Hollywood Knickerbocker (1929-1972)

During Hollywood's golden age, one of the most beloved hotels among movie stars was the Knickerbocker Hotel. In the summer of 1929, the Knickerbocker Hotel and its nightclub, the Lido Room, officially opened. Over the next decades, entertainment legends from Marilyn Monroe to Elvis Presley stayed at the Knickerbocker. Despite its glamor, the Knickerbocker Hotel has also seen its share of tragedy. In 1962, clothing designer Irene Lentz leaped to her death from her room. In 1938, Director D.W. Griffith, an influential filmmaker whose work shaped the motion picture industry but is best known today for the notoriously racist depiction of Reconstruction in the movie Birth of a Nation, suffered a massive stroke in the lobby. As movie stars made fewer visits to Hollywood Boulevard, the hotel's fortunes declined. In 1972, the building was sold, and it was eventually made into apartments for senior citizens, which it remains today.

What became the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel was initially meant to be 172 luxury apartments called the Security Apartments. The groundbreaking for the Spanish Colonial building designed by E.M. Frasier took place in 1925, but the project had to be delayed due to financial issues. Over the next couple of years, despite the Security Apartments being listed in the Los Angeles directory, the building was not occupied because of the complicated legal proceedings that plagued its creation. Several different construction companies were brought on to finish the building. The first company completed seven floors before another group was hired, but money problems persisted and interrupted the process. 

In November 1928, a group of men came together to purchase the lot and structure, and in total, they spent $2.6 million on the property and remodel. Ultimately, they opted to operate the structure as the Knickerbocker Apartment Hotel. By 1929, the building came to hold 444 rooms and was advertised as “one of the finest apartment hotels in the West.” In 1930, construction began to connect the two buildings, and a new section was added between the two wings. When the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel officially opened in the summer of 1929, it quickly became a popular spot for meetings, parties, and screen tests. Several well-known executives in Hollywood had offices in the hotel, and off the lobby was the famous nightclub, the Lido Room. The famous rooftop sign reading “The Knickerbocker,” was officially lit in 1931, and the original sign remains atop the building today.  

Architect Paul Revere Williams conducted a redesign of the Knickerbocker in 1936, making the site a sought-after venue for weddings and special events. Many big names in Hollywood flocked to the Knickerbocker. In 1937, actress Betty Grable hosted a large party for her boyfriend, actor Jackie Coogan, at the hotel. The year before, Bess Houdini, the widow of escape artist Harry Houdini, held a séance on the roof of the Knickerbocker in an attempt to connect to her husband on the tenth anniversary of his death. In the 1940s, famed director and pioneer D.W. Griffith moved into the Knickerbocker Hotel. On July 23, 1948, Griffith collapsed in the lobby and later died as a result of a massive stroke. 

Hollywood stars continued to frequent the Knickerbocker in the 1950s, but, unlike during the heyday of the 1930s, they did not want to be seen. Marilyn Monroe was known to sneak in through the kitchen to meet her boyfriend, the legendary baseball player, Joe DiMaggio. Elvis Presley’s producer, Hal Wallis, had Presley and the vocal group The Jordanaires stay at the Knickerbocker while Presley was recording an album and making the movie Love Me Tender. Paul R. Williams was hired again in 1955 to conduct another redesign of the hotel. One of the key features of the remodel was a sun and cabana penthouse and a rooftop swimming pool surrounded by new guestrooms and suites. 

Despite its modern features, tragedy continued to plague the Knickerbocker. In 1962, fashion designer Irene Lentz, who designed costumes for actresses such as Joan Crawford, Hedy Lamarr, Ginger Rogers, and Ingrid Bergman, jumped to her death from her room at the hotel. By the late 1960s, Hollywood Boulevard was in a steady decline that impacted the Knickerbocker Hotel and its clientele. The building was sold in the early 1970s, and it was turned into apartments for lower-income seniors. Today, very little from the original Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel remains besides the luminous sign on top of the building and a chandelier from the 1950s gracing the lobby. What was once a grand and beloved spot for some of the most well-known actors and actresses to grace the silver screen is now merely a reminder of the Golden Age of Hollywood. 

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