A Hollywood Journey

7. El Capitan Theatre

Hollywood, CA

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Built by LA developer Charles E. Toberman, the El Capitan was "Hollywood's First Home of Spoken Drama" and opened as a legitimate stage theatre on May 3, 1926. With legends such as Clark Gable and Joan Fontaine, this theatre presented over 120 live plays in its first decade. During the Depression, business began to falter and the theatre showcased fewer and fewer productions, ultimately forcing it to close for one year. The theatre reopened in March 1942 and was modernized and renamed the Hollywood Paramount Theatre. Under the west coast flagship for Paramount Pictures until the US Supreme Court's decision in the antitrust case in US vs. Paramount Pictures, it was forced to strip itself of its theatre holdings. But by the late 1980s, movie studios were once again allowed to own theatres and in 1989, the Walt Disney Company entered into a lease agreement with the Pacific Circuit for the Paramount Theatre. Disney spent $14 million to completely renovate and restore the theatre with much of its original decor and restored the El Capitan title. Now a fully refurbished movie palace, El Capitan Theatre serves as the venue for many Walt Disney film premieres. Jimmy Kimmel Live!, an American late-night talk show created and hosted by comedian, actor and voice artist Jimmy Kimmel, films live from a TV studio next door to the El Capitan. The show airs on Disney-owned ABC. There is a common misconception that the iconic televised address known as "Checkers Speech" by Richard Nixon, the 1952 republican vice president nominee, took place at the El Capitan Theatre. The speech took place at a different Hollywood location, which was also known as the 'El Capitan Theatre', which is now 'Avalon Hollywood', a historic nightclub and music venue. Nixon's address took place at the time the current El Capitan Theatre was known as the Hollywood Paramount.