..
1750 Vine Street,
Hollywood, CA. / (323) 462-6252
 
Capitol Records was the first record company based on the West Coast, and has promoted such acts as The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, Bob Seger, Duran Duran, Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Robertson, Steve Miller andTina Turner.
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Since 1954, the company has been located in the world's first circular office building. There is a lack of consensus about whether or not this unique, 13-story high-rise was purposely designed to resemble a stack of records topped by a stylus, but few would deny that it certainly does.
At the base of the building's southern face (overlooking a parking lot) is a large, colorful mural by artist Richard Wyatt, 
titled " Hollywood Jazz. " The mural features large portraits of Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and other jazz greats.
Alas, this fine mural has been allowed to fade badly.
John Lennon 's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is right outside the Capitol Records building, and is often the site of candlelight vigils on the anniversary of his death (December 8).
Country superstar Garth Brooks also has a star on the Walk of Fame outside the front door.
After dark, you might notice that the spire high atop the Capitol Records building is topped by a red light which continually blinks on and off. Some people think it looks like it's sending out a message in Morse Code. It is. The red light blinks out the word " Hollywood " in code, every few seconds. In 1956, the granddaughter of Samuel Morse (inventor of the Morse code) threw the switch that turned on the tower light. This single-word message was changed only once, in June of 1992, to celebrate Capitol Records' 50th anniversary. For that one year, it blinked: " Capitol 50. " In 1993, it returned to sending the original message: " Hollywood. "
Capitol Records was founded by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Glenn Wallichs shortly after the United States entered World War II. Mercer was a songwriter from New York City who came to Hollywood in 1935 to write songs for RKO Studios. DeSylva was a successful songwriter and an executive producer at Paramount Pictures. Wallichs was the founder and owner of Music City, a popular record outlet located at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, where customers could buy radios, records, and sheet music for their favorite songs, after sampling records in private listening booths. With $25,000 in start-up capital, provided by DeSylva, Mercer set about signing talent while Wallichs ran the business.
Key Dates
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The Academy Building
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
8949 Wilshire Blvd.,
and.
The Academy Center for Motion Picture Study
333 S. La Cienega Blvd. (at Olympic),
Beverly Hills, CA.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is the organization that (among other things) gives out the annual Academy Awards - otherwise known as the Oscars. Created in 1927, the Academy is dedicated to supporting research and education in film-making, and to honoring outstanding achievement in motion pictures. They now have over 3,400 active members (membership is by invitation only), and their two headquarter buildings are both located in Beverly Hills.
The Academy used to have only one main building, the one on Wilshire. But in 1991, the Academy moved part of their operations (and treasures) into a second building on La Cienega - the Academy Center for Motion Picture Study. The Center is housed in a wonderful old structure resembling a Spanish Mission, which they found in disrepair and restored to its former glory.
The original Wilshire Boulevard office is also the place where the Oscar nominations are announced each February, at a news conference which always draws international media coverage. This is also the place where the stars pick up their actual Oscar awards (after the statuettes have been engraved).
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & 
Sciences
The original Wilshire headquarters no longer has a giant Oscar statue outside (the gold figure now stands inside, near the elevator). There's usually not much for the general public to see or do in the building's lobby, which on most days is empty of exhibits (except for a few posters). And most of the building's six floors are now dedicated strictly to business.
However, on the 4th floor, you will find a small gallery which is open to the public, filled with exhibits related to the movie industry.
But the public should be interested in one other notable part of this Wilshire branch of the Academy - a fabulous movie theatre! The Samuel Goldwyn Theater seats close to 1,000, and is a gorgeous auditorium with state-of-the-art facilities; the screen is flanked by twin, giant Oscar statues. This theater hosts frequent screenings of exceptional films, and these screenings are open to the public.
The other Academy site (at La Cienega and Olympic) is the Douglas Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study - named in the honor of the Academy's first president.
A key attraction for some visitors will be the 1928 Mission-style building itself, with its tile roof and ornate, picturesque tower. This was formerly the old Beverly Hills Waterworks; take a look at the vintage photos in the lobby to see what the place used to look like when it was just a dilapidated water-treatment plant, and you'll have to admire the recent restoration effort. Situated in a small park, there's even a putting green and a soccer field on the south side of the building.
The large research library on the second floor contains an extraordinary collection of reference books concerning the history of motion pictures, but little else to attract members of the general public. Yes, there is some minor Hollywood memorabilia displayed under glass in the library's south wing, but that's all.
The Academy Film Archive is the finest and most complete film archives in the world. They have also attempted to collect every English language book on the subject of motion pictures. Included are more than 20,000 books, 60,000 screenplays, 12,000 films, 15,000 posters, 1,400 periodicals, 200,000 clippings, plus six million movie stills and photographs on file, all of which are available to researchers and students.
The Cecil B. DeMille Reading Room contains biographical files on more than 73,000 filmmakers and 82,000 movies, as well as tens of thousands of Hollywood books and production files. The library also has special collections donated by the estates of such legends as Alfred Hitchcock, Sam Peckinpah, John Huston, Mary Pickford, George Stevens, John Huston, George Cukor, George Roy Hill, Paul Mazursky, William Friedkin, Arthur Hiller, Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Gregory Peck, Jackie Coogan, James Wong Howe, Sammy Cahn, Edith Head, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. The library does not lend its materials; all research must be done at the library.
In late 1996, Clark Gable 's Oscar (which he won for his performance in the 1934 classic " It Happened One Night "), was auctioned off to the highest bidder, despite attempts by the Academy to prevent the sale. Fortunately, the highest bidder was Steven Spielberg, who paid $607,500 for the statuette, then graciously donated it to the Academy. It is now on permanent public display at the Center for Motion Picture Study on La Cienega.
The Kodak Theatre
at the Hollywood & Highland center
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA.
The most important annual celebrity event in Show Biz takes place late each winter (usually in late February or early March), right here in Los Angeles. It's Oscar Night, that dazzling evening when the prestigious Academy Awards are presented for the year's best achievements in motion pictures.
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