18 minute read
Early Surfers
By Pablo Capra Early Surfers Early Surfers
Archivist for the Topanga Historical Society
In 2005, former Topanga Messenger editor Susan Chasen and I interviewed the Rusts’ daughter Thais (b.1925) about growing up in Lower Topanga. Thais’ memories, many of which we published in the newspaper and re-published in The Topanga Story, presented a vision of our hometown so unfamiliar that it astonished us.
One of Thais’ earliest memories was watching the enormous German Graf Zeppelin fly by Topanga Beach on its 1929 trip around the world. A few years later, the zeppelin would become a symbol of Nazi propaganda and carry the swastika.
Thais also remembered the gambling ships of the 1930s, which would sometimes anchor off Topanga. They had to stay three miles from the coast to avoid US laws.
Holiday fun was had at the annual “Webster Christmas Party for the Children of Malibu,” a 20-year tradition at John L. Webster’s Malibu Courthouse that started in 1932, and drew hundreds.
A simpler ritual was collecting honey with painter Laura Way Mathiesen (1876-1966), who kept her bees in a side canyon that doubled as a shooting range for the police.
Thais’ favorite memories were of spending whole summers on the beach with her cousin Marilyn Kays (19242002) and neighbors Dick Carhart and Ida Lee Carrillo (1924-1948).
We were at the beach probably from eight or nine in the morning till five or six at night. It didn’t matter how large the waves were; we just had fun….
One day, Marilyn and I went with Ida Lee and her dad to the beach. The three of us got out beyond the waves, not knowing that there was a strong riptide. When we couldn’t get back to shore, Ottie called the Santa Monica lifeguards to rescue us. We were picked up just before Sunset Blvd. We were having a great time, but Ida Lee’s dad was frantic.
Ida Lee was the daughter of Octavio “Ottie” (1889-1980) and Bessie Carrillo (1889-1980), the niece of actor Leo Carrillo (1880-1961), and a descendant of one of California’s oldest Spanish families.
Other swimming options were the bathhouse of Alfred T. Stewart, rebuilt after the 1926 fire and nicknamed The Plunge, and the private swimming pool of actor/Olympian Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984) at Las Tunas Beach, where the neighborhood kids liked to jump in from the balcony.
Weissmuller was probably a vacation renter of actress Natalie Talmadge (1896-1969), who lived there with her sons Joseph “James” (1922-2007) and Robert “Bob” (1924-2009). She legally changed their surnames to Talmadge to avoid being reminded of her famous ex-husband Buster Keaton (1895-1966).
In the early 1940s, actors David Niven (1910-1983) and Errol Flynn (1909-1959) took over the house, with Bing Crosby (1903-1977) and Paulette Goddard (1910-1990) living on either side. In the mid-1940s, it became the Las Tunas Isle Motel. Today it’s a private residence again.
After high school, Thais became engaged to Bob Talmadge, but they broke up before the wedding. During World War II, she spent Friday nights scanning the sky for enemy planes from a lookout tower that was across the street from today’s Getty Villa.
In the early 1950s, she was briefly married to a second beach resident, Dave Sykes (1926-2009).
However, a third man from the beach was destined to become her life partner, and surprisingly it was Dave’s younger brother, John “Jack” Sykes (1935-2017), whom she married in 1956.
Jack, Dave, and their sister Beverly (1930-2001) were the children of Sherman (1895-1986) and Gladys Sykes (1897-1987), who owned a bar called The Glen in Beverly Glen. It had a reputation for being tough, and Sherman carried a gun that he would sometimes leave out on the family table. Their house had a gangplank that led onto the sand. When it was pulled up, it covered the door to keep big waves from splashing in.
Chasen and I interviewed Jack simultaneously, and he shared vivid memories of what Topanga Beach was like during World War II.
By then, the gambling ships had been outlawed, but the Air Force kept an abandoned one-off Topanga for
Dave Sykes, 1942. Photo by Joe Quigg / used with permission from Gibbs Smith Publisher. target practice. The hills along the coast were full of artillery. It was a common sight to see 100 army vehicles at a time driving down the highway in convoy. At night, drivers kept their headlights off, and a Blackout Warden fined houses where light was visible. One night, a tank came to investigate a fishing boat that shouldn’t have been there.
The U.S. Coast Guard had a headquarters at Sunset Blvd. and patrolled the coast on foot every evening, passing by Topanga Beach with bayonets and German Shepherds. Sometimes the army closed the beach to play war games.
Machine gun nests were placed on dirt mounds on either side of the lagoon. One was in front of Jack’s house.
They dug a big hole in the sand and had soldiers in there. I would bring them cookies from our house, and my dad got so mad at me. I was taking all our stuff out for these guys to eat.
Contrasting with the wartime grittiness was the glamour of Jack’s celebrity neighbors, like actresses Greta Garbo (1905-1990), with whom he took walks, and Shirley Temple (1928-2014), who occasionally asked his dad for a ride to town.
Jack was also surrounded by icons of early California surfing, which included his brother. [Dave] Sykes was the best surfer I had seen at that time because he lived there and surfed all day, every day. He could just glide and glide. — Joe Quigg, “The Archivist: Turning Points” The Surfer’s Journal, 2017-09-19
Topanga dweller Sykes’ finely honed speed lines and turning were years in advance of others. Sykes delighted in perfect planing surfaces and placed 15 layers of hand-rubbed lacquer over his boards, creating a hard-shelled outer surface many years before the discovery of fiberglass and resin. — Craig Stecyk, The Surfer’s Journal
The Malibu Point was first surfed in September 1927, when it was still a private ranch, by Tom Blake (1902-1994) and Sam Reid (1905-1978). We don’t know who first surfed Topanga, but it would make sense for Tom and Sam to have tried it before Malibu. Reid is often quoted as saying that “there were only six surfboards in the entire United States” when he graduated from Santa Monica High School in the early 1920s.
Although Reid’s count was meant more to give an impression, two of those “six” surfboards belonged to brothers John E. O. (1915-1990) and Jim Larronde (1917-1989), whose parents had them engraved with the boys’ initials in Hawaii and shipped to their Topanga Beach vacation house in 1921 (John’s redwood board is now in the Museum of Ventura County). In the late 1930s, a transition balsa-redwood surfboard was called the Larronde Model. In the late 1940s, John made a 16-minute home surf movie, popularly known as Sweet Sixteen, of trips he took between Malibu and Santa Barbara.
Their father, Pedro Larronde (18751922), supposedly built their beach house in 1917, just after the prison camp closed. He may have been given this privilege because his brother John M. (1878-1954) was an executive of the Title Insurance and Trust Company.
Or it may have happened because their grandfather Pierre (1826-1896) had been the legal guardian of Deputy Sheriff Eugene Biscailuz’s uncle William (1864-1943), who was also of Basque ancestry.
Pedro was an executive of the Franco-American Baking Company, and a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club. For some reason, his wife Gladys (1883-1950) was forced to move their beach house across the street to Old Malibu Road when the LAAC took ownership in the mid-1920s.
The Larronde house became known as the Three J’s Inn, after the boys and their sister Juanita (1912-2004). It was bulldozed in the mid-2000s, along with the Rust house and the rest of Lower Topanga, after State Parks took ownership.
Other early Topanga Beach surfers were Don James (1912-1996), Ted Berkeley (1912-1997), Bob Simmons (1919-1954), Ed Fearon (b.1921), Jack Quigg (b.1922), the Talmadge brothers, Warren Miller (1924-2018), half-brothers Jerry Hanes (b.1924) and Bobby Jacks (1927-1987), brothers Dave (1928-2015) and Roger Sweet (b.1930), Dick Hunt (b.1929), Howard Terrill (b.1929), Matt Kivlin (19292014), Mike Roberts, brothers Ted and Fred Harrison, and twin brothers Corny (1930-2011) and Peter Cole (b.1930).
Ed Fearon, Don James, and Jack Quigg took this photo in front of their Topanga Beach house on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked, December 7, 1941. Photo by Don James
More than just a random surf pack, this group is actually noted for evolving the sport with their skill, precociousness, and other contributions.
James was California’s first dedicated surf photographer.
Simmons and Dave were influential shapers. Dave started selling his surfboards at the gas station when his brother Roger took it over in the 1950s.
Miller was an early surf filmmaker, then transitioned to ski filming, a passion which he traced back to a freak snowstorm at Topanga Beach.
Many people and businesses change forever because of a simple event. Mine changed on the beach at Topanga Canyon in 1929. It had snowed about an inch the night before and as I walked barefooted in ankle-deep warm ocean water, I stepped out onto the snow and a kind of visceral feeling happened that to this day is impossible for me to explain. —“Nostalgia,” Idaho Mountain Express, 2010-01-22 (No snow was reported in 1929. Miller could be remembering the snows that fell in the winter of 1931-32.)
Kivlin was considered to be the best California surfer of his generation, and Kathy “Gidget” Kohner (b.1941) caught her first wave on his board, which led to an explosion in surfing’s popularity.
Peter moved to Hawaii to become a bigwave rider, and his brother Corny became the art director of Topanga Beach’s own Surf Guide magazine.
World War II interrupted the lives of many of these young surfers, but offered unexpected opportunities for the Rust women. Thais followed her mom into the aerospace field, getting her first job at Douglas Aircraft. She went on to work at the RAND Corporation and the Planning Research Corporation.
Jack was too young to fight in World War II, but chose a military career anyway when he came of age. He then worked as a plumber, and eventually started his own company.
Jack and Thais raised two daughters, Lori (b.1958) and Lisa (1961-2018), and retired in Orange, CA.
Thais passed away at 96 on December 30, 2021.
This is an excerpt from the book Topanga Beach: A History, the 1820s-1920s orgionally published in the Messenger Mountain News, 2020-04-03. Author Pablo Capra is the Archivist for the Topanga Historical Society and author of Topanga Beach: A History (2020). More at topangahistoricalsociety.org.
Warren Miller with his board “Warnie,” c. 1947. Photo c/o Warren Miller family
He’s Not Finished
Award-winning actor James Brolin talks about his storied career, current projects, and his love of Malibu.
By Bridget Graham Photos by Dana Fineman
Born and raised in Southern California, actor James Brolin spent his teenage years in Malibu parking cars, stocking liquor shelves, and working as a beach boy, among other jobs. If someone had told him back then that he’d have a successful acting career—one still going strong at age 81-years-young—he likely wouldn’t have believed it.
Brolin then attempted to overcome his stage fright by appearing in a school play. However, he dropped out before the play started—opening night. And that was it—or so he thought. An acting opportunity came again when at age 18, he was stopped on the street and asked to be in a Dodge truck commercial. “I immediately asked, ‘how much?’ and ‘I wouldn’t have to talk, would I?’ Brolin recalled.
As luck would have it, this was not a speaking part—and he was to be paid $400, which was quite the amount for a young man. A role in a wine commercial followed, and Brolin had to join the union (the dues were $600 and, remember, he was making $400). But those commercials led to an agent, acting classes, and a contract at 20th Century Fox.
When Brolin sat down to talk with Malibu Times Magazine, I first asked what we should all know by the end of the interview about him and his career. Humbly, Brolin, responded, “Well, let’s see what comes out of this conversation.” But then he said something about himself that pretty much summed up the total of it all before we even started; he said, “I’m not finished.”
And he’s not.
The popular Netflix fantasy drama series he narrates, “Sweet Tooth,” was renewed for a second season, and he has a role in the upcoming Pixar movie, “Lightyear” playing the character Zurg (at the time of this publication additional details were still under wraps). He has projects he’s written, co-written, or rewritten just waiting for investors (there’s a grandpa with a baby; the truth about the Joey Buttafuco and the Lolita Long Island Mistress; and the real-life story of the richest Black woman in Florida who was drugged and abused by her physician). Brolin wasn’t expecting “Sweet Tooth” when it was sent his way—it came about when producers Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey invited him over for lunch to discuss it—and wanted him for the part. Brolin got a kick out of it, because he had recorded over 40 vocal tapes throughout
the years, and was never hired for any voice-overs. And now he was the narrator of a soon-to-be hit show. It all happened during the pandemic, so a sound booth was delivered to Brolin’s estate, where the actor found himself working on another extension in his long career.
“It arrived in a big suitcase, complete with a tripod; I hooked up to the internet, and then there I was, talking to Warner Bros,” the actor said. He did eight sessions from the comfort of his home. It was also hard work. “But I really liked it,” he said. The series was number one for four weeks throughout the world. “It’s a new influx of young people; it’s like being discovered all over again,” Brolin said.
And then Pixar contacted him for “Lightyear,” the story of Buzz Lightyear from the “Toy Story” franchise—aka “The story of Buzz Lightyear and his adventures to infinity and beyond.” Brolin is set to reveal additional details during June’s press junket to coincide with the release date of June 17.
The actor gained national attention in 1969 with his role as Dr. Steven Kiley in the ABC series “Marcus Welby, M.D.” The show aired for seven seasons, with Brolin earning an Emmy and two Golden Globes for his role as the young, by-the-book doctor who often clashed with the older and more unorthodox title character. He has had a steady career since, which has included many interesting behind-the-scenes stories. Brolin thought playing President Ronald Reagan in the 2003 television film “The Reagans,” for which he received rave reviews, an Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, would be a “career killer” and, therefore, he first turned it down. But the producer drove to his house, asked him to read the first 20 pages, and then waited in the car. Brolin started shooting the film 11 days later. Brolin is a well-trained actor with over 10,000
hours of workshop top, but ironically, he is usually the one joking around until the director yells “action.” Then things turn very serious.
While filming “Marcus Welby,” Brolin was living on a ranch and using the skills he learned from his general contractor father to work as a carpenter. He is well versed in the world of construction, from being a plumber’s assistant to owning his own lumber yard. But that’s not all he’s done to keep busy from a young age. He has owned several businesses, including a bookstore and a jet charter company.
“I’ve always had a job, if not three at the same time,” Brolin noted. (And when he’s not working, he’s been known to race cars and fly planes. And also build them. He built one in North Carolina two years ago.) He is also a long-time photographer and videographer. Brolin also trained horses for many years.
His foray into working—and long love of Malibu—began in 1955.
“I was living up in Mulholland near Benedict Canyon,” Brolin shared. “I went with a friend to Malibu and thought ‘wow, this is really interesting’ and was totally fascinated with it all. By 16, I had my 1950s Old’s convertible, which was repainted bright yellow with one side totally bashed in; that’s how I got it for cheap and started to learn to surf.”
By spending time in Malibu, he got a job at the restaurant, Tonga Lei (where Nobu is today). “That was a real Hawaiian place,” Brolin said. “You had to duck so you didn’t get hit with palms in the face walking in.”
He also worked at the Raft Bar, which was next to Reel Inn, “It was a real rank bar and I parked cars,” Brolin recalled. “But my first job was making hot dogs at Neenie’s Weenie’s kiosks for people at the beach. I literally knew I would end up living here.”
He had lived in a few places throughout town before he met his wife, Barbra Streisand, on July 1, 1996 (they married July 1, 1998) and moved to their now location. The two spent the pandemic at their home in Malibu.
“At first, we were like, ‘oh no, we’re stuck’ but then it just kept getting better and better,” Brolin said. “We’re 90 feet above a cliff. I used to have a small beach house in Santa Barbara, and when the waves would crash, the bed would move—and a train passed by four times a day—now, I’m 90 feet above the ocean with an incredible view. I couldn’t be in a better spot, thanks to my wife.”
He also survived the pandemic by taking care of himself. His routine began pre-pandemic when he met surfing legend and fellow Malibu resident Laird Hamilton through local friends. Brolin
Brolin has a long history of living in and loving Malibu.
Brolin, who narrates “Sweet Tooth” and plays Zurg in “Lightyear” is also a big car enthusiast, among having many other activities and hobbies that keep him busy. found himself part of a group of eight to ten people at any given time actively working out at Hamilton’s home.
When Brolin first arrived on the scene at Hamilton’s sessions, he said it was tough. But that is what he loved about it. “Laird gave me 20 pounds in each hand and sent me 13 feet to the bottom of pool. He said that if I wanted air, I had to get to the top,” Brolin recalled. “I did it 20 times that first day.”
And he loved the comradery. “I also learned about getting up early and doing something strenuous. It’s not about going to the gym at noon, but about being up and working out by 8 a.m.”
The pandemic changed the situation, and Brolin built his own pool, ice tub and sauna (he does it once if not twice a day for 45 minutes). However, he’s looking forward to when the pandemic really passes and he can be back with the group. “I can’t wait,” he said. And then no sooner had he said that, when Hamilton walks into the restaurant where we were having coffee. Brolin repeated to Hamilton directly, “you changed my life.” It was a moment. The actor not only loves this new part of his life, but he loves the old. “I believe I was born and lived during the best time in history,” he said. “Gas was 17 cents a gallon, a coke was a nickel, so was a phone call. And ‘50s cars were amazing.” Brolin knows and loves cars. He drove up in his 13-year-old Mini. “There’s something iconic about it in this day and age.” He also drives a Ford Raptor truck, “It’s a like a freeway yacht.” And, he stated, “neither can you ever pry from my hands.” The actor also has a six-yearold Porsche he found in a little town in Arkansas that he had put on a truck and sent here, “… from one of those classic dealers in a small town,” he said. So, as we came to the end of our conversation, I wanted to confirm that we did learn what Brolin had to share at this stage in his career. We learned he’s happy. He’s fit. He’s busy. His son, Josh, and family live right down the street. And Brolin has a long history of loving Malibu. And then he said, “Isn’t life fun? All I really need is a sandwich, a hug, and sunshine. It’s all I require. All the material goods are token stuff. But in life, don’t waste a second. You can’t allow your brain to let you waste any time. Use every delicious minute.” He really isn’t finished. “I keep moving because I haven’t done what is in the back of my mind,” Brolin said. “I just don’t know what it is yet. So, I’m always on the edge of doing something.”
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