A Date with the Ambassador

The Ambassador Hotel was located on Wilshire Boulevard and was an imposing Mediterranean Revival structure built in 1921. Before I even moved to Los Angeles I had heard of this amazing hotel. It was the place where Hollywood legends from the 20's through the 70's danced the night away and where sadly, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 after having given a victory speech. The history at the Ambassador is rich. Besides its 600 hotel rooms and 76 bungalows, the hotel had 37 shops, a private school, golf course, bowling alley, theater and the city's very first nightclub, the Zinnia Grill.

With the impending demolition of one of LA's most historic buildings, I quickly put together a photo shoot so that I could tour the hotel since it had been closed to the pubic for many years and I had never been inside. It was 2004 and I was shooting fashion layouts for the LA Weekly at the time when I came up with the idea to rent the location. I enlisted a few stylists, models, as well as hair and makeup artists for a series that captured two couples on a date with the hotel as their backdrop. Little did anyone know that I was on a date with the Ambassador...

I remember walking through the vast empty hallways and various rooms for hours scouting the location. From Sammy Davis Jr.'s embossed snake skin lined penthouse suit on the top floor (he was the Coconut Grove's creative director), to the pantry where RFK was shot, the history was so heavy that you could feel it oozing out of the walls. There were rumors of ghost sightings in the hotel but unfortunately I didn't encounter any of the hotel's long time residents such as Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson or John Barrymore. What did fascinate me though was the decor and wallpaper left behind, echoing the various years gone by.

Some of the most memorable rooms where the coffee shop and the ballroom. That ballroom was incredible! The jump floor was still bouncy underfoot and the woodwork was simply breathtaking. I know that many people fought to preserve the hotel but alas, only a back wall from the Coconut Grove and the Paul Williams' designed coffee shop were preserved.

We set up the group shot inside the actual The Coconut Grove, which by that time had not been updated since 1970.  I couldn't believe how transformed the room was from its heyday. According to Everything2,  "Sammy Davis Jr. hosted a wrecking party where guest were allowed to take anything - curtain's, the paper mache trees, etc." I used the entry into the Grove as a back drop for my punk rock couple as well, since the faux leather purple walls and empty chrome light fixtures were a perfect foil. The bathroom downstairs, with their silver foil wallpaper in various shades of orange, yellow and brown, ended up being the locations for my second couple who blended in nicely with that palate.

It was an honor to be able to see the grand dame before she sank and I will always hold a special place in my heart remembering the hours I spent wandering around and letting her past wash over me.

Julie Green
October 10, 2015