The Fox Theatre (formerly known as the Heilig, Rialto, and Mayfair) was a theatre building located at the intersection of Southwest Broadway and Taylor Street in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, in the United States.

History

The Heilig auditorium was designed by E. W. Houghton and opened on July 22, 1910. The theatre was initially used as an opera house, and notably staged a production of Zandonai's ''

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'' starring soprano

Tarquinia Tarquini Tarquinia Tarquini (1882 - 25 February 1976) was an Italian dramatic soprano and the wife of composer Riccardo Zandonai. Biography Born in Colle di Val d'Elsa, Tarquini studied singing at the Milan Conservatory and privately in Florence. She ma ...

in 1912. The theatre was a frequent stop for the Lambardi Grand Opera Company; a touring opera company based out of California that was founded by impresario Mario Lambardi. The Boston Opera Company toured to the theatre in 1916; giving a performance of ''

L'amore dei tre re (''The Love of the Three Kings'') is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his play of the same title. Performance history ''L'amore de tre re'' premiere ...

'' starring soprano Maggie Teyte. In 1929, the Paramount-Publix chain began leasing the theatre and showing double feature film and vaudeville shows. The company added a marquee and talking equipment, but only operated the venue for two years due to the Great Depression. Under the J. J. Parker chain, the theatre was renamed the Mayfair. It hosted double features and road show stage performances The Mayfair closed in October 1953 to undergo a nine-month restoration, becoming part of Fox West Coast Theatre's CinemaScope line of movie theaters. The local architectural firm Dougan and Heims oversaw the building's conversion. To promote the theatre's reopening,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

chartered an airplane and brought celebrities to Portland, including

Rex Allen Rex Elvie Allen (December 31, 1920 – December 17, 1999), known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contribut ...

, Edward Arnold,

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

, Rita Moreno, Mary Murphy, Johnnie Ray, and

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van D ...

. City and state official, along with members of the public, greeted the celebrities at

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city l ...

. The venue, billed as the "Million Dollar" Fox Theatre, opened on August 12, 1954. It featured the second largest screen in the United States (two feet smaller than the screen at the Roxy Theatre in New York City). The theatre opened to the public the following day (August 13), screening ''

Broken Lance ''Broken Lance'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, and Katy Jurado. Shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the fil ...

'' (1954). The Fox stopped screening films regularly in September 1990, then hosted occasional special events before the venue was demolished in 1997. The block is now occupied by the

Fox Tower The Fox Tower is a 27-story, office skyscraper in downtown Portland, Oregon, along Broadway between Yamhill and Morrison streets. The tower was completed in 2000 at a cost of $64 million, and was named after the Fox Theatre that occupied the s ...

References

;Sources * {{Theatres in Portland, Oregon 1910 establishments in Oregon 1997 disestablishments in Oregon Buildings and structures demolished in 1997 Demolished buildings and structures in Portland, Oregon Demolished theatres in Oregon Former cinemas in the United States Opera houses in Oregon Southwest Portland, Oregon Theatres completed in 1910 Theatres in Portland, Oregon