Hollywood Archivist

Hollywood Archivist Jack Priest ✨
Exploring and respecting Hollywood’s past 🎞
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Wishing a very Happy Heavenly Birthday to Farrah Fawcett 🪽This angel would have turned 79 years old today, if she were s...
02/02/2026

Wishing a very Happy Heavenly Birthday to Farrah Fawcett 🪽

This angel would have turned 79 years old today, if she were still here.

Throwing it back to the iconic and forever timeless red swimsuit” photographs taken by Bruce McBroom in 1976.

“Every day is a good day, just some days are better”

Happy Birthday Farrah🤍

01/24/2026

Wishing a very Happy Heavenly Birthday to Sharon Tate 🤍

Today, if Sharon were still here, she would have turned 83.

Sharon was the absolute definition of kindness, innocence, selflessness and graciousness. She was the one with a kind heart that nobody ever had a bad word to say about, even 56 years after her passing. I think in this day and age, we should try and aim to have more of Sharon’s values.

Happy Birthday, Sharon. 🤍🪽

Judy Garland’s first Californian home ✨Located in the neighbourhood of Atwater Village in Los Angeles, this charming Spa...
01/24/2026

Judy Garland’s first Californian home ✨

Located in the neighbourhood of Atwater Village in Los Angeles, this charming Spanish-style bungalow was the very first Californian home to Judy Garland and her family. The house was built in 1926, so we are led to believe that the Gumm family were the very first residents of this gorgeous little bungalow.

After leaving their hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, the Gumm family moved to Los Angeles. With the bright lights of Hollywood shining in the eyes of mother, Ethel Gumm. Los Angeles was the land of show business and big opportunities for her three daughters, Mary Jane, Dorothy Virginia and Frances (later known as Judy Garland). Whilst being in the middle of it all, it was easy for her to drive her girls to theatre engagements and auditions at various studios and companies.

The home consists of two bedrooms and one tiny bathroom. Quite tiny for a family of five, don’t you think? The Gumm family lived here from November 1926 to April of 1927. Whilst only residing here for five months, it gave them time to find a larger home. They would later move an hour’s drive away to the town of Lancaster.

The Gumm family bungalow remained virtually untouched for 94 years and recently underwent a renovation in 2020 (see before and after photo).

I’m thrilled that we still have so many reminders of Judy’s early life in the city of Los Angeles. It’s fabulous to be able to visit the places that she once called home and retrace her iconic footsteps! ✨

Step inside the very first Hollywood home that the legendary Lucille Ball ever owned! ✨Originally built in 1919, this go...
01/12/2026

Step inside the very first Hollywood home that the legendary Lucille Ball ever owned! ✨

Originally built in 1919, this gorgeous craftsman-style bungalow was the very first home that Hollywood’s most famous redhead, Lucille Ball, ever owned in Los Angeles.

After moving from her apartment near the RKO studios (to which she was under contract), Lucille and her brother, Fred, relocated to this home in 1933. Lucy herself cleaned up the home. The Ball family, including her mother DeDe, her grandfather Fred, and her cousin Cleo, would later join them from their hometown of Jamestown, New York.

Not long ago, I was so grateful and fortunate to have been given a private tour of the home by its very kind owner. It sure was fun to walk through the rooms of the place that Lucille once called her cherished home so early in her career.

The current owners have done such a wonderful, tasteful job of preserving this gorgeous craftsman’s bones and history, whilst still adding their modern touch. As a tribute, they have various photos and mementoes of Lucy hanging on the walls throughout the property. They even did their best to restore the original garage, where Lucille’s grandfather, Fred Ball, would play cards most days.

This was such a fun, memorable experience!✨

Oz history still very much exists on the old Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studio lot!✨Located in Culver City in California, the M...
01/11/2026

Oz history still very much exists on the old Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studio lot!✨

Located in Culver City in California, the MGM studio was the filming location for one of the most beloved films of all time ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939). Filming within the walls of the studios famously large soundstages began in October of 1938 and was completed in early March of 1939.

MGM was later sold and Sony Pictures have now taken over, but Oz film history very much still survives. Through the many soundstages that still stand, and other sneaky little special locations - Like the trap door on Soundstage 15 that Margaret Hamilton melted right through, to very the wall that Judy Garland would prop up a chair and read LIFE Magazine during her break, to the recording stage where the entire score of the film was recorded (which is completely untouched) - It’s really quite surreal.

Whenever I visit the MGM lot, I always feel like I’m in a real life fantasy land. I have to remind myself that this is where it all happened 87 years ago. It never fails to take my breath away!
🌪️🫧🧹✨

Did you ever visit the famous ‘Luau’ restaurant of Beverly Hills whilst their doors were open? 🗿🧉🌺✨Officially opened by ...
01/04/2026

Did you ever visit the famous ‘Luau’ restaurant of Beverly Hills whilst their doors were open? 🗿🧉🌺✨

Officially opened by restauranteur (and husband of actress Lana Turner) Stephen Crane in 1954, the Luau offered an exotic tropical/Polynesian dining and drinking experience for all of the many guests that crossed the bridge atop a Hawaiian lagoon to walk through its doors.

The restaurant was filled with large Tiki statues, fire torches that were mounted on the walls, many waterfall and rock pool features, Hawaiian canoes that were strung across the ceilings, and green walls that featured colorful tropical plants. Of course the scent of rum, pineapple, and strong tiki drinks was in no shortage either. Just look at those food prices on the menu! How times have changed.

The Luau was one of the top locations that many families chose to visit to celebrate all special occasions. Being located in Beverly Hills, seeing a Hollywood star wasn’t out of the ordinary. Being owned by her husband, Lana Turner was there many nights. Before she became well known, Sharon Tate appeared at the Luau as a “Kelly Kalani Girl” during a promotional campaign in 1963. Dean Martin, Mitzi Gaynor, and Annette Funicello were also regulars.

The Luau officially closed its doors in 1978, after 24 memorable years for all the families who passed through. The building on Rodeo Drive was demolished the following year in 1979 to make way for a shopping complex, which still sits on the site today.

The Luau closed before my time, but do I wish I were able to visit. Did you or a family member ever go to the luau? Leave your memories below. I’d love to hear them!! 🌺✨🗿

(Please note that the cover image of the exterior has been expanded with AI)

The Gable and Lombard “love nest castle” ✨This castle like home located in Beachwood Canyon was built by theatre mogul, ...
11/07/2025

The Gable and Lombard “love nest castle” ✨

This castle like home located in Beachwood Canyon was built by theatre mogul, Alexander Pantages (Pantages Theatre) in 1926. Once building was complete, Pantages gifted the home to his newly married daughter Carmen as a wedding present.

Film director Rex Ingram & his wife, actress Alice Terry also lived in this home at one point.

However, the most famous residents of this home are film legends Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Carole’s mother Elizabeth Knight, leased this home sometime after Clark and Carole’s marriage in 1939. Although, it’s undetermined how long the couple actually lived here.

The home has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and there’s definitely no shortage of little balconies and patios!
It last sold for $2,631,496 in September of 2017.

Tarzan’s Bel-Air jungle home & lap pool ✨Tucked away in the hills of Bel-Air is this two-storey Mediterranean revival-st...
10/31/2025

Tarzan’s Bel-Air jungle home & lap pool ✨

Tucked away in the hills of Bel-Air is this two-storey Mediterranean revival-style mansion that was once owned by legendary actor Johnny Weissmuller, who is best remembered for portraying the role of “Tarzan” in the Metro Goldwyn Mayer film series.

Weissmuller commissioned famed architect Paul Revere Williams to design the pink Italian-style home in the early 1930s. Weissmuller, who was a highly successful swimmer, won five gold medals in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. The first thing he would do each morning when he woke up was to go out and swim laps, so it was essential that a 300-foot-long serpentine lap pool be installed. The pool wraps around most of the property and is adorned with bridges, waterfalls, a lagoon and Italian archways with beautifully painted murals.

After Johnny Weissmuller moved out, a series of other notable residents have occupied the property, including Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst (supposedly), producer Harry M. Goetz, Mick Jagger, John and Michelle Phillips of the iconic music band ‘The Mamas and the Papas’ and the final owner, artist Joseph Nicolosi.

In the late 1980s, a fire tore through the property, and it has not been restored or lived in since that time. However, it was declared a Historic Cultural Monument in 1990. For over 30 years the property has sat empty and in disrepair, desperately waiting for restoration and revival. Will that day ever come? Here’s hoping. This has to be my all-time favourite home in Los Angeles!

Please note: photos taken inside the property are not mine. Only the exterior shots.


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