
At that time, the facility was called the Mabel Normand Feature Film Co., and looked like an oversized barn. But this film factory, which dates back to 1916, was inspired as a kind of love letter to his then fiancee and one of the era’s biggest stars, Mabel Normand, who shot her first feature “Mickey” (1918) there. Sennett - a slapstick pioneer of the silent era who worked with Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle - actually built a larger studio on Glendale Boulevard in Echo Park. The building, which Rogg took over in January, touts quite a history. 24 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony courtesy of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The facility recently got a second welcome Oct. But the newly refurbished Mack Sennett Studios - situated off a no-man’s-land stretch of Fountain Avenue between Sunset and Hyperion in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake - has been operational since June, when the grand opening featured burlesque queen Dita Von Teese, and the line to get in stretched down the block.

Forgotten, alone and basically penniless.īelow, from Variety is what has happened to the historic Factory of Funįew people who live in the area knew it even existed, including the owner, Jesse Rogg, who, like this writer, had driven by the structure countless times without giving it a second look. Sennett, the true father of film comedy died quietly and without fanfare in 1960 at the age of 80. It was rumored that Harold Lloyd would “pay” Mack for “consultancy” work to help pay the bills. Later that year, Lou Costello paid Sennett $1000 to appear in his film, Abbott & Costello Meet the Keystone Kops.

They created the plaque, all right, but they put it in the wrong location.Īnd yes that is both Andy Clyde and Jimmy Finlayson minus their stage make-up above. As part of the tribute “This Is Your Life” host Ralph Edwards promised that sponsor National Van Lines would place a marker at the location of the historic Keystone Comedy studio. On March 10, 1954, at The El Capitan Theater (later the Jerry Lewis Theater and The Hollywood Palace) the popular TV show “This Is Your Life” offered a tribute to screen comedy pioneer Mack Sennett. However, by that time, Mack Sennett was long forgotten living in the cheap Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood with other down on their luck film has-beens such as actress Clara Blandick(Aunt Em in The Wizard of Oz) who committed suicide there.ĭown on his luck, Ralph Edwards saluted Sennet on his program, This is Your Life on CBS took over the facility in 1963 and it expanded. The studio would become Mascot pictures then became the home to the B picture Monogram Pictures lot then became home to the Republic Pictures Studio lot, followed by Revue (MCA) television where shows such as Leave it to Beaver were produced (until Revue/MCA bought Universal Studios). The studio consisted of one office building, a projection room / film editing building, a film library, a two-storey dressing room building attached to a large soundstage, a wardrobe building, garage, and a stage with a sunken swimming pool. The area was being developed, and the opening of the studio made sufficient impact that the surrounding area became known as Studio City. His previous studio on Glendale Boulevard was the home of the Keystone Kops, Charlie Chaplin, W.C.Fields and Fatty Arbuckle. Mack Sennett, silent film producer and director, opened in May of 1928 his new movie studio at this location (now Ventura Boulevard and Radford Avenue). In the same complex that housed the production of Seinfeld

In 1928, Sennett built a new complex in what is now the CBS Studio Center at Radford in Studio City, Ca. In 1912, Mack Sennett created the birthplace of comedy, The Keystone Film Company in Glendale Blvd in Los Angeles. Not learning from its mistakes, The Godfather of Comedy was it’s next major loss in obscurity. A public memorial service was held in his honor at the Hollywood Masonic Temple, but few stars came to pay their last respects. He died of a o cerebral hemorrhage at 3:42 PM on the way to a Hollywood hospital. Griffith l, who was discovered unconscious in the lobby at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles, California, where he had been living alone. In 1954 Mack Sennett (r) with actress Phyllis Haver and Harold Lloydįirst, Hollywood lost film pioneer On the morning of July 23, 1948, D.W. The great director D W Griffith died in obscurity and nearly penniless.īesides being the creative genius that pioneered some of the first feature films, Griffith founded United Artists Studios with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Hollywood has had a history of forgetting its founders. The photo is of comics Vernon Dent, Andy Clyde, Hank Mann and Jimmy Finlayson saluting Mack Sennett at the Masquers Club in 1953.
