Kenny Kingston’s Psychic Hollywood: By Valerie Porter.
hotel’s ninth floor. If you’re feeling truly brave, ask for Room 928. It was in this room that Montgomery Clift stayed while filming ‘’From Here to Eternity’. He’d walk up and down the halls at night rehearsing his lines and learning to play the bugle for his role as Private Prewitt. Since Clift’s passing, unsuspecting guests have called to the front desk, asking them to please stop the person who’s walking the halls playing a bugle at all hours. Guests of room 928 have awakened to the sound of their shower running. They’ve returned from sightseeing to find their bed moved across the room. “It’s just Montgomery Clift reliving a happy time,” Kingston insists. “He doesn’t mean any harm.” Recently Kingston was asked by cable chan‐ nel ‘American Movie Classics’ to hold a séance for Clift on what would have been his birthday. It was part of a viewer appre‐ ciation contest. Contest winners gathered at the Roosevelt and just prior to going up to 928 for the séance (where the spirits of Clift and Burt Lancaster, among other celeb‐ rities, put in an appearance) Kingston spoke to them in the hotel’s pool area, explaining some séance ground rules. “Just as I got to the part about how they should listen for Montgomery Clift to blow the bugle during the séance, we all heard a very loud sound of a bugle. Just one note, but it got people’s attention, including some hotel guests who’d innocently been swim‐ ming and listening to my talk. I’ve never seen people get out of a pool so quickly,” he laughs. Even walking on the ninth floor can generate some spirit activity, Kingston says. “I’ve been there when locked linen closet doors fly open and then slam shut,” he says. “And from the moment you step off the elevator on the ninth floor there’s a sense of spirit activity. People either feel extremely warm or extremely cold.” Musso & Frank’s If you’re hungry, a meal at Musso & Frank’s restaurant at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard can satisfy the appetite, give a possible peek at current celebrities such as Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt or Ben Kingsley, and per‐ haps even entice a spectral visitor or two. Open for well over 65 years, the restaurant was a favorite hangout for literary types such as William Faulkner, Ernest Heming‐ way and F. Scott Fitzgerald as well as early film personalities. “I’ve met several journal‐ ists for print interviews at Musso & Frank’s,” Kingston recalls, “and I taped a television interview for a British talk show starring Sadie Frost (a model and former wife of. Jude Law).” Apparently Errol Flynn is quite busy, because Kingston has seen him here, too. “He was standing behind a man seated at a nearby table,” he smiles. “He kept scratching the man’s neck and the
man would reach up to touch his neck because he felt it.” Other celebrity spirits to look for include Lionel Barrymore, Pe‐ ter Lorre, and by the bar, Orson Welles and Charles Laughton. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre Before leaving Hollywood Boulevard, most tourists would naturally visit the address of 6925, the site of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. It was built in 1927 by theatre entrepreneur Sid Grauman. The theatre was home to the Academy Awards cere‐ mony during the 1940s and has also played host to numerous film premieres, with its red carpet and bright lights at‐ tracting television and newspaper report‐ ers worldwide. The first premiere, for 1927’s Cecil B. DeMille epic “King of Kings”, drew 50,000 fans, who gathered to see their favorite celebrities arrive. But its fame has come primarily from the more than 200 hand and footprints that fill the courtyard leading into the 1400‐ seat movie theatre. Additional body parts and items are imprinted in cement, too, such as comedian Jimmy Durante’s nose, Harpo Marx’s harp, John Wayne’s fist and Whoopi Goldberg’s dreadlocks. Stars such as Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise have left their mark in more recent years. It seems the spirits are as intrigued as the tourists to see their imprints. Kingston says each time he’s visited, he’s felt the presence of a spirit as he looked at their particular signature or imprint. “They like to reminisce about the special honor of being memorialized there,” he says. “I feel mostly happy energy at the theatre,” he says. “I’ve encountered Humphrey Bogart and gossip columnist Louella Parsons while visiting.” His dear friend Marion Davies (who was publishing czar William Randolph Hearst’s mistress and whose life was portrayed in Orson Welles’ classic film “Citizen Kane”) has been seen wandering the cement courtyard, as well. “But there is one element of negativity near the sidewalk of the theatre,” he ad‐ mits. There’s almost a feeling of an invisi‐ ble barrier between the sidewalk and the courtyard, he says, and he attributes it to character actor Victor Killian, who co‐ starred with John Wayne in “Reap the Wild Wind.” Killian lived a block from the theatre and was killed by an intruder after walking back to his home from a night on the Boulevard in 1979. His killer was never found, and it seems he still roams this block of Hollywood Boulevard, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. “It’s a futile ef‐ fort,” Kingston says, “but his spirit is angry and restless and almost blocks visitors from entering the courtyard till he’s had a good look at them.” 23
Greystone Mansion A couple of miles from Hollywood, at 905 Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills, sits the impressive Greystone Mansion. Built in 1927, the 55‐room estate has been the film site for countless films including “X‐ Men”, “The Social Network”, “Spiderman III”, “The Prestige”, “There Will Be Blood” and even an Elton John music video. But despite its beauty and lush grounds (the grounds are open for public tours), the mansion was home to a notorious murder/ suicide and its chilling effects can still be felt today. The land was first owned by Edward Law‐ rence Doheny, a wealthy Los Angeles busi‐ nessman. He gave a parcel of land to his only child, Edward “Ned” Doheny, Jr. and the mansion was built, being named Grey‐ stone when completed. In September, 1928, Ned, his wife and their five children moved in; yet five months later 35‐year‐old Ned was dead. He was fatally shot by his private secretary Theodore H. Plunkett who, after killing young Doheny in his of‐ fice, went into the hallway and killed him‐ self. The official verdict is that Plunkett was disgruntled after being refused an increase in salary. Unofficial reports hinted at a “lover’s quarrel.” Details were quickly hushed up and the unsolved scandal was eventually forgotten. Mrs. Doheny lived at Greystone until the 1950s and it then be‐ came the property of the City of Beverly Hills. The prestigious American Film Institute leased the property for 12 years but now it is used exclusively for weddings, recep‐ tions and extensive film shoots. It’s beauti‐ ful to tour, but Kingston says, “I don’t call many places ‘spooky’, but this is one of them. I wouldn’t want to live there. I wouldn’t know where to put furniture or hang a painting. I would feel extremely uncomfortable spending the night here as a guest. The spirit of the murdered Do‐ heny, Jr. and the negativity of the tragedy lingers on here.” So, while the grounds are lovely to look at, venture too close to the mansion and especially the side windows housing the room where Doheny’s body was found, and a heaviness will overcome you, Kingston warns. It’s a grisly and little‐ known bit of Hollywood‐area history. Westwood Memorial Some people visit cemeteries as a way to contact spirits and oddly enough, to “sightsee” and come in close contact with celebrities, albeit those who have passed over. If that’s your style, Kingston recom‐ mends Westwood Memorial or Hollywood Forever. Tiny Westwood Memorial covers only 3.3 acres, tucked away behind high‐ rise office buildings at 1218 Glendon Drive, just off busy Wilshire Boulevard.