On the Bedside Table - Hollywoodland by Mary Mallory

I am very excited about the newly published book (today!) on Hollywoodland by a good friend of mine, Mary Mallory.  I've got mine on order and can't wait to get it on the bedside table to read.  Hollywoodland chronicles the story of how the Hollywood(land) sign came to be and the neighborhood that was built around the now iconic image that represents Hollywood.

Mary Mallory is a film historian, photograph archivist, and a member of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Studio City Neighborhood Council. She serves on the Board of Hollywood Heritage, Inc., for which she also acts as a docent at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. Hollywood Heritage, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation of the historic built environment in Hollywood and to education about the early film industry and the role its pioneers played in shaping Hollywood's history.

Mary recently was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times regarding her new book:

My book is an Arcadia Publishing book detailing the history in photographs of the neighborhood of Beachwood Canyon originally known as Hollywoodland.

Hollywoodland extends from 2690 N. Beachwood Drive up towards Mt. Lee and the Hollywood Sign (this was originally in Hollywoodland before being donated to the Department of Parks and Recreation in 1945). The book details the early history of Beachwood Canyon, the construction of the development, amenities, histories of many of the homes and architects, a history of the Hollywood Sign, listings of famous residents, and a chapter on movies filmed up there.

It is based on Hollywood Heritage’s S. H. Woodruff Collection (one of the developers of Hollywoodland) and other Hollywood photograph collections, photos from Bison Archives, the Margaret Herrick Library, me, and others, and all profits got to Hollywood Heritage.

I made the suggestion to the HH Board, on which I serve, that we should try to do something with the Woodruff Collection, and since I made the suggestion, I got to do it. I’ve always wanted to do a book, and especially one on Hollywood history.

I learned so much about the architects, homes, and residents. It was fun, but I continue to research. I just walked most of it recently trying to get photos of the original homes, trying to identify homes with photos we have.