Southern California Close-ups: Hollywood
The Hollywood sign, sitting on the south side of Mt. Lee and Griffith Park, is seen from a hiking trail that starts at the top of Beechwood Canyon, in Hollywood. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
A group takes a one-hour horseback ride in Griffith Park, led by Austin Hebert of Sunset Ranch Hollywood, on trails near the Hollywood sign. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
The Hollywood Bowl was carved into the hills in the 1920s and programmed by the L.A. Philharmonic, seats about 17,000 people and stages mostly jazz, classical works and show-tune performances, June through September. (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)
The Pantages Theatre’s (6233 Hollywood Blvd.) 1930 Art Deco lobby is one of the greatest rooms in the city. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
The Frolic Room is an iconic bar located just doors away from the Pantages Theatre. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
The Redbury Hotel’s (1717 Vine St.) 57 rooms are about twice the size of those at the glitzy W Hotel (6250 Hollywood Blvd.) and sometimes more affordable. The Redbury has no pool, but every room has a washer, dryer and turntable. It’s where the cool kids might come after having kids of their own. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
A couple walks on a stairway bridge at the Hollywood & Highland complex, which includes the Kodak Theatre. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
The Spanish-style Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd.) is where the first Academy Awards were held in 1929, where Shirley Temple is said to have danced with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson on the lobby steps, and where there are several busy bars and restaurants, including the well-regarded burger joint Twenty-Five Degrees, which stays open all night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Street performer Walter Gray break dances for a crowd along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Its 2,400-plus terrazzo stars, the first of which were laid in 1960, now cover 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and a few neighboring streets too. To see who’s where, check projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
The iconic courtyard of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre draws in pedestrians along Hollywood Boulevard. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A girl puts her hands and feet in prints made by “Twilight” cast members. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A street performer who calls himself “Automatic” dances robotically for the crowd along Hollywood Boulevard. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A Shrek statue stands guard outside Madame Tussauds Hollywood, a popular tourist destination next to Grauman’s. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Paramount Pictures (5555 Melrose Ave.) opens its lot to paying visitors, offering a two-hour guided weekday tour ($45 a person) by foot and golf cart. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The cake display draws attention at Larchmont Bungalow, in the prosperous and pedestrian-friendly Larchmont Village neighborhood. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Unlike Forest Lawn and some others, Hollywood Forever eagerly offers maps to celebrity graves and hosts parties and events. From mid-May through mid-September, there are outdoor movie screenings (www.cinespia.org), where you can recline “above and below the stars.” The cemetery includes a memorial statue of Johnny Ramone, who was a member of punk rock band the Ramones, who died in 2004. (Ricardo DeAratanha, Los Angeles Times)
The Magic Castle is a 1908 Victorian mansion a few blocks north of Hollywood Boulevard. Since 1963, the castle has served dinners and brunches to members and guests, who enjoy the magicians who work the castle’s intimate rooms -- usually nine performers a night in three rooms -- flashing cards, reading minds, creating illusions. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Jumbo’s Clown Room (5153 Hollywood Blvd.) is a smallish, strip-mall, retro-burlesque joint that features pole-dancers who keep on their bikinis and whose ages and shapes vary considerably. Two matronly women pour the drinks. The bouncer looks like just another 163-pound unproduced screenwriter, and sometimes the drinkers are so happy chatting that the dancers seem an afterthought. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Cavernous Amoeba Music (6400 Sunset Blvd.) sells new and used music and videos. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Space 15 Twenty (1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd.) is a little alt-mall that includes Umami Burger and Hennessey & Ingalls bookstore, which specializes in art and design volumes. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Guitar Center (7425 Sunset Blvd.) features a vast collection of instruments. On the sidewalk in front, the store has established a Rock Walk with handprints from more than 400 rock stars and others since 1985. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
If you’re in the mood for a late-night bite, Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles (1514 N. Gower St.) stays open until 4 a.m. on weekdays. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
