A School Full of Star Pupils

My Hollywood friend, Duke Russell, called the other day to ask if I’d like to see the Hollywood High School Alumni Museum. I had no great desire to see it, being a Belmont High School alumnus, but Duke is such a dedicated Hollywood alumnus (Class of ‘44) that I hated to show a lack of enthusiasm.

Duke is a man of heartfelt loyalties. Last year, on Lincoln’s birthday, he read Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in an almost empty Hollywood Bowl. His only auditors were me and his daughter, Colleen, who photographed this historic event. Duke noted that the city was doing nothing to celebrate Old Abe’s birthday and he took it upon himself to do it.

Duke picked me up and drove me to Hollywood High. It was a school day and the classrooms were in business. We went to the school library, where we met the librarian, Beverly Taylor, and were soon joined by the principal, Dr. Jeanne Hon.

Ms. Taylor was instructing several students working at word processing machines. The library’s woodwork had been newly finished, and a great mural spread across one wall. It had the look of one of the many paintings done in public places by artists working for the Works Progress Administration during the Depression. Ms. Taylor said the mural had indeed been painted by Haldane Douglas in the 1930s. It was a treasure and I was glad to see that the school respected it.

Dr. Hon turned out to be a bright and amiable woman who was obviously having a busy day, but she showed us into the new museum. As one might expect, the museum consisted mainly of photographs of movie stars who had attended Hollywood High.

Some of them were caught in campus garb, although most of the pictures had the touch of studio glamour. Dr. Hon pointed to a picture of Lana Turner and noted that she had been rather flat chested. I thought Lana looked very well endowed. Perhaps too much was expected of her.

Jerry Massey, assistant principal and curator of the museum, pointed out that Miss Turner was not discovered in Schwab’s drugstore, as the legend has it, but in a malt shop across the street from the school. (I had previously heard this version from Miss Turner herself.)

Perhaps it is just as well that Schwab’s no longer exists. Tour guides would not be able to point it out as the place where Lana was discovered.

Many other famous faces smiled at us from the walls. I recognized, with some prompting, Mickey Rooney, Alexis Smith, Sally Kellerman, Anita Louise, Ricky Nelson, Judy Garland, Mary Brian, Carol Burnett, James Garner, Marie Windsor, Fay Wray and Tuesday Weld.

Not all the famous faces were movie stars. Among them were Warren Christopher, secretary of state, and Norman Chandler, late publisher of The Times.

How could a Belmont boy compete with that illustrious gallery?

I tried going over the names of some of my more promising classmates, but I found few who had distinguished themselves in any field. Only a handful I could think of had achieved any celebrity at all.

One had to count Jack Webb, star and producer of the “Dragnet” series. Carl Hartnack had become president of the Security First National Bank, with an office Downtown overlooking the Belmont playing field (he started out as a teller at $18 a week). Mort Sahl had become a famous comedian and political satirist. John Beradino had become a major league baseball player and later a star of the “General Hospital” series. There was also my lawyer, Manya Bertram.

Have I forgotten anyone? What ever became of Charles Kelley, everybody’s nice guy? Whatever became of Kellogg Burnham, the poet? What about Virginia Moranti? She was pretty enough to be a movie star. She was my girlfriend for a while but she dropped me for a pole vaulter. Whatever happened to him? (I’ve forgotten his name.)

Why did so many Hollywood High School kids become movie stars? Did just living in Hollywood incline them to that profession? Did they live in Hollywood so they could be close to the studios?

Located at Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, the school is within walking distance of many Hollywood landmarks--the Grauman’s (now Mann’s) Chinese Theater, the Egyptian Theater, the Hollywood Bowl, Frederick’s of Hollywood, the Musso & Frank Grill, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Duke and I had lunch at the Roosevelt. Recently remodeled, it retains a look of ‘30s Hollywood glamour. It was the scene of the first Academy Awards. It is also now the new home of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club, a fitting location for that honorable organization.

Belmont is on Crown Hill, only a few miles east of Hollywood High. Conceivably I could have gone to Hollywood instead of Belmont. Who knows? I might have given Anita Louise her first kiss.

*

Jack Smith’s column is published Mondays.