubbed her resident specter Madame X. The story got even more interesting when she discovered that a twenty-two-year-old maid had been brutally murdered in the house in 1991. The domestic was working for a mystery writer when a delivery man entered the home and committed the crime. Years later, the furnace in Campbell’s house would turn off and on by itself and the lights would dim of their own accord. Unwilling to be frightened out of her new home, Neve made friends with the spirit, much as her character in The Canterville Ghost had befriended Simon de Canterville. She now considers the specter one of the family. ‘She’s cool. I’m cool. We don’t bug each other, so it’s all right,’ she confirmed to Detour in March 1998.”

The actress also talked about the haunting during her 2011 press tour for Scream 4 (though she mentions living in the home with friends and not her ex-husband). As she told Daily Mail, “I know that ghosts exist because I’ve seen one. A few years ago I moved into a haunted house in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, with some friends. It turned out that it was inhabited by the ghost of a woman who had been murdered there in 1991. Doors would repeatedly slam, windows would open and ashtrays would fly off dressers. Then there were times when the ghost would actually walk into the room. After a while it felt normal. I’d pass her in the hallway and casually wish her good morning.”

Though I have no doubt as to Neve’s claims about the residence being haunted, I do question if a murder actually happened on the premises. I cannot find a reference to such a killing anywhere – though searching for a homicide that occurred on Wonderland Avenue, or in the Laurel Canyon area in general, is admittedly difficult considering that almost every result kicked back has to do with the infamous Wonderland murders, which took place just down the street in 1981. My hunch, though, is that the story is pure conjecture, a tale told to Campbell by a mischievous neighbor or perhaps a real estate agent with a penchant for the macabre.

Though I can’t say for certain whether or not a murder occurred there, one definite odd element concerning the property is its address placard, which reads “8909.” When I first showed up to the corner of Wonderland Avenue and Holly Place, where Neve’s former pad was supposed to be located per both Google and my GPS, I was thoroughly confused to see the 8909 number. Figuring both map programs were off by a few hundred feet or so, I proceeded to walk up and down the block looking for 8875 Wonderland. I came up empty. I was further surprised upon returning to 8909 to discover that its address did not coincide numerically with its neighbors. I surmised that the number had to have been changed at some point, snapped some photos of the place, and headed home to investigate the matter further.

Searching Google and newspapers.com for “8909 Wonderland Avenue” and “8909 Holly Place” yielded pretty much nada. So I headed over to the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety website to look through old records. An inquiry into that database for “8909 Holly” also yielded nothing. But “8875 Wonderland” kicked back a treasure trove of info, all of which assured me that the house I took photos of was not only Neve’s former residence, but that it bears the address 8875. As you can see in the permit below, filed in 1990, 8875 is noted as being on the corner of Holly and Wonderland, right where my GPS said it would be.

Another permit I dug up from that same year featured a diagram of 8875 that perfectly matches the layout and placement visible in aerial views of the structure with the 8909 placard.

And a parcel map available on the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor website also shows 8875 Wonderland in the exact spot where the 8909 placard is currently hung. Why a different address number is displayed at the property is a complete mystery, but what I do know is that Neve Campbell’s former haunted house is most definitely located on the northeast corner of Holly Place and Wonderland Avenue.

The actress sold the pad in February 2000 for $850,000 and it has not changed hands since. I guess the current owner doesn’t mind having a phantom roommate, either.

Big THANK YOU to E.J., of the Movieland Directory website, for finding this location!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Neve Campbell’s former haunted house is located at 8875 Wonderland Avenue in Hollywood Hills West.

November 27, 2017November 26, 2017

Richard Simmons’ House

I, along with the rest of the world, became absolutely transfixed by the first season of Serial, the 2014 podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig which detailed the murder of Baltimore teenager Hae Min Lee and the subsequent conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed for the killing. Not only did the Grim Cheaper and I listen to the entire thing three times through, but we also voraciously devoured Truth and Justice (née Serial Dynasty) and Undisclosed, two of Serial’s unaffiliated offshoots that further investigated the crime. Since then, I have constantly been on the lookout for other engrossing podcasts, but finding ones that fit the bill has proved difficult. Some, like In the Dark and Accused, definitely hit the mark. Others like Someone Knows Something and My Favorite Murder were horribly disappointing (though to be fair I only listened the first season of the former). Then in February of this year, Missing Richard Simmons dropped and I felt as if my prayers had been answered! The GC and I couldn’t get enough! Created by director/producer Dan Taberski, a close friend of the eccentric fitness guru, the series is extremely well-executed, intelligently written, and absolutely gripping. Prior to the podcast, I knew very little about Simmons and never would have thought he’d be someone I’d be interested in listening to 3.5 hours worth of dialog on, but thanks to Taberski’s engaging narrative, I was hooked right from the start. At the forefront of the story is Richard’s palatial Hollywood Hills West mansion. So I, of course, just had to stalk the place.

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For those who haven’t listened to Finding Richard Simmons (and if not, you really should!) and don’t know much about the mystery shrouding the icon’s life as of late, I’ll break it down for you. On February 15th, 2014, Richard did not show up for the exercise class he had been teaching thrice weekly at Slimmons, his Beverly Hills studio, since 1974. No explanation was given – nor was one given when he failed to show up the following week. At the same time, Simmons also cut off ties to his legions of regulars and, from what it seems, all of his close friends, including Taberski. His calls, emails, and texts just ceased. He also stopped talking to the media, stopped giving interviews, and stopped doing promotions. Richard Simmons hasn’t been seen in public since (unless you count his blanket-covered homecoming after a four-day visit to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in April 2017). Reportedly holing up in his Colonial-style mansion, rarely (if ever) venturing past the fence line, the star pulled a gone guy – with his longtime housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, acting as a gatekeeper. Friends, colleagues, and fans were understandably concerned and attempted to get in touch. Richard wasn’t talking, though. According to the podcast, outside of his brother, manager, publicist, a friend in Minnesota, and Teresa, Simmons went radio silent on the world.

Why the silence? Why the hiding? Why the mystery? That is what Taberski sought to find out. And he left no stone unturned in his quest for the truth – contacting countless friends and associates of Richard’s, traveling to New Orleans to interview his brother, and showing up at Simmons’ house (where he used to be a frequent guest) a couple of times unannounced. All of it is recorded, documented, and broadcast to tantalizing effect in the podcast. On his trek to the massive dwelling during the taping of episode 1, titled “Where’s Richard?”, Dan is shocked to discover that a 6-foot wall has been erected around the residence since the last time he visited. As you can see in the Google Street View images below from June 2011 and May 2014, while there has always been a fence surrounding Simmons’ home, since his self-imposed exile, a secondary barricade, one built of concrete, has replaced the white picket enclosure that once ran along the property line. The result is a house that is much less accessible and welcoming, which I’m sure is the point.

A funny side-note – Teresa, Richard’s housekeeper who I mentioned earlier and who figures prominently in Missing Richard Simmons, is visible moving Simmons’ trash cans (just as she did during Taberski’s second visit to the house in episode 2, “Stakeout”) in Google’s Street View imagery from November 2015.

According to the Mary Cummins website, Richard purchased the two-story residence in 1982 for $670,000.

Per Zillow, the 1937 pad, which features 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, 4,119 square feet of living space, a 0.56-acre lot, and a 2-car detached garage, is worth a whopping $5.2 million today.

The property also boasts a massive black-bottom swimming pool, as you can see in the aerial view below.

Though definitely ornate, the house is not nearly as over-the-top and ostentatious as one would expect considering its owner.

Simmons has been known to give the place its own grandiose spin, though. As Taberski says in episode 1, “He loves to tell people his house was featured as a plantation house stand-in in the opening credits of Gone with the Wind, but I’m gonna call bullshit on that one.” Dan was probably smart to do so. I did the legwork and watched the GWTW credits and while Richard’s residence does bear a striking resemblance to a property featured in it (pictured below), I do not believe the two are one and the same.

I was most excited to check out the home’s mailbox, which, as noted in the podcast, boasts a touch of the star’s ostentatious flair and is, thankfully, still visible from the street despite the new fencing. As you can see below, the letter drop is a miniature replica of Simmons’ antebellum mansion.

So what is the outcome of Taberski’s quest, you ask? Does he get to the bottom of the icon’s disappearance? How does Missing Richard Simmons end? Sadly, Dan does not really uncover any definitive answers. All he hears over and over again is that Richard is tired and wants to retreat from public life – which he is perfectly entitled to do. But to do so by cutting off ties to virtually everyone he has ever been close with and essentially becoming a recluse overnight? Well, that smacks of something problematic (in my opinion, at least). What that something is, I have no idea. But I don’t begrudge Dan – or the rest of Richard’s friends – for wanting to find out. And though the podcast was met with quite a bit of controversy, I believe Taberski’s intentions were pure. He just wanted to make sure that Simmons, someone he cares a lot about, is OK. In doing so, he created a podcast that showcases the amazing person that Richard is. Prior to listening, I had no idea of Simmons’ incredible generosity and kindness, nor his astute business sense. All I really knew of the guru centered around his eccentricity, his love of costumes, and the fortune he made sweatin’ to the oldies. Dan taught me – and legions of other listeners – that Richard is so much more. I hope that whatever he is currently doing and for whatever reasons he is doing it, that he is happy.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Richard Simmons’ house is located at 1350 Belfast Drive in Hollywood Hills West.

June 30, 2017June 29, 2017

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour

My knowledge of Elvis Presley is basically limited to the fact that he was a singer (duh!), his 1957 drafting into the army served as the inspiration for the play and movie Bye Bye Birdie, he called a spectacular Tennessee mansion named Graceland home (the manse is the setting of one of my favorite plays ever, Ellen Byron’s aptly titled Graceland), and he learned his famous hip-thrusting moves from a young Forrest Gump. (Ha, just kidding about that last one.) So yeah, virtually everything I know about The King was gleaned from some sort of movie or stage production. (Truth be told, most of my knowledge comes from movie, stage, or TV productions.) I’m always interested in learning more about anyone or anything Hollywood-related, though. So when my good friend Steffi (who surprised me with a visit recently for my 40th birthday) mentioned that she wanted to take a tour of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway in Palm Springs, I jumped at the chance.

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I have stalked the exterior of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway a couple of times over the years and covered its history pretty extensively in this July 2012 post. So as not to repeat myself, today’s write-up will focus mainly on the tour and only include a brief recap of the property’s background.

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway was originally built in 1960 for real estate developer Robert Alexander. Designed by the mid-century-modern master William Krisel, the layout of the sprawling pad consists of four perfect circles situated on three levels.

Elvis leased the residence, which Look magazine dubbed “The House of Tomorrow,” for a year beginning in September 1966 and used it as a vacation home. He quickly fell in love with Palm Springs during his visits to the dwelling – so much so that he decided to marry his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, in the property’s backyard next to the swimming pool. As the story goes, gossip columnist Rona Barrett, who lived nearby, caught wind of the impending nuptials and announced it on her nightly TV show. A media firestorm quickly erupted and journalists descended upon the home. The frenzy caused Elvis and Priscilla to rethink their decision and in the early morning hours of May 1st, 1967, the two headed to Las Vegas, courtesy of Frank Sinatra’s private plane, and tied the knot in a suite at the Aladdin hotel. They returned to their Palm Springs pad later that afternoon, where Elvis carried Priscilla up the front steps, across the threshold and upstairs into the bedroom, forever cementing the home’s status as the “Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway.” Two days later, the newly betrothed couple headed back to Graceland, though they visited the Hideaway several times throughout the year it was leased. Elvis eventually purchased a house of his own nearby, which he owned until he passed away in 1977. (You can read about that residence, located at 845 West Chino Canyon Road in Little Tuscany, here.)

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour begins at the threshold Elvis carried Priscilla over.

The tour is actually led by a longtime reader/fellow stalker named Michael (that’s him below), who I’ve been friends with on Facebook for years. Michael is a veritable expert on all things Elvis. There was literally no question about the singer that he couldn’t answer. Listening to his stories about Presley and anecdotes about the house was fascinating. I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to walk in the footsteps of The King with.

Setting foot inside the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is like stepping back in time to 1967. The pad is virtually frozen in time from the days when The King called the place home.

Just beyond the threshold is a large sunken living room . . .

. . . where circle motifs can be found in abundance.

Not only is the room rounded . . .

. . . but the space boasts an amazing circular fireplace and hood . . .

. . . as well as a circular ottoman and a 64-foot curved banquette couch –

– the very same couch that was installed at the house during Elvis and Priscilla’s tenure.

Yep, that’s a photo of them sitting on said couch pictured below.

Amazingly, guests are not only allowed, but encouraged to sit on the couch to pose for photos.

From there, visitors are led into the circular kitchen . . .

. . . which features a rounded stove –

– a close-up of which you can see below;

a massive fridge and two ovens;

and an indoor BBQ (for those hot Palm Springs days when it is much too warm to do any outdoor grilling).

There it is open.

Visitors also get to check out the guest bathroom . . .

. . . which boasts a dressing-room-style mirror;

and a shower.

Obligatory Elvis bathroom selfie!

After passing through the jungle-themed sitting area . . .

. . . visitors are led up the very stairs that Elvis carried Priscilla up the night of their wedding . . .

. . . and into the master bedroom, which is fabulous.

Because of the home’s circular shape, regular photos just don’t do it justice.

It is much better showcased via panorama pics.

None of the furniture or furnishings in the residence are off-limits to guests. As was the case with the couch, visitors are invited to pose on Elvis and Priscilla’s bed, which Steffi and I gladly did!

We also got to catch a glimpse of the master bath . . .

. . . which boasts a massive sunken tub . . .

. . . as well as a built-in magazine rack and a bidet.

I honestly cannot recommend the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour more! It’s the perfect experience for fans of The King, those who want to catch a glimpse of the interior of a celebrity home, and architecture buffs alike.

Sadly, the property is currently for sale, so I am not sure how long tours will be offered.

For those in the market for a new pad, the 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 4,695-square-foot property, which features a pool, a tennis court, gardens, a fruit orchard, and three parcels of land, can be yours for a cool $7 million.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is located at 1350 Ladera Circle in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs. Tours are offered daily at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and cost $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12. You can find out more information about the tour, as well as purchase tickets, here.

October 12, 2016September 29, 2017

Robert Pastorelli’s Former House

Growing up, I absolutely loved Murphy Brown. This was largely due to the antics of zany housepainter/nanny Eldin Bernecky, played by actor Robert Pastorelli. I adored Eldin so much in fact that when Pastorelli left the show in 1994, I stopped watching. I was heartbroken to learn of his death a decade later and was even more heartbroken when news came to light that he was being investigated as a suspect in the 1999 killing of his then girlfriend, Charemon Jonovich, at the time. Not surprisingly, the case fascinated me, so when I came across a Curbed LA article back in 2009 about the Hollywood Hills house where both deaths occurred, I immediately added the address to my To-Stalk List. And while I made it over there shortly thereafter, somehow in all of this time I never managed to blog about it. I had actually forgotten about the place until a couple of weeks ago when I sat down to look through all of my old stalking photographs in order to compile a database of yet-to-be-blogged Haunted Hollywood locales. As soon as I spotted the images, this one was moved right to the top of the list!

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The story of Robert Pastorelli’s life is a sad one. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1954, Robert set out on a path to become a professional boxer. A near-fatal car accident at the age of 19 derailed those plans and he began battling a drug problem shortly thereafter. During his twenties, Pastorelli moved to New York and became involved with the theatre scene. He eventually relocated to L.A., where he found success with small movie and television roles before finally hitting the big time when he landed the part of Eldin in 1988. He got clean around that same time, but just two years later tragedy struck when his then girlfriend died of AIDS, apparently the result of repeated drug use.

When Murphy Brown creator Diane English left the show in 1994, Pastorelli followed suit. Though he landed a starring role in another English sitcom, Double Rush, almost immediately, it was cancelled after only 12 episodes. Robert continued to work in Hollywood in the ensuing years, though not very successfully. Then in 1999 things really got bad. According to reports, at approximately 9:50 p.m. on March 15th of that year, Pastorelli’s 25-year-old live-in girlfriend Charemon shot herself in the head during an argument with the actor while in the master bedroom of their shared home. She died instantly. Their one-year-old daughter was asleep in another room. Pastorelli cooperated with authorities and the coroner ruled Charemon’s death “undetermined.” That ruling was later changed to “homicide,” though, according to Inside Edition which cited “staging of the crime scene and scientific evidence the firearm was handled after discharge” as the reasoning behind the adjustment. Pastorelli became the police’s number one suspect.

According to numerous articles, including this one from the Daily News, Pastorelli knew he was being investigated and that detectives were closing in and an arrest was likely imminent. He began using drugs again and on March 8th, 2004 the actor was found by an assistant, slumped over on his toilet with a syringe in his arm, dead from an accidental heroin overdose at the age of 49. It’s a sad story all around.

Pastorelli purchased his Hollywood Hills home in 1989 for $487,000. After his death, it was sold to a PR exec, who, in turn, put it on the market for $1.095 million in 2009. Per the listing from that year, the gated contemporary 1962 pad boasts 2 bedrooms, 1 ¾ baths, 1,726 square feet of living space, an open floor plan, a remodeled kitchen with stainless appliances, a fireplace, 360-degree views of the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory, and an “oversized party shower with direct access to the outdoor deck.” I’m not really sure what an “oversized party shower” is, but I’m guessing it’s not something I want. The residence wound up selling for $976,000 in May 2010. The photos below are from the 2009 MLS listing. You can check out some more images of the house here (and yes, the master bedroom, bathroom, and oversized party shower are pictured).

Though I have not been inside the house, I can attest to the fact that the views are stunning. The Hollywood Sign is literally right there!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Robert Pastorelli’s former house is located at 2751 Hollyridge Drive in the Hollywood Hills. Heidi and Spencer’s home from Season 5 of The Hills is located just up the street at 3132 Hollyridge Drive.

March 31, 2015March 31, 2015

Hacienda Palomino – Michael Jackson’s Former Las Vegas House

I am not really that into stalking celebrity homes (though I have quite a few of them on my site), the main reason being that typically little else besides a gate can be seen from the road. There are some exceptions, though. If there is a star I really like, or if I read about a residence in a book, or if a significant event happened there, or if the look of a place piques my interest, I am most definitely going to want to stalk it. The latter was the case with an estate that pop star Michael Jackson rented for a brief period time in Las Vegas. Now everyone knows that I absolutely love me some MJ, but even so, I normally would not be interested in visiting a residence where he only lived for a short stint. When I saw photographs of Hacienda Palomino a couple of years ago, though, I practically started foaming at the mouth and immediately added the site to my Las Vegas To-Stalk list. In person, it did not disappoint!

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Shortly before Christmas 2006, Michael and his children left Ireland and returned to the U.S. The pop star had been living abroad since 2005 in an effort to escape the constant media attention that surrounded him following his child molestation trial. Jackson was in need of money, though, and when an opportunity arose to headline a Las Vegas show thanks to his friend, local businessman Jack Wishna, he flew back to America to start the endeavor. The show ultimately fell through due to MJ’s erratic behavior, but the singer wound up living in Sin City through 2008. He leased two houses during his stay. The first was at 2785 South Monte Cristo Way in the Spring Valley neighborhood and the second was at 2710 Palomino Lane in the Pinto Palomino area. According to this Las Vegas Review-Journal article, Jackson leased the Palomino house from 2007 until his death in 2009, though he had moved to L.A. by late 2008.

The sprawling 24,276-square-foot Hacienda Palomino compound is situated on 1.7 acres and boasts 7 bedrooms, 12 baths, an art gallery, a 7,394-square-foot chapel with seating for 74 guests, a grand salon, a cigar bar, an enclosed courtyard large enough to accommodate 300 people, a recording studio, parking for up to 50 cars, elevators, 3 kitchens, a conference room with seating for 60, and a 3,900-square-foot guest house with an underground tunnel leading to main residence. During his tenure at the property, Jackson and his three children lived in the guest house. MJ also housed his vast art collection, which was insured for $600 million, in the estate’s subterranean vault. You can see some photographs of the uh-ma-zing property here.

Hacienda Palomino was originally constructed in 1952 and, at the time, consisted of a small Spanish-style residence. The property was then redesigned and expanded into the massive compound that it is today by an eccentric theatre developer named Horst Schmidt in the ‘90s. When Schmidt passed away in 2004, Aner Iglesias, the honorary consular of El Salvador, purchased it. It was Iglesias who leased the residence to Jackson. After the King of Pop passed away, the house sat vacant until 2011 at which time Iglesias began renovating the site. He still owns the manse today, though it has gone on the market four times since Jackson’s death. It is currently used as Aner’s second home and as a special events venue. You can read a more in-depth history of the unique dwelling here.

Strange events seemed to follow Michael Jackson around throughout his life and a few happened during his time at Hacienda Palomino. One occurred on the evening of Elizabeth Taylor’s 75th birthday party. While Jackson was getting ready for the soiree, his brother Randy crashed his Mercedes through the front gate of the home and was almost shot by security. Randy then demanded to see the singer, claiming that the King of Pop owed him money. Michael refused, but was so distraught over the event that he bailed on Taylor’s birthday party and proceeded to hole up inside of the house for the next three days.

The most bizarre occurrence happened on the two-year anniversary of Jackson’s death, though, when Iglesias opened Hacienda Palomino to the public for a special tour. Apparently, while fans were waiting in line that morning, a random man arrived, opened up the doors to the estate and began leading groups through the residence. As it turns out, though, he had no authority to do so, nor did he have any sort of affiliation with the home, though he seemed to know quite a bit about it. He even offered attendees water! The police were soon called by the property’s caretaker and it was learned that the wannabe tour guide had a warrant out for his arrest. When cops arrived on the scene, he fled, though, and there was an ensuing chase throughout the neighborhood. It seems that even in death the King of Pop cannot escape the obscure events that surrounded him in life.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hacienda Palomino, Michael Jackson’s former Las Vegas house, is located at 2710 Palomino Lane in Las Vegas. You can visit the property’s official website here.

December 17, 2014December 16, 2014

Nat King Cole’s Former House

My good friend Lavonna is all about Christmas. So when she came out to SoCal for a visit, along with Kim, Melissa and Maria, last month, she had a few suggestions of holiday-themed locations for me to stalk. One of the locales was the former Hancock Park home of Nat King Cole, the African American crooner who was the very first artist to record Bob Wells and Mel Tormé’s immensely popular carol “The Christmas Song” in 1946. So we ran right over to stalk the place on the ladies’ last day in L.A.

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Cole and his wife, Maria, purchased the sprawling 6,831-square-foot home in 1948. Reports vary as to what the couple paid for the property – some say $65,000, others say $75,000, and still others claim $85,000. Whatever the case, the Coles’ new neighbors were not happy about the sale. The Hancock Park Property Owners Association even stepped in, at one point offering Nat $25,000 plus the purchase price of the residence to walk away from the deal. Nat declined, causing one homeowner to approach the singer and inform him that he didn’t want “undesirables” living in the area. Cole responded, “Neither do I. If I see any, I’ll let you know.” Despite the opposition, Maria and Nat and their adopted daughter, Carole, moved into the Tudor-style residence on August 13th.

The massive 1924 property, which sits on a 0.7-acre corner plot of land, boasts five bedrooms, five baths, maids’ quarters, a library with a fireplace, a master suite with a fireplace, a tennis court, a guest house, a pool house, a pool and two patios.

In a May 2014 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nat and Maria’s second oldest daughter, singer Natalie Cole, recounts growing up in the home as an idyllic experience. The holidays were an especially magical time. She says, “Christmas was a big holiday in our house. My dad was always home for the holiday and would have the fireplace going and music playing. We had a huge tree on the front lawn that must have been 40 feet tall. We’d decorate it and the lawn with lights and a Santa Claus that waved, and reindeer that rocked back and forth to simulate running.” You can see a photo of the Coles in front of the dwelling during the time that they lived there here. Today, much more foliage surrounds the property.

In 1951, federal agents seized the home from Nat for non-payment of $146,000 in back income taxes. He quickly paid the amount owed and reclaimed the property. The singer passed away in 1965, and Maria continued to live at the residence until 1972, at which time she sold it to a family friend and moved to the east coast. Of the home’s sale, Natalie says, “My sister and I were so upset. It was all we had left of our childhood and our dad. From time to time, I drive past the house today, but I’ve never stopped to surprise the owners with, ‘Hi, sorry to bother you. I used to live here.’ Seeing it is so bittersweet. From what I can tell, it’s still a beautiful home. Only black families have lived there since we left, and all have taken wonderful care of it. I would love to buy it someday. I’m curious to know what it’s even worth at this point.” Well, Natalie, here you go – according to Zillow, the pad is currently valued at a whopping $5,228,372!

You can watch a video of Nat King Cole singing “The Christmas Song” by clicking below. An interesting bit of holiday trivia for you – apparently Bob Wells and Mel Tormé had not set out to write a classic carol when penning “The Christmas Song.” Instead, during one particularly hot day in the summer of 1944, the two were simply trying to keep cool by jotting down terms having to do with cold weather. Forty-five minutes later and one of the most popular Christmas songs in history was born, boasting those classic lyrics we all know and love like “Jack Frost nipping at your nose.”

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

Big THANK YOU to my good friend Lavonna for telling me about this location and suggesting that I blog it! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Nat King Cole’s former house is located at 401 South Muirfield Road in Hancock Park.

October 27, 2014September 29, 2017

Pete Duel’s Former House

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. That adage rings true for today’s story, about actor Pete Duel who shot and killed himself at his Hollywood Hills home in the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve 1971. I had Duel’s address written down in the Haunted Hollywood portion of my To-Stalk list, though I cannot for the life of me recall how or where I obtained it. I am unsure if a fellow stalker gave me the information or if I came across it in a book. I really need to start keeping notes on my sources. Regardless of how the address came my way, I was thankful for it and stalked the residence a couple of weeks ago while in L.A.

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Pete Duel was born Peter Ellstrom Deuel in Rochester, New York. He started acting as a child and, in 1959, moved to Manhattan to try his hand at stage productions. Deuel landed a role in a touring production of Take Her, She’s Mine in 1962, which brought him to Hollywood. Once there, he decided to stay. Peter gave himself five years to “make it” in the biz and make it he did. He quickly landed guest roles on several television shows which eventually led to him being cast as John Cooper on the series Gidget. When that show was cancelled after one season, he won a starring role in Love on a Rooftop. That series did not fare well, either, and was also cancelled after its inaugural season. It was at that time that Peter Deuel shorted his name to “Pete Duel.” He moved on to films shortly thereafter and was successful. Then, in 1970, he was cast in a leading role in the western-themed television series Alias Smith and Jones. It was a quick hit. The long hours proved hard on Pete, though, and he fell into a depression. He also developed an alcohol habit. Despite finally achieving the fame he had sought for years, he was not happy. A do-gooder by nature, Pete felt that he should be bettering the world and that his acting in Alias Smith and Jones was too trivial to accomplish that. The man who seemingly had it all wanted more.

In the summer of 1971, Pete and his girlfriend, Diane Rey, moved into a brown-shingled two-bedroom residence in the Hollywood Hills. At the time, the home was a small bungalow set back from the road. It has since been remodeled and a large front portion, which sits perpendicular to the original structure, was added. You can see what the property looked like when Pete lived on the premises here.

The large addition is pictured below. Today, the pad features four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 2,401 square feet of space. I believe that the property may currently be a multi-family home.

December 30th, 1971 began like any other day for Pete. He worked on his series and then, when shooting wrapped, was dropped off at home. Diane and Pete settled in for the evening to watch the latest episode of Alias Smith and Jones. Pete apparently was not pleased with it, which was not unusual. Diane went to bed shortly after, while Duel stayed up to watch a Lakers game. At around 1:30 in the morning, he walked into the master bedroom and grabbed his .38 revolver. A few minutes later, Diane heard a gun shot and ran into the living room where she found the actor lying nude underneath the Christmas tree. At the tender age of 31, Pete Duel was dead by his own hand – though whether it was an accident or on purpose the coroner couldn’t say. Duel’s blood alcohol level at the time of the shooting was 0.31, so it might very well have been accidental. The fact that shortly before his death he had scheduled his answering service to give him a wakeup call for 6:30 the following morning also lends credence to that scenario. There is a third possibility, as well, though, which many online truth-seekers believe – that Diane actually murdered Pete and altered the scene to make it look like he had killed himself. While Rey was questioned by the police, Pete’s death was officially ruled a suicide.

It took less than 12 hours for producers to recast Duel’s role on Alias Smith and Jones with actor Roger Davis. Audiences never warmed to him, though, and the series, which had been so popular prior to Pete’s death, was cancelled the following year. It is said that money does not bring happiness. Apparently, neither does fame.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Pete Duel’s former house is located at 2552 Glen Green Street in the Hollywood Hills.

October 24, 2014September 29, 2017

William Desmond Taylor’s Former House

Last Saturday, my mom, the Grim Cheaper and I attended a book signing for William J. Mann’s latest tome, Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood. My mom had heard about the event on our favorite desert radio show, The Bill Feingold Show Featuring Kevin Holmes, and thought I would be interested in the book as it is about the 1922 murder of silent film director William Desmond Taylor, which remains unsolved. Ironically enough, I had just stalked Taylor’s former home two weeks beforehand, though at the time I knew little about his killing and the ensuing scandal. The signing, which featured a talk by Mann (that’s him in the rather blurry pic above), turned out to be intriguing and I cannot wait to delve into Tinseltown – and hopefully discover some new stalking locations along the way.

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William Desmond Taylor was born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner in County Carlow, Ireland on April 26th, 1872. He began acting in school productions as a youngster and then, in 1890, headed to America, first to Kansas and then to the Big Apple, with dreams of becoming an actor. His marriage to Ethel May Hamilton, the child of a wealthy broker, in 1901, and the birth of their daughter two years later put his acting plans on hold. Things appeared to be going well for the family, though. William opened up an antiques store and he and Ethel became well-known members of New York society. Then, on October 23rd, 1908, Taylor disappeared. While his wife surmised that he might have gotten lost during a bout of amnesia, the truth was that William had simply abandoned his family. Upon leaving New York, he traveled with an acting troupe around Canada and parts of the U.S and decided to try his hand at directing. He arrived in Hollywood in late 1912, armed with a new passion and a new name, William Desmond Taylor. He directed his first movie in 1914 and became wildly successful after that, going on to direct over 60 films.

In 1922, William was living at the Alvarado Court Apartments in Westlake. The upscale complex was comprised of eight, two-unit Spanish-style bungalows situated in a U-shape around a central garden. A 1948 view of Alvarado Court is pictured below.

William’s bungalow is denoted with the orange arrow below. He lived in the eastern side of the structure, in Apartment B.

Sadly, the Alvarado Court Apartments were bulldozed in the 1950s. Today, the site where they once stood is a parking lot for a Ross Dress for Less store.

Taylor’s apartment was located in what is now the northeastern portion of the parking lot . . .

. . . in the area pictured below.

On the morning of February 2nd, 1922, William’s butler, Henry Peavey, arrived at the bungalow and discovered his boss laying dead on the living room floor. Police were called, but before they appeared, Charles Eyton, the General Manager of Paramount Pictures, entered the home, went into Taylor’s bedroom and removed several letters and documents. The papers were never to be seen again and what was contained within them is anyone’s guess. William’s death had occurred during the midst of the Fatty Arbuckle rape trial, the fallout from which had hit Hollywood hard financially. It was a perilous time for the industry and the last thing studio executives wanted was another scandal, so they had come to “clean up.”

The first doctor to arrive on the scene surmised that Taylor had died of natural causes. It was not until the body was later turned over by the coroner that a bullet hole was discovered. It is believed that Desmond was killed at around 8 p.m. the evening prior. He suffered a single gunshot to the back. Though suspects were plentiful, his death remains unsolved to this day. One commonly-held theory is that William was killed by Charlotte Shelby, the mother/manager of actress Mary Miles Minter, with whom the director was romantically involved. Williams was almost thirty years older than the 20-year-old ingénue and if rumors of the illicit affair were to get out, it would have derailed Minter’s career. Being that Mary was Shelby’s very-valuable meal ticket, the momager was against the romance from the start. Some believe she killed William to put an end to it once and for all. (As it turns out, Shelby had been correct in her fears. Word of the affair quickly got out after Taylor’s murder and Mary’s career did not recover from the fallout.) While we may never know for sure who killed Taylor, William J. Mann claims to have solved the case during his research for Tinseltown and I am chomping at the bit to read his theory.

On a side-note – I also had the pleasure of meeting legendary Hollywood photographer Michael Childers at the Tinseltown signing. He and William J. Mann are close friends and when Mann mentioned his name, I recognized it immediately and raced over to get a picture as soon as the reading was over.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: William Desmond Taylor’s former home was located at 404-B South Alvarado Street, in the Alvarado Court Apartments, in Westlake. Today, the site is a parking lot for a Ross Dress for Less store.

October 17, 2014September 29, 2017

Yvette Vickers’ Former Home

Boulevard of broken dreams – that phrase pops into my head every time I venture down Hollywood Boulevard and see the men and woman costumed as super heroes or movie stars charging tourists to take a photograph with them. I can’t imagine it is what anyone who sets out for Los Angeles hopes to do and is a reminder of the sad turn a life in show business can take. Even those who gain notoriety at some point in their career are not immune to a tragic end – like Yvette Vickers, the actress and Playboy Playmate who was found mummified, alone and forgotten, in her decrepit Benedict Canyon home in 2011. The Grim Cheaper and I ventured out to see her residence in person shortly after her body was discovered, though I never blogged about it. When I learned recently from my buddy Scott Michaels, of the Find a Death website, that the structure had been torn down, I figured it was finally time that I do so.

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For those not familiar with the story, Yvette Vickers grew up with dreams of becoming an actress. The petite beauty graduated from UCLA with a degree in theatre and quickly landed a role in Sunset Boulevard. Though it was an uncredited part, it was quite a substantial first break. Other small roles followed. She was featured in a White Rain Shampoo commercial and the movie Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, as well as its sequel, Attack of the Giant Leeches. In July 1959, she was named the Playboy Playmate of the Month. Yvette never obtained the level of fame she so desired, though, and spent the next few decades piddling in bit parts, until they, too, dried up. She dabbled in real estate for a time and, then in early 2000, worked the fan convention circuit. Sadly though, Vickers was going blind due to macular degeneration. During her final years she became paranoid and delusional, convinced she had stalkers. It was not long before she was a complete recluse, holed up in her tiny cottage on Westwanda Drive.

Reports differ as to when Yvette purchased the Benedict Canyon property. According to a fabulous Los Angeles magazine article from 2012 titled “Left Behind,” Vickers originally moved into the residence with her first husband (she had three over the course of her life), jazz bassist Don Prell, shortly after their wedding in 1953. She was then granted the home when the two divorced in 1957. Scott Michaels’s account states, though, that Yvette purchased the bungalow in 1980 at a cost of $56,000. Either way, it was inside the 1948 dwelling pictured below that Yvette lived out her final years. The miniscule residence measured one bedroom, one bath and a scant 676 square feet, and sat on a 0.19-acre plot of land. By all accounts, towards the end, the cottage was dilapidated and falling apart in places. Broken windows were held together by duct tape, holes in exterior walls were covered over with tarps and exterior foliage had grown through to the interior of the house. Yvette had also become something of a hoarder, with boxes, clothing and paraphernalia cluttered throughout the tiny structure.

Yvette Vickers House (4 of 7)

On the morning of April 27th, 2011, Vickers’ neighbor Susan Savage happened to pass by the house, spotted some cobwebs in the mailbox and became alarmed. She had not seen Yvette in months and, though that was not unusual, decided to check on her. Of entering the home, Susan said, “I knocked on her gate for long time; it was impossible to open. It was bolted twice, nailed shut, and then, braced at the base with a 2×4. Trust me, it was NOT easily accessible from the street. If it was, our mail carrier might have been able to make contact sooner. I ended up scaling her steeply graded hillside, stepping over high metal barricades and bloodying myself in the process, till I finally got onto her property. All the doors and windows were locked and reinforced from within. I knocked on every door/window, calling her name the whole time. I could see that the lights were on, but there was no response. I went down to the front door of the house, and saw the broken window pane which is how I ultimately got in.” When Savage reached the dwelling’s second floor, she discovered what was left of Yvette’s body, mummified on the floor. It had likely been sitting there for months. Though a lot of criticism was soon thrown at neighbors and friends for not notifying authorities that the 82-year-old had not been heard from in months, it is obvious that Yvette was, at least in her final years, someone who did not want any sort of contact with the outside world.

Next-of-kin was Perry Palmer, Yvette’s half-brother. The two had not known of each other’s existence until much later in life and never grew close. Perry had the home cleared of all of Yvette’s belongings a couple of months after her death and the property was put on the market as “a major fixer-upper” in September 2011 for $499,000. You can check out some photos of what the interior of the house looked like at that time here and you can check out a great video filmed by Scott Michaels about the home here. The residence ultimately sold in January of the following year for $275,000 and was torn down at some point thereafter. Boulevard of broken dreams, indeed.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Yvette Vickers’ house was formerly located at 10021 Westwanda Drive in Beverly Hills.