STACK September 2017 Issue 155

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026 SEPTEMBER 2017
do it at the Chateau Marmont”.
What he was referring to was the Los
Angeles celebrity hotel of choice, which stars
would use as a safe haven to escape intrusive
media surveillance. With its incredibly thick
soundproofed walls, discreet private entrances
and highly protective staff, this luxurious hotel
became the ideal hangout for Hollywood’s
A-list. For over eight decades the L–shaped
“hotel to the stars” bore silent witness
to innumerable wild parties, hundreds of
assignations, and more than a few tragedies.
A dream project conceived in 1927
by prominent Los Angeles attorney Fred
Horowitz, his neo-Gothic fantasy was loosely
styled on a magnificent castle he had seen
in the Loire Valley whilst on vacation in
France. Designed as a residential apartment
complex, constructed entirely of steel and
concrete, it was Los Angeles' first earthquake
proof building. Erected on a hillside above
Sunset Boulevard (which at the time was
just a dirt road), its angular slated roof,
spires and turrets dominated the skyline.
The complex’s wide driveway opened onto
an unkempt side road; hidden amongst the
sagebrush and tumbleweed was a signpost
which identified the road as Marmont Lane.
Horowitz thought it sounded suitably French,
and christened his multi-storey apartment
building The Chateau Marmont.
In fact, the narrow lane had been named
after the silent screen actor Percy Marmont,
who had enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom
during the early days of Hollywood. Little
remembered today, the handsome London-
born actor had starred opposite a number
of 1920s leading ladies including Clara Bow
in Mantrap .
The Chateau Marmont officially opened for
inspection in February 1929. Its rich interiors
of rare woods, extravagantly tiled floors and
stained glass windows attracted many of Los
Angeles’ business elite. Subsequently, over
the following months, most of the seven
floors of apartments had been signed up as
Columbia Pictures studio head, Harry
Cohn, was a notorious figure in
Hollywood, known for his ferocious
temper, offensive language and general
crassness. Summoned to Cohn’s office in
early 1939, two newly contracted young actors
were left waiting for over an hour in an outer
office – a conscious intimidation tactic that
Cohn used on all visitors. Finally, a secretary
admitted William Holden and Glenn Ford into
the movie mogul’s inner sanctum where he
proceeded to bark at them the do’s and don’ts
of their movie contracts. In conclusion, Cohn
then famously said “If you must get in trouble,
visit EXTRAS FEATURE
CHATEAU
MARMONT
8221 Sunset Boulevard
For over eight decades,
the L-shaped "hotel to the
stars" bore silent witness
to innumerable wild
parties... and more than a
few tragedies
HISTORY
The of
Part 1
The Chateau Marmont as it looks today
The man who unknowingly lent his name to the
hotel – actor Percy Marmont, seen here with
Clara Bow inMantrap(1926)