"Are the Stars Out Tonight?"

The Life, Death, and Renewal of the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel

Words and Images by Tess Inman

THE GHOST IN THE LADIES LOUNGE

I have been a Costumer for most of my life, working on Films, Television and Theater. I am also a compulsive photographer. I am attracted to light, shadow, shapes and architecture. 

Flashback to November, 2004. I am working on a film and we are spending three days filming at the site that was once a premiere five-star hotel in Los Angeles – The Ambassador. The Hotel opened in 1921, closed for business in 1989, and had become a popular filming location since. 

Tonight we are filming scenes in one of the bungalows on the property, and the entire company is set up inside and outside of that bungalow. I am not needed on set, as I have no actors in this scene. My two Costumer set partners encourage me to go to the empty hotel and indulge my interest in taking photos of architecture and history

I walk through the deserted lobby and down the circular staircase to the Wilshire Boulevard level, where the former shops and service areas of the hotel were. I find the Ladies Lounge and go in to use the facilities.

While I am sitting in my stall, answering the call of nature, I hear loud footsteps run into the lounge and straight into the stall next to me. I find that a little odd, as people usually selelct a stall away from one that is already occupied. I can hear this person shuffling about and making a lot of noise with their feet.

After I exit my stall and begin washing my hands, I look in the mirrors and notice that the stall I heard footsteps in is now empty.

Okay, that’s weird. But I do not automatically assume that something supernatural has just occurred. I took this photo of the staircase up to the lobby just then.

The next day our leading lady needs the restroom and asks two women to go with her, as her hair stylist experienced a ghost in that same ladies lounge. I started wondering about that, and at lunch I ask the hair stylist to tell me her story.

In a previous year, she and another stylist were at the sinks in the lounge when they heard someone in high heels run across the tiled floor and into the bathroom. However, there was no one there. They decide to vacate out of there right away.

As they leave, they notice that the foyer into the bathroom is actually carpeted. There is no way we could have heard high heels running into the bathroom.

I do not know the real answer to all of this. But my Partner says that I was never the same after that night. He claims that I am haunted by the ghost of the ladies lounge and that this was the genesis of my twenty plus years of recording Ambassador history.

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IN THE BEGINNING

Located at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard between Catalina Street and Mariposa Avenue in present day Koreatown, the Ambassador Hotel was a five-star deluxe stay for the many actors, musicians, artists, diplomats, politicians, authors, and everyday residents of a Los Angeles that was growing rapidly. When the hotel opened in January, 1921, employees of the hotel would take the city bus to its furthest stop, and then walk the seven more blocks west to get to the Ambassador.

The 24 acre property boasted 1,000 guest rooms, several spacious ballrooms, a "crystal plunge" or "swimming pool" as we call it today. There were tennis courts, a golf course, a 582 seat theatre, and the legendary world-famous Cocoanut Grove nightclub.

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“ARE THE STARS OUT TONIGHT?” is what people asked, when they called The Grove to make a reservation. Traditionally, upper classes would not be socializing with common entertainers, but that etiquette changed as the public became enamoured with their silent film star favorites. The roaring twenties roared a little louder at the Grove.

In the 1930’s, the era of big bands and big radio stations created more fame for the Grove. On Saturday nights, radio shows would broadcast across the country and people would be drawn to singers like Bing Crosby. 

Eventually, the Grove was host to several Academy Award Shows and innumerable galas, benefits, and special occasions. I have lost count of the number of folks from Los Angeles who tell me that their prom was at The Ambassador. They attended a wedding there. I have seen photos of numerous gatherings of citizens of many cultures over the years. Once in awhile I will hear, “My Father rented a convertible to take my mother to The Cocoanut Grove on their first date.” Clearly, that guy knew what he was doing.

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I do love architecture. To me the visual feast of a beautiful building actually makes me feel better. It is a pity that in Los Angeles, buildings that have fallen out of fashion become endangered species, sadly destined for destruction.

The Ambassador was splendid in her day, and a welcome location to film a show, see a great musical act, or live in one of their bungalows while you spend the winter writing in Los Angeles.

By the 1960s, she was beginning to show her age, and other hotels in hotter zip codes were getting more attention.

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The saddest day of all, June 5, 1968, was when Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in the Embassy Ballroom after winning the California Democratic Primary for the 1968 Presidential Election. 

After grieving with the nation during the tragedy, the Ambassador began to move forward. In 1969, Margaret Tante Burk was hired to be the Public Relations Director. She would hold that position with pride until 1989, when the hotel finally closed its doors. 

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Margaret had come to Los Angeles during the early 1940’s and her first stop was The Cocoanut Grove. She loved Swing music and Benny Goodman’s Band. She became part of the wartime working force in Los Angeles.

She brought charm, intelligence, and a stream of good ideas that helped the Hotel stay relevant, interesting, and occupied. She arranged for the Jury of the Manson Family Trial to be sequestered at the Ambassador, where they could go outside, and visit with their families on weekends. That trial ended up lasting nine months. 

Margaret would host events to create some excitement, such as having the Apollo team of Astronauts helicoptered onto the hotel grounds so the public could meet them. She encouraged use of the hotel for films and television shows. When the hotel ceased operations in 1989, she helped to usher in the next era of location filming. Pretty Woman, Hoffa, The Shadow, The Toolbox Murders, and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion are just a few films that came to mind.

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The Ambassador was a beauty in her day. After the severe shake of the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, I saw huge horizontal cracks in the walls, a leaking roof, and asbestos in the building structure.

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TIME FOR SCHOOL: THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

There was a multi-year battle for the property in judicial court and in the court of public opinion. The victor was LAUSD, the Los Angeles Unified School District. They began demolition in 2005 in order to clear the ground for six new schools.  

Having been enticed by the siren song of history, I started taking photographs of the demolition process behind the chain link fences, from the surrounding streets.

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The history came off in layers. I got to see the hotel unwrapped visually over the months. Many hours. Many digital images.

By the time the hotel and the Cocoanut Grove were gone, I thought I was done with my project. 

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In January 2008, due to some luck and a little groveling, I was allowed back onto the site for a wee bit to take some photos near the circular entrance on the west side of the building. I felt like I hit the jackpot. 

The new structure of the forthcoming Robert F. Kennedy School was beginning to take shape. 

The Wilshire side of the school was built to match the silhouette of the former Ambassador, complete with a Cocoanut Grove Auditorium. This was a marvelous visual illusion to me and I was inspired to continue taking photographs of the construction of the six new public schools that would grow to fill the 22-acre site. 

I made a wish that my photographs would someday become part of the connective tissue of the past, present, and future of this place. 

Photo of Tess (left) and Margaret (right) at The Bounty on Wilshire, taken in 2006

In 2010, I looked Margaret up, and we started having wonderful outings. She encouraged my photo storytelling and I truly admired her. I promised her that I would get us into the newly opened Robert F. Kennedy School so that she could revisit the site that was such an important place in her life. 

In 2011, a magnificent teacher named Felicia Perez gave us a complete tour of the whole place, reconstructed.

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Teacher Felicia Perez and her 9th grade students at the New Open World Academy created a video project, using my photographs and research as a starting point for their story telling.

www.nowandthengeoclass.weebly.com

I made a wish that my own photographs would become part of the history of the Ambassador and was really shocked that it happened in just a few years. I was not expecting such instant gratification. 

Our dear Margaret passed away in October 2011, just a few months after we had our tour of the new schools. In 2012, those wonderful students dedicated their video website to her. She would have been so honored and happy! 

After the hotel was gone, I wondered if the ghosts had left as well.

In 2011, I walked into the open space of the schools, where the lobby had once been. I felt waves of energy rushing by me and I sensed that the ghosts were happy.

I keep collecting Ambassador history. 

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