The Knickerbocker Hotel, Hollywood, Ca

"The Knickerbocker Hotel was first built as a luxury apartment building in 1925, but it was later converted to a hotel. The hotel was frequented by many famous actors and directors during that decade. There is a legend that Rudolph Valentino used to dance the tango in the Knickerbocker saloon. But the hotel soon became more well-known for sudden deaths. Director D. W Griffith died of a stroke in the hotel lobby in 1948, and actor William Frawley (Fred Mertz from “I Love Lucy”) dropped dead from a heart attack on the sidewalk outside the hotel in 1966. He had lived there for years and was brought into the lobby in an attempt to revive him, but to no avail. Irene Gibbons, a costume designer for MGM, committed suicide at the Knickerbocker. A seance to contact the spirit of Harry Houdini was held on the roof of the hotel, complete with a violent rainstorm which was said not to have occurred anywhere else in the city. Police dragged troubled actress Francis Farmer half-naked out of the Knickerbocker, one of the first in a series of events leading to her descent into mental illness. The Knickerbocker was eventually converted once again, into a senior citizens home, and the ghosts of celebrities past are still said to haunt it, including the ghost of Valentino."                   Knickerbocker Hotel 1714 Ivar Avenue Los Angeles, CA 9002