Knickerbocker Hotel (Los Angeles)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Knickerbocker Hotel, now senior home Hollywood Knickerbocker Apartments, (1714 Ivar Ave, Los Angeles, CA) is one of the old historic Los Angeles Hotels that has had its share of notoriety and was the scene for some of Hollywood’s most famous dramatic moments, including suicides, séances and deaths.
The Hotel got its initial taste of notoriety when Harry Houdini's widow held her first annual séance to contact the magician on Halloween 1926. In 1962, celebrated Hollywood costume designer Irene, despondent over Gary Cooper's death, committed suicide with a leap from her room window.
On March 3, 1966, veteran character actor William Frawley was strolling down Hollywood Boulevard after seeing a film, when he suffered a major heart attack. His male nurse dragged him to the hotel where he died in the lobby. Ironically, Frawley lived in the Hotels for decades. It was only a few years before that he moved to the El Royale Apartments several miles away.
It is believed that the Knickerbocker Hotel is haunted by many of its residents and guests, including Rudolph Valentino, Marilyn Monroe, Irene Lentz and Houdini.[citation needed]
