When we look at the history of Los Angeles’ many filming locations, we often think of neighborhoods like Hollywood, Burbank, or Culver City, all of which have appeared in too many productions over the years. However, a lesser-known neighborhood has provided the backdrop for an even greater number of suburban productions dating all the way back to the early days of the film industry.
Cheviot Hills, a small suburb in West Los Angeles, remains unknown even to many Angelenos, probably because of its small size and peculiar name. Despite its semi-obscure character compared to neighboring Century City and Santa Monica, the neighborhood’s history is inseparable from the rise of West Los Angeles’ big studios, and to this day it remains the most used suburb for major motion pictures and television. series that are shot “in town”.
A haven for stars and film crews alike
Not only is it probably the most filmed suburban location in the world, it has also been the real home for many of the best and brightest stars in show business, from Lucille Ball to Josh Gad to Jonah Hill. The wide variety of homes, businesses, and parks in the tony enclave are not only largely built for families who work in the nearby studios, but have themselves been featured in countless movies and shows.
Founded in 1924, Cheviot Hills was developed shortly after Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (today’s Sony Pictures Studios) began to take shape about a mile away on Motor Avenue in Culver City. Within a decade, construction began on 20th Century Studios (present-day Fox lot) immediately north of the neighborhood on Pico Boulevard, creating increased demand for residential development in Cheviot Hills.
The neighborhood was essentially developed to house studio workers, stars and starlets near the nearby back yards, and as the demand for natural sites increased with the advent of television, the neighborhood itself became something of a back yard. The Tudor houses, Spanish bungalows, and half-timbered houses gave filmmakers a variety of options to use for shooting shots and street scenes that studio backlots couldn’t provide, and from then on they became ubiquitous on screens large and small across America.
It is the location of many beloved sitcoms
Cheviot Hills’ strong screen presence, especially on television, has not ceased to this day. Walk a few blocks through the heart of the neighborhood along Dunleer Drive and you’ll pass the home of Clair and Phil Dunphy from Modern familythe residence of Beverly and Murray Goldberg The Goldbergs and some creepier houses used for multiple episodes of American horror stories.
Many of the homes are easily ripped off for other cities, including those masquerading as New York’s suburbs for The king of queens and Denver, Colorado for the legendary soap opera Dynasty. Also nearby are houses that have been used in many shows from the 60’s and 70’s – everything from The flying nun and Charlie’s Angels to the original Batman series and Nanny and the professor.
Another neighborhood feature that sees a lot of use is the sprawling Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, best known for the time when it was ripped off as Central Park in the Seinfeld episode “The Understudy.” The park’s adjacent Rancho Park Golf Course has long been a playground for actors and crew members who work in the area, and has been featured in many shows over the years, including the more recently Feud: Bette and Joan.
Local businesses can often be found on screen
Local businesses up and down Pico Boulevard have also served as trusted natural sites. Heading west from the Pico Golf Course, you’ll pass John O’Groats, a breakfast joint where many real Hollywood power brokers meet over cookies and pancakes, and recognizable from the episode “The Benadryl Brownie” of Control your enthusiasm. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld also ate there in a particularly hilarious episode of it Comedians in cars getting coffee. Continue down the neighborhood’s main street and you’ll end up at the Apple Pan, Los Angeles’ most beloved burger joint that doubled as the original Beverly Hills Peach Pit: 90210.
Other local businesses have also gotten a lot of attention on the Silver Screen, most notably the Westside Pavilion Mall, where Cher Horowitz goes to take refuge in Ignorant. The mall has also played host to scenes from Christmas with the Kranks and Tower robberyand Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” video, which ran constantly on MTV after its 1989 premiere.
Big stars who lived here
The real life residents of Cheviot Hills have had all the star power of the many TV shows and movies. Comic book heroes Stan Laurel, Jack Paar, and Buster Keaton all called the neighborhood home, and the home of Lucille Ball, a quirky Cape Cod on Patricia Avenue, still stands and is currently occupied by punk rock icon Glenn Danzig. Josh Gad is also a current resident, and Ty Burrell is possibly the only actor to have both his real life and TV character’s home in the quaint neighborhood.
Many A-listers also spent their formative years in Cheviot Hills. Jonah Hill grew up on Motor Avenue, and the district’s public school, Alexander Hamilton High School, was attended by Rita Hayworth, Lizzy Caplan, Brian Austin Green, and Emile Hirsch, to name a few.
The neighborhood’s other country club, Hillcrest, also has a storied history, in many ways reflective of the integration of Hollywood Jews into the upper echelons of Los Angeles society. For years, Jews were barred from Los Angeles’ poshest country clubs, leading to the establishment of Hillcrest as a safe haven for Jewish Hollywood moguls and stars alike.
Studio bosses such as Louis B. Mayer and the Warner brothers were original members of the club, and in the 1940s, Hillcrest attracted many of Hollywood’s most famous Jewish comics, such as Milton Berle, George Burns, Jack Benny, and the Marx brothers. Defying his own famous rule that he wouldn’t want to join a club that wanted him, Groucho Marx was Hillcrest’s most famous court jester for many years. There was even a famous Hillcrest Comedians Round Table event where the best comics of the day would gather at the club to toast and toast each other.
While there are other locations in Los Angeles that are more famous and easier to spot, Cheviot Hills has left a lasting mark in television and film history since the dawn of show business.