The Pantages Theatre formally opened on June 4, 1930 with the premiere of MGM’s The Florodora Girl starring Marion Davies. Opening night at the Pantages Theatre, view from Argyle Avenue (California State Library) Hundreds of fans lined traffic-jammed Hollywood Boulevard, all hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars: Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson in white velvet, Maureen O’Sullivan, Billie Burke and Florenz Ziegfeld, Phyllis Haver in pink lace, Delore

Next-door neighbors are inescapable, especially when you’re both retired. The homes of Eugene O’Brien and Robert Vignola were in such close proximity, the former film star could literally drop in — jumping from his balcony onto the director’s patio. Whitley Terrace in the early 1920s: The home of Robert Vignola is on the far right, with Eugene O'Brien to its left. In 1929, writer Basil Woon visited Vignola on Whitley Terrace for the article “You Can’t Get Away With It in Holl

Such a dramatic house may not be the most inconspicuous hiding spot for your mistress — but then again William Randolph Hearst was not a subtle man. 6697 Whitley Terrace, with Robert Vignola at left In 1923, the media tycoon built this Mediterranean villa on Whitley Terrace to stash actress Marion Davies, who he allowed to live here with her favorite director, Robert G. Vignola. The trio had collaborated several times on films for Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Productions, including