Regional Report / HAWTHORNE : Cockatoo Inn Struggling to Regain Glory of Its Past

Betty Grable slept there. And, as legend has it, so did Mickey Rooney, Harry James and dozens of other stars of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.

The Cockatoo Inn in Hawthorne used to be a gathering place for the elite of Los Angeles. Today, the hotel is trying to rebound after two decades of decline that drove away much of its clientele.

“This place went through a real depression,” said Cliff Parks, 70, a used car dealer who’s been coming to the inn on Hawthorne Boulevard and Imperial Highway since 1956. “Now it’s coming back to life.”

The Cockatoo opened in 1946 as a chicken-and-rib drive-in restaurant by Andrew J. Lococo.

Lococo’s business grew as jockeys and horse trainers from nearby Hollywood Park frequented the restaurant and attracted a following of celebrities and politicians.

“I remember all the limos that used to pull up out front with congressmen and councilmen from all over,” said Frank Lococo, 69, who worked as a manager for his cousin in the ‘50s and ‘60s. In 1958, a fire destroyed the restaurant. Within months, Andrew Lococo rebuilt it. Three years later, he opened the first part of what is now a 213-room hotel that resembles an old half-timbered English house.

But by 1970, the Cockatoo’s owner was in trouble with the law. The U.S. attorney general’s office identified him as a major organized-crime figure. The same year, he was convicted of perjury in connection with testimony during a grand jury investigation of interstate gambling and race fixing.

Two years later, he sold the Cockatoo. In 1973, he died after a stroke at age 55.

A succession of real-estate companies operated the hotel through the 1970s and ‘80s, but longtime employees said business suffered. In 1991, the hotel went bankrupt, said George E. Coult, head of the company managing the Cockatoo for its creditors.

Now, after spending $1 million in refurbishments and security, occupancy has doubled to 40% within the last year.

Managers and employees said the Cockatoo’s future depends on its ability to draw on its past.

“We have a lot of restaurants and places to stay around here,” Bradley said. “But they’re all new and they’re all sterile.”