Schwab's Pharmacy
Schwab's Pharmacy was a drug store located at 8024 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, and was a popular hangout for movie actors and movie industry dealmakers from the 1930s through the 1950s.[1] Like many drug stores in the United States throughout the mid-twentieth century, Schwab's sold medicines and had a counter serving ice cream dishes and light meals.
Schwab's closed its doors in October 1983.[2] Five years later, on October 6, 1988, Schwab's was demolished to make way for a shopping complex and multiplex theater.
[edit] In popular culture
A persistent Hollywood legend has it that actress Lana Turner was "discovered" by director Mervyn LeRoy while at the soda counter at Schwab's. While the 16-year-old Turner was indeed discovered at a soda counter, the actual location was not Schwab's but another Sunset Boulevard establishment, the Top Hat Cafe, and the person who discovered her was not LeRoy but Hollywood Reporter publisher William Wilkerson.[3]
The exterior of Schwab's is featured in the film Sunset Boulevard as a setting where the lead character, down-on-his-luck screenwriter Joe Gillis, ran into friends in the movie industry. For filming convenience, director Billy Wilder had the store's interior duplicated on the lot of Paramount Pictures. In an episode of I Love Lucy, when Lucy visits California while Ricky is making a movie, she announces that she is going down to Schwab's Drug Store to be discovered.[4]
Schwab's is mentioned in connection with classic Hollywood glamor in Tom Waits's song "Invitation to the Blues," released on his 1976 album Small Change:
"And you feel just like Cagney, she looks like Rita Hayworth / At the counter of the Schwab's drug store."
[edit] References
- ^ Alleman, Richard (2005). Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide : The Ultimate Insider Tour to Movie L.A.. Random House, Inc.. pp. 73. ISBN 0-767-91635-2.
- ^ "SCHWAB'S, HOLLYWOOD DRUGSTORE, SHUT". The New York Times. 1983-10-24. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/25/arts/schwab-s-hollywood-drugstore-shut.html. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
- ^ Jon Ponder (December 11, 2010). "Schwab's Drug Store: Where Lana Turner Was Not Discovered". http://www.sunsetstript.com/2010/12/11/schwabs-drug-store-where-lana-turner-was-not-discovered/. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
- ^ Staggs, Sam (2003). Close-up On Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream. Macmillan. pp. 89. ISBN 0-312-30254-1.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 34°05′53″N 118°21′53″W / 34.0980096°N 118.3647861°W
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