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Gower Gulch is a nickname for the intersection of
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare i ...
and Gower Street in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.


History

Since the days of silent film, the surrounding area had contained several movie studios, including the Christie Studios (on the northwest corner) during the 1920s, then later, Columbia and Republic Studios to the south along Gower Street.
Western films Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...
at both studios were extremely popular, especially from the 1930s through the 1950s, and actual working cowboys would come to Hollywood hoping to find work in the movies. They would congregate at that particular street corner, which is how it acquired its nickname., p. 76 The Columbia
Drug Store A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmaci ...
, which stood on the southeast corner for several decades, was a hangout for many western film extras in hopes of finding work, knowing the casting agents from the studio could reach them there. John Wayne,
Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...
, and
Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...
all got their start in this neighborhood, as did director
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
. Columbia Studios was filming western films about every ten days for a time. The cowboy extras stood at the corner already dressed in their Stetson hats, boots, and bandannas, ready for saloon scenes, as cattle rustlers, or as members of a posse. The pay was about $5 a day or $10 for a minor speaking role. Charlie Chaplin made some of his first movies in this area. In February 1940, actor
Jerome Bonaparte "Blackjack" Ward Jerome Bonaparte "Blackjack" Ward was an American cowboy and Western actor who appeared in over 160 films from 1927 to 1946. Professional career Ward was born in Franklin, Louisiana on May 3, 1891, but found his way to Hollywood during the heig ...
became involved in a
homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
on Sunset Boulevard at Gower Gulch, near
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...
studios when he shot and killed stuntman and background actor Johnny Tyke. A
strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...
, ''Gower Gulch Plaza'', "paying homage to the past" and designed in the style of an Old West
backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...
was built in 1976 on the southwest corner of Sunset and Gower. The name "Gower Gulch" is painted on the side of a vintage western medicine show wagon. The strip mall remains unchanged as of 2014 and has been described as "Old West kitsch".


In pop culture

*In the Warner Bros. 1943 movie '' Thank Your Lucky Stars,'' Gower Gulch is a hilltop neighborhood in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, where struggling actors and musicians live in caravans and cottages cobbled together from movie sets and gathered around an old house. It is located "only 4 minutes from
Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue and Melrose Avenue. The intersection with Hollywood Boulevard was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into di ...
," according to one of the characters. The
Hollywoodland ''Hollywoodland'' is a 2006 American film directed by Allen Coulter and written by Paul Bernbaum. The story presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck), the star of th ...
sign blinks in the background on its distant hill. *A B-movie was released in 1950 called ''The Kid from Gower Gulch'' starring
Spade Cooley Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the ...
. In the film, singer Red Murrell sings a song called "Gower Gulch is Home Sweet Home". *The November 13, 1948, episode of the CBS West Coast radio detective series ''
Jeff Regan, Private Investigator Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...
'' is entitled "The Guy from Gower Gulch"; its plot revolves around a missing South American racehorse and its connections to a travelogue. *The name Gower Gulch also appears in the Warner Bros. 1950 cartoon '' All a Bir-r-r-rd''. It is the name of a western-looking town
Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia fo ...
's train passes through. *In another Warner Bros. 1951 cartoon, '' Drip-Along Daffy'',
Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many crit ...
sings a
Michael Maltese Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American story man for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director Chuck Jones, notably " ...
-written song entitled "The Flower of Gower Gulch". Another version of the song is performed in the Warner Bros. animated short '' Nelly's Folly''. *In the 1942 Abbott & Costello film ''Ride 'Em Cowboy'' a bus depot is identified as Gower Gulch by a hanging sign.


References

{{coord, 34.098, N, 118.322, W, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Streets in Hollywood, Los Angeles Geography of Los Angeles