Look!
there’s an ape in the rose garden!

But that’s no ordinary ape! It’s Caesar from “Planet of the Apes” who has come to guard Roddy McDowall’s roses, over 461 of them, many from his own garden. Nearby there is a lovely pool where you will find a statue of Roddy as a boy commissioned by his sister Virginia and, not far away, a bronze George Montgomery keeps an eye on the Victory garden. Wander down another path and you will find a small chapel tucked away in a corner. It was named for John Ford and looks exactly like the one on his ranch. And set right in the middle of this Shangri-la of gentle rolling hills and lush gardens, like a precious jewel, you will find a small city!

John Ford Chapel

 

Fairbanks, Pickford, Griffith and Chaplin

No one knew back in 1918 what miracles could come from a simple act of charity. WWI had slowed the progress of the fledgling motion picture industry and many of its workers found themselves in financial hot water. Those on top like legends Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and director D. W. Griffith saw the need to reach out in some way. The stars worked together and, in 1921 the Motion Picture Relief Fund was incorporated. The first to benefit from their kindness was a partially paralyzed character actor and his chorus girl wife. He had given over 37 years to the industry. The couple received rent for an apartment and Famous Players-Lasky found employment for his wife.

 

Jack Benny, Joan Crawford, George Murphy and Reginald Gardiner in "Variety Review 1" on January 8, 1939. It also starred Judy Garland and Ralph Morgan.

By the 1930s, a Payroll Pledge Program was initiated and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) made it compulsory for its Class A members. But Jean Hersholt, president of the MPRF, wanted to find a way to raise even more money “ to build and maintain a home for the aged and needy who have given years of service to the motion picture industry”. Jules Stein came up with the idea of asking major stars to appear on a new radio show “The Screen Guild Show”( later called “The Screen Guild Theater”). For 13 years, Hollywood’s biggest stars worked free of charge to raise money for the Relief Fund raised over 5.3 million dollars!

And those actors were a dedicated bunch! “William Powell was ordered to bed 24 hours before he was to appear with Myrna Loy. Word went out for a substitute. Within an hour Clark Gable, Cary Grant and James Stewart volunteered. Stewart got the job because he telephoned first. Ann Sothern rehearsed in the hospital and then played her role from a chair….Billie Burke broke her leg, but she came to the theatre in an ambulance and read her script from a wheelchair.” (SAG) The show raised 5.3 million dollars over the 13 year run.

Hersholt and Stein at the site	Hersholt, Mary Pickford and Pereira at the groundbreaking.

In 1940 Hersholt found the perfect spot for a dream that began over two decades before…48 acres of walnut and orange groves at $850 an acre! It was just 22 miles northwest of Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley and called Woodland Hills. When he and Mary Pickford turned over the first shovels of earth there on September 22 nd, 1941, they let architect William Pereira describe their dream. “ In the center of these rolling hills will be a small city composed of bungalow residences and various types of community buildings. The library, lounge, dining room, administration buildings and outdoor research facilities are organized on terraces overlooking two lagoons. Everything is connected by broad roads, covered walkways and interesting footpaths.” But what was then lovingly referred to as the Motion Picture Country Home soon evolved into much, much more.

Motion Picture and Television Hospital

In 1948, actors Shirley Temple and Ronald Reagan dedicated the Motion Picture Country Hospital with 40 private rooms and 10 surgical beds. Today that fully-licensed hospital has 256 acute care beds and bears the name “The Motion Picture and Television Hospital”. It includes new wings and plazas all dedicated in honor of their benefactors….the Marion and Clarence Brown Medical Pavilion, the Natalie Schafer Wing, the Edith Head Plaza and the Douglas Fairbanks Lounge. Off in a shady garden corner is “Harry’s Haven”, a tranquil place for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related diseases. It was donated in 1992 by Kirk and Anne Douglas and named for Kirk’s father. There are private rooms there for 40 patients and enclosed gardens where they can walk in safety. The hospital is considered a leader in the treatment of these diseases.

Roger Mayer, winner of the Jean Hersholt Award 2005	Sherry Lansing chosen to be the winner at the upcoming Oscar awards 2/25/2007

In 1956, the MPRF (now called the Motion Picture and Television Fund) lost its president. Jean Hersholt passed away only 2 weeks after receiving the industry’s humanitarian award. In 1957 in his honor, the Academy established the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to be given to “an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry”.

The Louis B. Mayer Theater

In 1967 the Louis B. Mayer Theater was dedicated and residents can watch first-run and classic movies twice a week. The John Ford Chapel with its lovely stained glass windows was dedicated in 1969 and is interdenominational. The Frances Goldwyn Lodge accommodates those in need of assisted living. The Country Home bungalows are for those who want their independence and even the original cottages are still in mint condition. The newer Fran and Ray Stark Villa was built in 1997 and caters to those who still want to keep a hand in their craft with its video productiuons suite and computer library.

The Fran and Ray Stark Villa

So the dream goes on. Here in Woodland Hills, the little city thrives as Hollywood continues to honor its past.

Some of the past residents of Woodland Hills….

Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller, star of the “Tarzan” and “Jungle Jim” movies, came to the hospital in 1974 when he broke his leg and hip. While he was there doctors detected a heart problem. But Johnny’s habit of walking the halls giving his Tarzan yell made keeping him there impossible so the Fund gave him and his wife an apartment in Acapulco rent-free and provided both an aide and a doctor. After he had several strokes, Johnny was brought back to the hospital where he died in 1984. His final request was that that famous yell be played as they lowered his casket.

 

 

 

 

Chester Conklin

Chester Conklin, the comedian who got his start as one of Mack Sennett’s original Keystone Kops, retired to the Country Home in 1961. Four years later he eloped with another patient, June Gunther, his fourth wife. They moved into their own little cottage in Van Nuys, California where he died in 1971 at the age of 85.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Astor

Mary Astor, star of silent and sound films and remembered for her role in “The Maltese Falcon” (1941) retired from films in 1965 suffering from a heart condition. She spent her last years at the Country Home where she was known to bicycle along the walks greeting all the residents she met. Mary died at the hospital in 1987.

 

 

 

 

Norma Shearer

Norma Shearer, the beautiful actress of both silent and sound films who had 6 Academy Award nominations for Best Actress but won only once(“The Divorcee” in 1930). She retired from acting in 1942 when her popularity waned and married Martin Arrouge, a ski instructor twenty years her junior. Surprising to many, they were still happily married at the time of her death (although in her declining years she reportedly called Martin "Irving" the name of her previous husband, Irving Thalberg). She was reportedly either 80 or 82 when she died at the hospital on June 12 th, 1983 (from Alzheimer’s and pneumonia) depending on who you ask!

 

 

 

Yvonne Decarlo

Yvonne DeCarlo, remembered as Zipporah in “The Ten Commandments” (1956) and as Lily Munster in television’s “The Munsters” (1964-1966 and endless reruns), died at the hospital of undisclosed causes on January 8 th, 2007.. She came to the Country Home sometime after her stroke in 1998. It was reported in Pittsburgh, Pa. that a fan there contributed to the costs of her funeral and cremation.

 

 

 

 

 

Next issue: GHOST VOICES: the actors you never see!