This photograph by William Claxton was shared with us by the jazz violin scholar Anthony Barnett. Hollywood’s “Famous Door” seems much more rustic than its New York counterpart, but any place that had Fats Waller playing was immediately palatial:
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Dear Michael,
Thanks a lot, mate!
Another youthful dream shattered.
I had always believed that the Hollywood Famous Door would have been a seedy place.
Which raises the question. What happened to the famous ‘door’ itself?
Allegedly installed by Wingie Manone, it sat by the bandstand at the original New York Famous Door opened with Louis Prima’s band on 1st March (coincidentally, today, here in Australia) in 1935. Prima’s band also opened the Hollywood Famous door in Oct 1935.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBYC3gEnZs
But what happened to THE famous door, with all the signatures of its musician backers and the many celebrities?
Irving Mills once claimed to own it, but apparently his was not THE door.
Can anyone provide an update?
Kind regards,
Bill.
So we’re going, then, Bill? MS
EXCELLENT POST!!
Fats is my main man, nKaY?
I have just spread the word on FaceBook : )
yr. fan
~confetta