Buster Keaton (right) and others in front of Buster Keaton Studio on Lillian Way, Los Angeles, California, ca. 1920, Bison Archives photographs collected by Marc Wanamaker, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


Buster Keaton (right) and others in front of Buster Keaton Studio on Lillian Way, Los Angeles, California, ca. 1920, Bison Archives photographs collected by Marc Wanamaker, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Oh, if only these walls could talk. Actually, that would be pretty ironic, since these particular walls housed the operations of two of the most enduring stars of the silent film era, first, Charlie Chaplin, and then, Buster Keaton.


Buster Keaton Studio

An aerial view of the filming of the chariot race scene for Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), Masheter Movie Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.


Today, the Culver City, California intersection of La Cienega and Venice Boulevards is relatively nondescript, packed with vast lanes of traffic and various mostly small businesses nearby. But nearly a century ago in that same spot, rising amidst farmlands and other undeveloped lots, stood an enormous

Filming Location of Ben-Hur’s Circus Maximus

Cinematographer Arthur Miller and director Lois Weber at the DeMille Studios in Culver City, California, ca. 1927, courtesy of Bison Archives photographs collected by Marc Wanamaker, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Today, one way to bear witness to the achievements of silent film era auteur Lois Weber is to visit her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Just over a century ago, though, Weber was far more than an oft-overlooked name on a pedestrian pathway. 

Lois Weber Productions

Mabel Normand Studios at Bates Street and Fountain Avenue, 1936, SCMFT, Historic Hollywood Photographs.


Mabel Ethelreid Normand was born in 1892 in Staten Island, New York. She did some modeling but no stage acting, and her so-called naturalistic film performances differentiated her from veteran Broadway scene-chewers. The American Film Institute notes Normand’s “doe-eyed beauty

Mabel Normand Feature Film Co.

Paramount-Pcitures-1930

In an industry––and a metropolis––not always synonymous with permanence and longevity, Paramount Studios has been a continuous home for film production in Hollywood, both the neighborhood and the industry, for over one hundred years.


Paramount Studios

A group portrait of players, crew, and executives in front of Pathé Studios on Allesandro Street (now Glendale Boulevard) in the Edendale, Los Angeles, neighborhood, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 


A group portrait of players, crew, and executives in front of Pathé Studios on Allesandro Street (now Glendale Boulevard) in the Edendale, Los Angeles, neighborhood, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

A rooster has always been the logo––or part of the logo––of the pioneering, persevering, powerhouse French film company formed in 1896 as ‘Pathé Frères’ and now simply known as ‘Pathé.’  That bird’s morning cry signals a new day has dawned, and that’s what the brothers 

Pathé West Coast

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks posing for a publicity shot in front of their new studio in 1922, Everett Collection


The union between legendary Hollywood actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks produced many things: A 15-year marriage; co-starring roles in The Taming of the Shrew (1929); the founding of United Artists with D. W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin; the creation, along with 34 others,

Pickford-Fairbanks Studio

Selig Zoo, Los Angeles, California, undated, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

William Nicholas Selig, often called “Colonel” Selig, was an early film pioneer known for his combination of technological, entrepreneurial, and storytelling prowess. Born in 1864 in Chicago, Selig worked as a magician and minstrel show producer. 

The Selig Zoo

The Walt Disney Studios, home to the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony sound cartoons as the sign suggests, ca. 1933, Bison Archives, photographs collected by Marc Wanamaker, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


The Walt Disney Studios, home to the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony sound cartoons as the sign suggests, ca. 1933, Bison Archives, photographs collected by Marc Wanamaker, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Today, it’s a Gelson’s grocery store and a parking lot. But just about a century ago, some of the most iconic and enduring entertainment and intellectual property in the world was created right here at 2719 Hyperion Avenue.

The Walt Disney Studio

The Walt Disney Studio (Hyperion)

The front of the Triangle Studios was as recognizable back when this photo was taken in the mid-1910s as it is now under Sony’s management, Martin Turnbell and The Bison Archive.


Developer Harry Culver had the land; filmmaker Thomas Ince, the dream. When the pair met, local history—and entertainment history—was made.

Triangle Studio and MGM

Universal Studios, 1915, Hollywood Historic Photos.


From the moment it opened on March 15, 1915, Universal City Studios set out to live up to the ambition and grandeur of its name. Universal City was built to be a classic ‘company town,’ but for the most thoroughly modern of industries: filmmaking. 

Universal City Studios

An aerial photograph of Warner Bros. Pictures Studios, 1930, courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


In 1903, Jewish immigrant brothers Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack set up a tent in an Ohio yard and exhibited a short film. Cut to 25 years later when these Warner brothers behind Warner Bros. purchased a 62-acre film studio that had recently been built on Burbank farmland, nestled near the Verdugo Hills and the Los Angeles River, just northeast of LA.

Warner Bros. Studio

A view of Broadway looking north from 10th Street, with Western Costume Company at left, ca. 1925, Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.


In the early decades of the 20th Century, there were many reasons for a film aficionado to visit South Broadway Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Named after the drama-centric New York thoroughfare

Western Costume Company

The original William Fox studio in Edendale, California, leased from the Selig Film Co., 1915–16, Everett Collection.

William Fox Studio

William Fox was a film industry juggernaut. On the long list of this movie mogul’s lifetime achievements, the one year that the William Fox Studio was located at 1845 Allesandro Street doesn’t particularly stand out. 

Exterior view of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, ca. 1939, Works Progress Administration Photo Collection, Digital Collections of the Los Angeles Public Library.


Like many of the leading early Hollywood Jewish film executives, the Wilshire Boulevard Temple was born out east, headed west, and Anglicized its name. The resulting palatial new house of worship represented a move towards assimilation that paralleled the desires and efforts of many of the Jews of the era shaping the American entertainment industry.

Exterior view of the B'nai B'rith Temple on Hope Street and Ninth Street in Los Angeles, ca.1902, CH Collection/Alamy Stock Photo.


Explore the Wilshire Boulevard Temple's history in LA, detailing its ties to Hollywood's Jewish moguls and its evolution from B'nai B'rith to a historic cultural monument 

Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Early Studio History

The exterior of the Academy Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences headquarters building, 2013

Courtesy of AMPAS reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, photo: Jon Didier 

The exterior of the Academy Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences headquarters building, 2013

Hidden behind the mirrored-glass front of 8949 Wilshire Boulevard sits the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an organization that has celebrated and chronicled the art of filmmaking for almost a century.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Headquarters

The exterior of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive, 2001

Courtesy of AMPAS reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, photo: Long Photography 

The exterior of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive, 2001

The Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study is the home of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive, which holds over 230,000 items. 

Courtesy of AMPAS reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, photo: Long Photography 

Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study

The Taft Building at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, 1930 

Getty Images, photo: USC Libraries/Corbis  

The Taft Building at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, 1930 

Hollywood’s historic Taft Building, LA’s first high-rise office tower, served as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ headquarters from 1935 to 1946.

The Taft Building

The exterior of the May Company department store, 1942 

Courtesy of Bison Archives photographs collected by Marc Wanamaker, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

The exterior of the May Company department store, 1942 

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is the largest museum in the United States devoted to the art, science, and craft of moviemaking. The culmination of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ decades-long ambition to build the world’s premier film museum, the Academy Museum’s building had an equally long first act as the May Company building. 

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Academy Offices

The Roosevelt Hotel from Hollywood Boulevard, early to mid-twentieth century 
Getty Images, photo: Dick Whittington Studio/Corbis 

The Roosevelt Hotel from Hollywood Boulevard, early to mid-twentieth century 

The Roosevelt Hotel was opened on May 15, 1927, by a group of Hollywood titans that included Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Sid Grauman. The Roosevelt went on to host the first Academy Awards ceremony on May 16, 1929. 

Roosevelt Hotel

The Ambassador Hotel from the southeast, early to mid-twentieth century 
Getty Images, photo: Dick Whittington Studio/Corbis 

The Ambassador Hotel from the southeast, early to mid-twentieth century 

The Ambassador Hotel had many incarnations between its opening in 1921 and its demolition in 2005. It established Wilshire Boulevard as the hub of an expanding Los Angeles, and its Cocoanut Grove nightclub served as a playground for the rich, famous, and influential, including America’s biggest film stars. 

Ambassador Hotel

The exterior of the Biltmore Bowl, the site of eight Academy Awards ceremonies from 1932 to 1942, pictured here in 1940

Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

The exterior of the Biltmore Bowl, the site of eight Academy Awards ceremonies from 1932 to 1942, pictured here in 1940

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel—originally the Los Angeles Biltmore—has been a downtown LA landmark for nearly a century. When it opened in 1923, it was the largest hotel west of Chicago and helped establish downtown Los Angeles as an entertainment hub in the 1920s and ‘30s. 

The exterior of the Biltmore Bowl, the site of eight Academy Awards ceremonies from 1932 to 1942, pictured here in 1940. Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel

The exterior of the Chinese Theatre on May 27, 1930, during the world premiere of Hell’s Angels (USA, 1930)  

Courtesy of Howard Hughes collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  

The exterior of the Chinese Theatre on May 27, 1930, during the world premiere of HELL’S ANGELS (USA, 1930)  

For almost a century, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, now the TCL Chinese Theatre, has been the beating heart of Hollywood tourism. The venue, named for its giant Chinese pagoda structure, hosted the Academy Awards from 1944 to 1946. 

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

The exterior of the Shrine Auditorium and the red carpet during the Academy Awards ceremony, 1999 

Courtesy of Academy Awards show photographs, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, photo: Long Photography 

The exterior of the Shrine Auditorium and the red carpet during the Academy Awards ceremony, 1999

The ten Academy Award ceremonies held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Center span seven decades, making this USC-adjacent venue the longest-tenured Oscars site, if not the most frequently used—that honor currently goes to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. 

Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall

The Marquis Theatre in 1945, before becoming the Academy Awards Theatre 

Courtesy of AMPAS reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

The Marquis Theatre in 1945, before becoming the Academy Awards Theatre 

In 1946, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences purchased the Marquis Theatre on Melrose Avenue, renaming it the Academy Awards Theatre. In 1949, the name became all the more apt when the Academy moved the ceremony there at the last minute. 

The Marquis Theatre in 1945, before becoming the Academy Awards Theatre. Courtesy of AMPAS reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

Academy Awards Theatre

The exterior of the RKO Pantages Theatre during the 1951 Academy Awards ceremony

Courtesy of Academy Awards show photographs, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

The exterior of the RKO Pantages Theatre during the 1951 Academy Awards ceremony

The Hollywood Pantages, the last theater Alexander Pantages built as part of his vaudeville empire, opened for business in 1930. Initially it was a venue for live events, but theater had become increasingly expensive to stage during the Great Depression. 

Hollywood Pantages Theatre

The exterior of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during the Academy Awards ceremony,1967

Courtesy of Academy Awards show photographs, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 

The exterior of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during the Academy Awards ceremony,1967

The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was designed by Welton Becket along with the city hall and courthouse, but the distinctive, mid-century modern structure also played home to the Academy Awards through the tumultuous and transformative ‘60s. 

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium

Exterior of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion during rehearsals for the 66th Academy Awards ceremony  

Courtesy of Academy Awards show photographs, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, photo: Long Photography 

Exterior of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion during rehearsals for the 66th Academy Awards ceremony  

For three decades, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion was the principal home of the Academy Awards, with 25 ceremonies—including every show from 1969 to 1987—taking place in the opulent, 3,156-seat auditorium. The building witnessed many landmark Hollywood moments.

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

A view of the Capitol Records building, 2014 
  
GC Images, photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin 

A view of the Capitol Records building, 2014 

The Capitol Records Building is one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of Southern California. Completed in 1956, the unusual round structure, with its curved awnings on each level and a tall spike emerging from the roof, was designed by architect Louis Naidorf to resemble a stack of records on a turntable spindle.

Capitol Records Building

The exterior of the Dolby Theatre during set up for the Academy Awards, 2012

Courtesy of Academy Awards reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, photo: Greg Harbaugh 

The exterior of the Dolby Theatre during set up for the Academy Awards, 2012

From 1929 to 2001, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences staged 73 award ceremonies at nine different venues. The range of sites reflects the diverse eras and ceremony formats of the Academy Awards, as well as the ever-changing demands of putting on an industry event with a global audience. 

Dolby Theatre

A view of the red carpet during the 93rd Annual Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021

Getty Images, photo: Chris Pizzello-Pool 

A view of the red carpet during the 93rd Annual Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021

A view of the red carpet during the 93rd Annual Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021. Getty Images, photo: Chris Pizzello-Pool 

Union Station

Waterworks building, Beverly Hills, California, 1935.

The Academy Awards ceremony isn’t just a state-of-the-art, high-stakes television production or Hollywood’s biggest night. The annual event is also a collection of rigorously researched names, dates, credits, archival photographs, and other film data and materials. 

AMPAS reference collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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