Mulholland Drive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mulholland Drive is a well-known road in Los Angeles, California named after engineer William Mulholland. A portion of it is also called Mulholland Highway.
The mostly two-lane, minor arterial road loosely follows the ridgeline of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Hollywood Hills, connecting two sections of the U.S. Route 101, and crossing Sepulveda Boulevard, Beverly Glen Boulevard, Coldwater Canyon Drive, and Laurel Canyon Boulevard. It offers views of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
The eastern terminus of Mulholland Drive is at its intersection with Cahuenga Boulevard at the Cahuenga Pass over the Santa Monica Mountains (at this point Cahuenga Boulevard runs parallel to the 101). The road continues to the west offering vistas of downtown Los Angeles and then Burbank, Universal City and the rest of the San Fernando Valley.
The road winds along the top of the mountains until a few miles west of the 405 Freeway. At this point (the intersection with Encino Hills Drive) the drive becomes an unpaved route not open to motor vehicles. It is popular with hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers, and offers connections to other unpaved fire roads and mountain bike trails as well as a decommissioned Project Nike command post that has been turned into a Cold War memorial park .
The paved road begins again just east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Shortly thereafter, Mulholland Drive splits into Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Highway. Mullholland Drive terminates at the 101 where it becomes Valley Circle Boulevard. Mullholland Highway continues to the southwest until it terminates at California State Route 1 in Leo Carillo State Beach near the Pacific Ocean and the border of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
The main portion of the road, from the Cahuenga Pass in Hollywood westward for past the Sepulveda Pass was originally called Mulholland Highway and was opened in 1924. It was built by a consortium of Hollywood Hills landowners hoping to make money by bringing development to the Hollywood Hills.
[edit] Mulholland Drive in popular culture
- Movies
- The movie Mulholland Drive was named after the road.
- It is also nicknamed "Bad Boy Drive" due to its illustrious residents Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and the late Marlon Brando.
- In the last scene of Four Rooms, Bruce Willis alludes to it.
- In Hurlyburly Phil, the character played by Chazz Palminteri, dies in a car crash that takes place at Mullholland Drive.
- In Point Break a Mullholland Drive scenic turnout is the setting for a scene early in the movie where the bank robbers drop car is discovered.
- The movie Lost Highway features a scene on Mulholland Drive.
- Actors such as Johnny Depp and Tom Hanks live on Mulholland Drive
- The movie Death Becomes Her features a brief sequence in which Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn's characters plan Meryl Streep's character's death by sending her car off of a cliff on Mulholland Drive.
- Music
In music, it is mentioned in Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'," R.E.M.'s "Electrolite," Felix Da Housecat's "Everyone Is Someone in L.A.", Razorlight's "Los Angeles Waltz", Lamb of God's "Forgotten (Lost Angels)", Frank Black's "Ole Mulholland", and Poe's "Hey Pretty".
- Books
The French philosopher Jean Baudrillard metaphorically describes Mulholland Drive as the "entry point for extraterrestrials" in his book America.
- Other
There is also a ride at Disneyland's California Adventure called "Mulholland Highway" (previously, "Mulholland Madness").
In the hot-rod-themed videogame Street Rod II, the player can challenge computer opponents to a mountain-side road race called Mullholland Drive, but the design of the track doesn't represent the actual road: it is randomized for each new game.
