Calling all Audrey Hepburn fans! One of the estates that portrayed the Larrabee mansion in the 1954 classic Sabrina has just hit the market! You can read about it at Dirt.
A Mansion Featured in “Sabrina” Is Up For Grabs
The Julien’s Auctions Hollywood Legends Exhibition
This past Saturday afternoon I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the Hollywood Legends exhibition currently being hosted by Julien’s Auctions, a Beverly Hills-area auction house which specializes in entertainment memorabilia, celebrity artifacts, and high-profile estates. Prior to each auction it hosts, Julien’s opens up its exhibition hall to the public offering them a free and extremely rare opportunity to view unique and priceless Hollywood memorabilia in an exceptionally up-close-and-personal manner, which I think is just about the coolest thing ever! For those who have been reading my site for a few years, you will remember that back in April of 2009 my father and I attended the Michael Jackson: The Collection of the King of Pop exhibit which was put on by Julien’s Auctions at the former Robinsons-May building on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills. To say that my dad and I both absolutely LOVED the MJ exhibit would be a gross understatement. Seeing all of the King of Pop’s Neverland Ranch effects laid out in the same exact manner in which they were once laid out in his actual home was one of the coolest experiences of my life. So when I heard that Julien’s would be hosting a Hollywood Legends exhibition featuring items once belonging to Marilyn Monroe, Lady Diana, and Lucille Ball and props and memorabilia from such productions as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Batman & Robin, The Brady Bunch, and Heroes, I jumped at the chance to stalk it.
And I have to say that I was NOT disappointed. The people at Julien’s Auctions truly could NOT have been nicer and the GC and I were invited to wander quite freely around the exhibit hall and take all of the photographs of the place that we wanted. Quite a bit of the auction is made up of items of clothing once owned by legendary Sunset Boulevard actress Gloria Swanson. Most of the outfits were purchased by Swanson during the 1930’s and it was absolutely amazing to me to see how stylish they still are to this day, over eight decades later!
There were several ensembles I could even see myself wearing, including the black Givenchy cocktail dress pictured above and to the left. Which just proves that some things, no matter how old, never go out of style!
Also on display was a vintage, early-20th-century, flat-top Louis Vuitton steamer trunk that once belonged to Swanson, which I just about died upon seeing! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to own one of those trunks!!!
Two of Lady Diana’s dresses are featured at the forefront of the exhibition, which I was BEYOND thrilled to see. The gown on the left, which was designed by Diana’s longtime fashion designer Catherine Walker, was worn by the Princess while on a state visit to India in 1992. You can see a poster of Diana wearing the dress in the photograph that is pictured above and to the left.
The gown on the right-hand side was also designed by Catherine Walker and was worn by the Princess on three occasions – first to the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, then for a 1987 portrait sitting with photographer Terrance Donovan, and finally to a September 1989 performance of Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal in London. The two chairs pictured in front of the dresses were used during the 1937 coronation of King George VI (aka the man upon whom the movie The King’s Speech was based).
There were also several of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s Christmas cards on display.
The clothing that I was most excited to see, though, was that which formerly belonged to Miss Marilyn Monroe, including the dress pictured above which the actress wore to a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1958.
The dress was made famous thanks to that fact that a photograph of Marilyn wearing it was used as the cover of Michael Ventura’s 1997 book Marilyn Monroe: From Beginning to End.
Also on display was a black mohair sweater vest once owned by the actress;
a swimsuit worn by MM in an unknown Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production;
a two-piece silk jersey ensemble designed by Pucci, one of Marilyn’s favorite designers, and a satin slip;
a white umbrella that the starlet used as a prop during a 1949 photoshoot with famed photographer Andre de Dienes, which you can see a picture from here;
and a tan corduroy skirt. Because Marilyn is always described as being “curvy”, it was shocking for me to see how tiny her clothing actually was. While I am a small girl, I am fairly certain that there is no way in HECK I could fit into the skirt pictured above, which means that the actress had to have been much smaller in real life than she was typically conveyed.
Another huge portion of the Hollywood Legends auction is made up of memorabilia from fave show The Brady Bunch, which I was absolutely floored to see!
Included in the display was Cindy Brady’s (aka Susan Olsen’s) costume from the pilot episode of the series titled “Honeymoon”;
the dress Cindy wore to Mike (aka Robert Reed) and Carol’s (aka Florence Henderson’s) wedding;
Cindy’s jacket from “The Voice of Christmas” episode;
Bobby Brady’s (aka Mike Lookinland’s) Silver Platters costume from my FAVORITE episode of the series ever, the Season 4 episode titled “Amateur Night”;
performance outfits worn by Bobby and Cindy . . .
. . . which most fans will recognize from the “It’s a Sunshine Day: The Best of The Brady Bunch” album cover;
and the outfits worn by Bobby and Cindy during their American Bandstand performance in 1972.
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There were quite a few Lucille Ball items featured at the exhibit, as well, including a 12-piece vanity set once owned by the actress;
a set of four ashtrays that the actress had on display at her Manhattan apartment, which can be seen in the May 1984 Architectural Digest issue about her home;
an unfinished gown that was being made for her at the time of her death and the tartan blazer she wore in the 1949 film Sorrowful Jones.
Other movie memorabilia included the Edith-Head-designed straw hat worn by Audrey Hepburn during the “How Long Has This Been Going On?” number from the 1957 movie Funny Face;
Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl costume from Batman & Robin;
a shirt worn by the T-1000 (aka Robert Patrick) during the chase scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day;
one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s costumes from Terminator 2 . . .
. . . which has a damaged pant leg from the Terminator’s liquid nitrogen truck accident, which I thought was SO cool to see;
a prop head from Terminator 2, which was SO incredibly lifelike;
Angelina Jolie’s costume from Girl, Interrupted . . .
. . . which, as you can see, is so incredibly tiny that it does not even fit the ultra-teensy mannequin on which it is displayed;
countless set pieces from Cleopatra;
Tom Cruise and John Voight’s costumes from the first Mission: Impossible movie;
the 35-carat diamond necklace Angelina Jolie wore to the Seoul premiere of Salt in 2010;
an original drawing by James Dean, which was sketched on a napkin while the actor was at his favorite restaurant, Googies Coffeeshop, which was sadly demolished in 1989;
and an incredibly realistic-looking “frozen” prop safe which appeared in the Season 3 episode of Heroes titled “Dual”.
I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Julien’s Auctions Hollywood Legends exhibition enough! I had an absolutely FABULOUS time while there and, amazingly enough, the GC even found a few items that piqued his interest, as well.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: The Julien’s Auctions Hollywood Legends Exhibition is taking place now through Friday, May 6th at 9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 150, in Beverly Hills. It is free to attend. The actual auction will take place on Saturday, May 7th and Sunday, May 8th. You can learn more about the auction on the official Julien’s Auctions website here.
The Paramount Studios Tour . . . A Second Time
Brace yourselves, my fellow stalkers, ‘cause today’s post is going to be a long one! Back in September, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I set out on our second VIP Tour of the Studios at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. We embarked on our first Paramount tour just over two years ago, in September of 2008, and I can honestly say that, for me, it was love at first sight! As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, the Paramount tour is hands down my absolute FAVORITE studio tour in all of Hollywood. I love the place so much, in fact, that the Grim Cheaper and I seriously considered getting married there. Well, I should say that I seriously considered getting married there – the GC was against the idea from the start, as he didn’t think a movie studio would be an appropriate venue for a wedding. And while I can definitely see his point – the 62-acre lot is better suited to host a party rather than a wedding ceremony – because the place has such an incredibly rich cinematic history – it has been at its current location since 1926 and is the only major studio still located in Hollywood – for a movie-lover like myself, there is no more hallowed ground. So, when Mike called me up in early September to ask if I wanted to go on another tour of the place, I jumped at the chance.
As they say, no two studio tours are ever the same and I am very happy to report that that was definitely the case with Paramount. After paying for our tickets in the Studio Store, our small group of eight was given a brief history of the 84-year old lot before boarding a golf cart to begin the two-hour tour. Our first stop was the corner of Avenue A and 3rd Street, just southwest of Stage 23, where the ending scene of the final episode of fave show The Hills was filmed, which I blogged about back in September.
Just beyond The Hills finale location is Stage 24, which was home to fellow stalker Owen’s all-time favorite sitcom Family Ties from 1982 to 1989.
Each individual soundstage at Paramount boasts a large plaque which lists all of the major productions which have been filmed on the premises.
And, as you can see in the above photograph, Stage 23’s plaque is somewhat unique. According to our tour guide, actor Ray Romano was (jokingly) a bit bent out of shape that his new sitcom Men of a Certain Age wasn’t considered by Paramount to be a “major” enough production to be named on the plaque, so he took matters into his own hands and, using a label maker, printed out the name of the show and stuck it onto the sign himself. LOL LOL LOL Love it!
As always, the tour made a stop at Lucy Park – a small landscaped area named in honor of actress/producer Lucille Ball, former owner of the now-defunct Desilu Studios which was purchased by Paramount in 1968 and now makes up the western portion of the lot. Lucy had the park built as an exact replica of the backyard of her Beverly Hills home so that she could take publicity photographs there with her children without ever having to leave the lot.
The above-pictured facade, which runs along the northern side of Lucy Park, is an exact replica of the exterior of Lucy’s New York City apartment building, which she had constructed for the same purpose. We also learned that it was none other than Lucy, and her husband Desi Arnaz, who invented the live audience/three camera system that situational comedies still use for filming to this day. Apparently, Lucy much preferred acting before a live studio audience, which, at the time, was not common practice when shooting television shows. So, she and her husband came up with the idea of setting up the stage in the format of a theatre, with an open fourth wall facing the audience, and using multiple cameras to film each scene from different angles. That very system has been in use ever since. The powerhouse couple was also responsible for inventing what is known today as a “re-run”.
My favorite part of Lucy Park has to be its large central tree which was used in the Season 2 episode of The Brady Bunch titled “Where There’s Smoke” as the spot where Greg Brady (aka Barry Williams) smoked his very first cigarette.
You can watch that scene by clicking above.
According to our tour guide, Lucy Park was also used for the Season 2 episode of Glee titled “Grilled Cheesus”, for the close-up shot of Finn Hudson (aka Cory Monteith) cheering after scoring a winning touchdown.
Our next stop was the studio’s Gower Street entrance, which stood in for the entrance to the fictional Woltz International Pictures lot in the 1972 film The Godfather. That entrance and guard shack have, sadly, since been remodeled.
We then made our way over to Stage 31, which is the spot where the Joel McHale television series Community is filmed. It was extremely cool to see that particular stage, as it is one of the only stages on the lot that has a “dressed” exterior. As you can see in the above photographs, the facade of the fictional Greendale Community College Library has been constructed around the exterior of the building. So incredibly cool!
We also spotted Donald Glover, who plays Troy Barnes on the show, while we were there.
Up next was New York Street – my VERY favorite section of the lot and the spot where the Grim Cheaper and I were thinking about getting married. “Street” is actually a bit of a misnomer, though, being that the area measures a whopping five acres, is shaped like a square, and features numerous sections and blocks which were built to resemble different sections of New York, including Brooklyn, Greenwich Village, Washington Square, the Financial District, the Upper East Side, the Lower East Side, SoHo, a typical brownstone neighborhood, and, ironically enough, Chicago. Each time I walk through New York Street, I truly feel as if I am actually in the Big Apple. It’s amazing! Even small details like mailboxes and payphones (pictured above) are so realistic that someone on a tour once put a letter inside one of the fake boxes thinking it was real. 🙂
The Washington Square section of New York Street is featured regularly on the new TNT series Rizzoli & Isles, as the home of Detective Jane Rizzoli (aka Angie Harmon).
Washington Square also appeared in the Season 7 episode of Seinfeld titled “The Rye”, in the scene in which Jerry Seinfeld tries to throw a loaf of rye bread up to George Constanza (aka Jason Alexander) who is waiting on the third floor of his girlfriend’s parents’ apartment building.
The Boston Police Station from Rizzoli & Isles can also be found on New York Street, in the Brooklyn section.
The jazz club from Spiderman 3 is located in the SoHo section of New York Street and is what is referred to as a “practical set”, meaning that it is not just a facade, but also has an interior area which can be used for filming.
Pink’s 2008 Video Music Awards performance of “So What (I’m Still A Rock Star)” was also filmed on New York Street in the SoHo area.
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While walking through the Chicago area of New York Street, our tour guide pointed out the above-pictured building called the “Tin Shed” which he said serves as the dance studio for the cast of Glee. So incredibly cool!
At the time we visited the lot, the Chicago section of New York Street was dressed for the filming of the yet-to-be-released television series Happy Endings, which stars Elisha Cuthbert.
The facade pictured above, which is located at the corner of H Avenue and the Chicago section of New York Street, is being used as the exterior of Rosalita’s Bar, the Happy Endings’ characters’ main hang-out.
That very same facade was also used as the five-and-dime store where Holly Golightly (aka Audrey Hepburn) and Paul ‘Fred’ Varjak (aka George Peppard) stole Halloween masks in fave movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s. So, I, of course, just had to take a picture standing in the doorway!
We also got to see the interior set of Rosalita’s while we were on the tour and it actually reminds me a lot of Grayson’s bar from fave show Cougar Town. We weren’t allowed to take any photographs of it, unfortunately, but you can see what the bar looks like in the above screen captures, which I got off of IMDB.
Our next stop was the place I had been waiting all morning to see – Stage 14, where fave show Glee is filmed!
Amazingly enough, our timing could NOT have been more perfect, because right when we arrived at the stage several of the stars drove by on golf carts! We first spotted Harry Shum Jr. (pictured above) who plays dancer Mike Chang on the show. He was on a golf cart with Jenna Ushkowitz (aka Tina Cohen-Chang), who we unfortunately did not get a photograph of.
Immediately after that, a cart carrying Amber Riley (aka Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (aka Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman), and Chord Overstreet (aka Sam Evans) drove by. We also spotted Dianna Agron (aka Quinn Fabray) and Lea Michelle (aka Rachel Berry), but unfortunately we did not get photographs of either of them. Before spotting the Glee stars, our tour guide had warned us that the cast wasn’t known to be all that friendly or even particularly nice on the lot. According to him, they have all apparently gotten a bit too big for their britches in recent months. And, sadly, our experience definitely reflected that sentiment. When the actors drove by, our small tour group was the only group of people around. We did not in any way go crazy or walk up to them when we spotted them, but just politely stood in our places and waved. And I am sad to say that not a one of them waved back or even managed to crack a smile. In fact, as you can see in the above photographs, Amber Riley looked as if she wanted to throttle us! I’m telling you, if looks could kill, our entire tour group would have been dead! LOL Mark Salling was the only one of the bunch who had a smile on his face, but it was definitely not directed towards us. He was speaking with Chord Overstreet the entire time and did not so much as even look our way. The whole thing was HIGHLY disappointing and only got worse two weeks later when I spotted Lea Michele while taking the Paramount tour once again with fellow stalker Lavonna and her friends, but I’ll save that story for a future post. 🙂
Our next stop was the Paramount Medical Services building, the back side of which (where you can see the lattice in the above photograph) was supposedly used as Charlie’s (aka Kelly McGillis’) porch in the movie Top Gun.
The final stop on our tour was the famous 516-seat Paramount Theatre, which has played host to several Hollywood premieres and premiere after-parties over the years and has also been the site of some filming, as well.
Just outside of the theatre is the famous Paramount water fountain;
Forest Gump’s bench from the movie of the same name;
and the Bronson Gate – the studio’s former entrance, which was where Norma Desmond (aka Gloria Swanson) entered the lot in the 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard. Legend has it that rubbing one’s hands on the gate while uttering Norma’s famous line, “I’m ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille”, will bring luck in the movie industry.
And with that our tour was over. But just as we were hopping back on our golf cart to head back to the studio store to make our departure, I spotted one of my mom’s all-time favorite actors – David Strathairn – who was nice enough to smile and wave at us after he realized that we had recognized him. 🙂 So incredibly cool!
And while leaving through the lot’s main gate who should drive past us but Glee star Jenna Ushkowitz. You can just barely see her in the black car in the above photograph.
I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Paramount lot enough! It is, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, the best studio tour in existence and I absolutely cannot wait to go on it again!
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Paramount Studios is located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Tours are given Monday through Friday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. and cost $40 per person. Reservations can be made by calling (323)956-1777. Parking for the tour costs $7 per car. I recommend booking your tour at least a week in advance, as they tend to sell out quickly. You can find out more information about the Paramount Studios Tour here.