Earl Carroll Theatre: history

6230 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |

More pages on the Earl Carroll: exterior | lobby areas | auditorium | stage | stage basement | sceneshop | ephemera |

News: The building is for sale, although a lease is still a possibility. See the listing on the website of JLL, the firm handling it. Broker Andrew Harper can be reached at 213-239-6076. See a detailed flyer about the listing on the site Cloudinary. In June 2025 the owners started work on the exterior restoration of the 1938 design and paint scheme. See more details lower on the page.

Opened: December 26, 1938 for lavish Earl Carroll musical comedy revues. The first show was titled "Broadway to Hollywood." The 1938 photo from the Federal Writers Project is in the Works Progress Administration collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. Mr. Carroll's backer for the project was Ms. Jetta Schuyler. Carroll once described himself as the guy "for whom the belles toil." British Pathé has a short clip of stars arriving for the opening. Thanks to Chris Nichols for spotting it on YouTube. 

 

The exterior featured a 24-foot high neon silhouette of Beryl Wallace designed by artist/architect Don Riha. Beryl was one of the Earl Carroll girls and Mr. Carroll's long-time companion. This installation was the first major use of neon tubing with an inside coating of different phosphors, producing white for the vertical bands along the facade and "flesh-colored" light for Beryl's face. The aluminum lettering around the top of the silhouette, back-lit with blue neon, said: "Thru these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world."  

 

The neon installation as well the historic look of the facade were investigated by Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein as part of the restoration project funded by Essex Properties. They note that the exterior was several tones of green, an appropriate color to honor Beryl, a name Beatrice Wallace adopted that refers to a green colored stone. The pillars at the porte cochère were faced with blue Vitrolite. Dydia and Paul are the authors of "Neon: A Light History."

 

The entrance was decorated with an amazing 50' long swirl of 25mm warm-white neon tubing held aloft by the Goddess of Neon at the top of the stairs. Glass columns at the bar areas were lit with various colors of neon inside. For house lights there were 1,200 three-foot-long pieces of warm-white neon tubing suspended from the ceiling that were arranged in undulating waves across the auditorium. The neon, using the trade name "Zeon" for the new phosphor coated tubing, was an installation by the Electrical Products Corporation, a Claude Neon licensee, in association with General Electric. They used 6,200 feet of tubing powered by 90 transformers.   

 

The new range of neon colors had been noted in "Neon Given New Tube Rights," a May 13, 1938 L.A. Times article. Also see their May 27 article. "New 'Zeon' Light Exploitation Due." Thanks to Dydia and Paul for locating "Fluorescent Tubing Illuminates the New Earl Carroll Theatre," an article about the installation in the February 1939 issue of the trade magazine "Signs of the Times."

 

 

A detail of the face and its blue halo from a 1950s postcard that appeared on eBay. To the left is one of the vertical bands of white tubing that ran the height of the facade. See a frame from 16mm Kodachrome footage shot by Mitch Waldow.

 

 

 

An image from Brian Michael McCray's collection of the fanciful re-creation of this installation that was done by a student of Richard Jenkins, a co-founder of the Museum of Neon Art. This work is on display at Universal CityWalk. Also see a 2024 daytime photo as well as a 2025 Facebook post by Chris Nichols that includes photos of other vintage signs on display there. 

 

Architect: Gordon B. Kaufmann, with interior and exterior design work by Count Alexis de Sakhnovsky, Frank Don Riha and Kaufmann. Kaufmann also did the Palladium across the street. The cost of the building was estimated at $500,000. Ford J. Twaits was the contractor. The construction time was 90 days. 

The house left wall of the asymmetrical auditorium was covered with a faux wood grain wallpaper, house right draped with green satin. The shiny black ceiling was referred to as being of "patent leather."

 

A rendering from the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. It was published October 28, 1938. The caption: 

"With interiors being designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and Gordon B. Kaufman, creator of the building, the Earl Carroll Theatre, located at Sunset Blvd. just off Vine Street will be ready Xmas nite. The theater-restaurant will seat 1000 people, and the patrons will be treated to a lavish Carroll musical comedy show plus other restaurant features. The cost of the building is estimated at $500,000." 

Seating: 1,000, originally in a dinner-show arrangement with tables and chairs on six terraces. Later as the Moulin Rouge the capacity was up to 1,250. During the Hullabaloo area there was some seating at the rear and a dance floor near the stage. During the one-year Kaleidoscope era the seating was removed to make room for larger dance floor areas. The floor was redone in 1968 for installation of conventional theatre seating when the theatre was the Aquarius. Also at that time a wall was installed, creating a separate lobby out of the bar area at the back of the house. 

 

 

A detail from a 40s Sanborn fire insurance map showing the asymmetrical layout of the auditorium and lobby spaces. The kitchen was in the basement. A scene shop was later added on the back.

 

 

A main floor plan from the 2023 sale flyer for the building from JLL, the brokers for the listing. They note that there's 21,863 s.f. shown on the plan at this level plus 3,270 s.f. in the sceneshop building to the south. See a PDF of the flyer via Loopnet. That's the porte cochère in the upper left. The wall between the lobby area and the auditorium was added in the 1960s. The doors at the bottom lead into the sceneshop building behind the theatre.

 

 

A second floor plan. Offices are in the upper left, restrooms and lounges in the upper right. In the lower right it's wardrobe storage in the triangular area and two chorus dressing rooms at the bottom of the plan. On this level there's 3,767 s.f. of space. Image: JLL - 2023 

 

 

A third floor plan. That's the spot booth out on the peninsula at the top. It's a floor of dressing rooms seen in the lower right. There's 3,202 s.f. of space at this level. Image: JLL - 2023

 

A plan of the basement under the Sunset Blvd. end of the building. Much of this area used to be the kitchen. Space here totals 5,690 s.f. There's also a basement under the stage. Image: JLL - 2023

 
The great stage: It featured a 70' revolve with separately operated inner and outer sections. There was also a water curtain, a two-section orchestra pit lift, a small circular lift downstage for a soloist (called a "girl lift" in 1938) and a revolving three-level tower stage right. The tower, with four ladies each at a piano, showed up in a demonstration of the stage's wondrous features in the 1940 film "A Night at Earl Carroll's." See the stage and stage basement pages for lots of details.

Earl Carroll with some of his performers. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

Carroll planning a show. Photo: Los Angeles Public Library. They have over a hundred photos in their collection including exterior views as well as rehearsal shots and photos of various performances.

A view of Earl Carroll showgirls from a program page posted by Tam Tim O'Connor Fraser on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page. Tam's mother, La Gay Guistina, is in the upper right. She was with the theatre for a year or so around 1945. Also from Mr. Fraser on Vintage Los Angeles see program photos of Earl Carroll and Harry Revel and a promo photo of two Earl Carroll beauties.

Many, many pages of various programs beginning with the Earl Carroll presentations and running into the 1980s ("Hair," "Purlie") are included in the 2016 Cultural Heritage Commission Final Report. It's a 498 page pdf from the L.A. Department of City Planning. You'll probably want to skip the beginning. There are some vintage postcards beginning on page 125 and the program collection starts on page 129.  

An ad for a New Year's Eve celebration added to the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page by show business historian Kliph Nesteroff.  

Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler on Flickr for this image of an Earl Carroll matchbook. Head to our Earl Carroll Ephemera page for images of many more items.

A flyer promoting the second show "World of Pleasure," which opened in June 1939. The third revue, "The World's Fairest," opened in December 1939. Thanks to Joshua Weisel for adding a photo of the flyer as a comment to a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture private Facebook group. 

 

"It's Not Expensive." Four ads for the theatre appearing together in September 1943.

Earl Carroll and Beryl Wallace died in a plane crash in June 1948. The theatre continued to operate but wasn't a viable venture without the leadership of Carroll and his star. It closed in October 1949.

A Times announcement of the 1949 sale to Warwick Industries. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding it for a post on the Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles. 

Later operators: The theatre had a difficult time finding an operator in the early 50s. CBS was using it in 1951. On Christmas Day 1953 it was re-opened by Frank Sennes as the Moulin Rouge nightclub. 

 

"Showplace of the World." A December 1953 ad announcing the reopening as the Moulin Rouge. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a post on Photos of Los Angeles. 

 

A 1955 ad announcing the September 28 opening of the third show under Frank Sennes' management, the Donn Arden extravaganza "Paris Toujours." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this one for another Photos of Los Angeles post.

The theatre was also used for periods as a TV studio in the 50s and early 60s including for the "Queen for a Day" program. That program had earlier done radio broadcasts from the theatre in the late 40s.

 

An image of a 1959 program cover from the GS Jansen collection. 

 

 

The cover for the 1960 show "Oriental Fantasy." It appeared on eBay.

 

Louis Prima and Keely Smith on a Sunset Blvd. billboard for the Moulin Rouge. It's a March 1960 Gary Leonard photo from Corbis. Thanks to Torbjörn Eriksson for locating the shot.  

A July 1961 ad for the David Merrick and Joseph Kipness production "La Plume de la Tante." 

 

 

From December 1965 until 1967 it was Dave Hull's Hullabaloo. Thanks to J.J. Englander for adding this December 11, 1965 ad from The Beat as a comment to a post about the theatre by Pam Petronio on the Lost Angeles Facebook group. It's from the Adsausage archives. Also see a flyer from later in December 1965. 

 

The autographed cement plaques of "Film Greats" on the facade were removed in 1966 and replaced with new ones. Thanks to Scott Sandberg for locating this April 15 Long Beach Press-Telegram article for a post on the Lost Angeles Facebook group. 

By April 1967 it had become the Kaleidoscope, a project of Gary Essert along with Skip Taylor and the William Morris agent John Hartmann. See the ephemera page for some posters from this era. 

 

Essert had intended to open at the Filmarte Theatre but the landlord, National General, put a stop to that. After a quick detour for a show at the Ambassador, the venture settled in at the Earl Carroll. Marc Wanamaker has commented about scraping paint off the glass columns in the lobby get ready for the theatre's reopening.

 

An ad for movies at the Kaleidoscope. Thanks to J.J. Englander for locating it in the Ad Sausage archives. Lori Landrin comments: "Felt like 100 bellbottomed kids showed up to paint the entire building purple. Canned Heat was one of the house bands. Around 2am, they’d show movies, & street kids came in & slept on the terraced floors. I think hot dogs were .25, & drinks .10.... Rumors abounded about the ghosts of Earl Carrol’s beautiful dancers being in the building. It was an amazing time!" 

 

In late 1968 it was renamed the Aquarius Theatre for almost a two year run of "Hair." The floor was re-terraced and conventional theatre seating installed. Evidently the rear of the house got partitioned off at this point to make it a separate lobby. Mike Hume found a November 1968 building permit for 110' of non-load bearing wall.

 

The Who's "Tommy" played the theatre from February 15 until March 26, 1972. Thanks to Lisa Kaplan for sharing the flyer.   

A production of "Lenny" opened at the Aquarius on August 15, 1972.

 

 

 

A 1972 ad for a November "Film Feast" at the Aquarius. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding it. 

 

 

In 1975 Patti Jo and Robert Guillaume starred in a production of "Purlie," the musical based on the play by Ossie Davis, that played the theatre from July 6 to August 31. Joan Gherman was the producer. The program image surfaced on eBay.

 

In 1977 it was briefly known as the Longhorn Theatre then went back to the Aquarius name. 

An ad in a 1978 Center Theatre Group program for the moveover to the Aquarius of the Luis Valdez play "Zoot Suit" with James Edward Olmos. Thanks to Paul Lambert for sharing this. The show had opened for a ten day run beginning April 20, 1978 at the Mark Taper Forum. That sold out and they brought it back there in August. This run at the Aquarius was initially announced as just for four weeks beginning October 10 but was later extended. 

 

In 1979 the theatre saw runs of CTG productions of "Oliver!" and "Ain't Misbehavin.'" In 1981 CTG was issued a building permit for construction of a $25,000 "sound wall." Filmex used the theatre for their 1981 festival.

In 1982 producer Martin Tahse had it with big plans for two restaurants and a separate theatre space at the back of the stage. He pulled out the theatre seating and went back to tables on the original terraces. One production of his was "I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road." Frank Sennes had continued to own the building until 1983 when it then became a TV production facility under the management of Sunset Gower Studios.

It went through periods of being called the Sunset Blvd. Theatre, the Star Search Theatre and (in 1993) the Chevy Chase Theatre. Other uses have included being a venue for Jerry Lewis Telethons and Filmex. It was used from 1997 until 2016 by Nickelodeon as their west coast production hub and known as the Nickelodeon on Sunset. 

Building on the west side of the site: The Palo Alto-based equity fund Essex Property Trust has owned the property since 2004. Essex had meetings about their designs over a period of two years with a coalition consisting of Hollywood Heritage, the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation, the L.A. Conservancy, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles and councilman Mitch O'Farrell. The initial proposal from Essex had contained no assurances that the theatre would again be an entertainment-related venue or that any of the remaining historic features (such as the deco lobby) would be preserved. They later became a willing partner in the discussions that followed resulting in both a City of Los Angeles landmark designation and assurances of protection of historic interior elements.

 

A rendering looking west on Sunset across the facade of the theatre toward the new building Essex was proposing for the parking lot beyond. It appeared with a 2014 Curbed L.A. article by Bianca Barragan on the project titled "Here's the Latest Look for the Sunset-Vine Mixed User." Richard Adkins of Hollywood Heritage noted at the time: 

"There are some good things to their plans for the new adjacent building. It has a facade on Hawthorne as well as Sunset in order to upgrade that street. They are borrowing rhythms and massing from the Carroll and they are restoring or returning elements of the vintage signage."

 

An updated rendering that was released by Essex in 2016. The theatre was declared a City of Los Angeles Cultural-Historic Landmark in 2016. Julia Wick had a December 8 photo spread on LAist with many vintage views along with the story "Hollywood's Earl Carroll Theatre Gets Landmark Designation." Although it hadn't been a public performance venue for years, she rather optimistically noted:

 

"Now, the protection and restoration of the legendary building is finally fait accompli... Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell approved a Historic-Cultural Monument designation for the Earl Carroll Theatre. The designation, along with an agreement O’Farrell orchestrated between property owner Essex Property Trust, Hollywood Heritage, and the Los Angeles Conservancy, will ensure that one of the last remaining examples of modern entertainment venues constructed during the height of the Golden Age will remain for decades to come."

 

The landmarking was a big step as earlier the developers had expressed an interest in applying -- but only after their work was completed. While much of the building has been altered, enough historic features remain to make the Earl Carroll also eligible for inclusion on the National Register. Essex has also talked about granting a facade easement to the L.A. Conservancy to obtain certain tax credits. Although they had no tenant for the building at the time, the company agreed to maintain the art deco lobby, retain the revolving stage, and work on restoration of the exterior. The auditorium has been extensively remodeled over the years. All the neon is gone, the ceiling has been removed, and the floor was leveled for TV studio use. 

Bob Linder represented Essex at an October 2017 open house and groundbreaking. KTLA's Gayle Anderson paid the theatre a visit on October 16. The "Restoration of the Earl Carroll Theatre" article about her visit includes links to several video clips on the history of the building and the restoration plans. 

Initially there seemed little chance it would ever again be a public venue as the developers didn't want to meet the necessary parking requirements. But in 2019 with Essex giving assurances of some dedicated parking and a new group interested in being the tenant, it looked like it had a chance of once again being open to the public. Word of the project had been swirling around there was media discussion of a late 2020 reopening. See "Hollywood's Historic Earl Carroll Theatre is Coming Back To Life," the September 2019 story Chris Nichols did for L.A. Magazine. 

The Wallace on Sunset, the new mixed-use building by Essex located to the west in the theatre's former parking lot, opened in 2021. It contains 200 apartments and 4,700 sf of commercial space. There's a "paseo" between the theatre and the new building.  

The Missing Plaques: The facade of the Earl Carrol featured concrete plaques that were signed by the stars. Thanks to L.A. Magazine's Chris Nichols for his answer to a question printed in the June 2011 issue:

"In 1968, a Dutch art collective known as the Fool replaced the nameplates with a psychedelic mural of Greek muses and stored the autographed pieces in the basement. They stayed there until 1979, when Magic Castle founder Milt Larsen acquired them for his Variety Arts Center downtown. Gene Autry lassoed them for his museum later that year. Finally, Butterfield & Butterfield auctioned off 104 of the plaques in 1989 and 1990. Two bearing the names of Norma Shearer and Amos ’n Andy had been left beneath the theater stage. They were put on display until 2006, when the property was sold again...and the owner gave the pair to the handyman." 

Arlene Larsen, Milt Larsen's widow, commented in 2025 that they had been stored in the Variety Arts basement. They weighed about 75 lbs. each and were, in many cases, crumbling. Foam copies were made so they could be hung on the walls of the 4th floor nightclub space of the Variety Arts. See a photo taken by the CRA that's in the LAPL collection. 

Jeff Abraham adds that there were 104 of the plaques that went to Butterfield. Mark Santa Maria noted in 2025 that he was the party who purchased "about a hundred" of them in 1989 and 1990 from Butterfield  and that he later sold them to a collector in San Diego. There was word in 2015 that "80 - 100" still remained in the possession of the gentleman in San Diego. Using the handle "Papa Alan," he commented on a Dear Old Hollywood blog post about the theatre offering them for sale and listing his email as Alan242@cox.net. 

An aborted theatre restoration project: The theatre was scheduled for restoration and a rebirth as a music venue. Thaddeus Smith, once a partner in the Music Box/Fonda and responsible for that theatre's 2002 reactivation, teamed up with real estate guy Brian Levian to lease the building. The interior work was to have been done by Smith and his partners. For a variety of reasons, including financial and Covid issues, the project was declared dead in 2022.

Still for sale: The building is for sale, although a lease is still a possibility. JLL broker Andrew Harper can be reached at 310-407-2139 or 213-239-6076. See the listing on the JLL website. They note that the property comes with 70 parking spaces. There's a more detailed flyer about the listing on the site Cloudinary.

It had been offered privately but in July 2023 a listing appeared on LoopNet. Although that listing is no longer active there's still a PDF of the listing flyer up on the site. Thanks to Escott O. Norton for sharing the news of the proposed sale in an August 2023 Facebook post. 

Facade restoration: There was an agreement between the city and Essex to restore the building's exterior to its 1938 look, including the vertical neon stripes on the Sunset Blvd. facade and the neon sculpture with the lettering "Thru these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world." No cement signature blocks, however, as they came later. The work by Essex was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. But the Cultural Heritage Commission didn't approve the work plan until January 2024. 

 

Research on both the paint colors and neon details was undertaken by Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein, authors of "Neon: A Light History." Paul notes: "One short length on the original 1938 neon exists... It was found inside of the concrete wall. I have recharged it and it works! The original color was a yellowish/peachish tone known as 'Orchid.'" 

 

 

Paul Stoakes of the firm Signmakers was involved in producing drawings as well as constructing prototypes of certain components. The project started getting delays and in mid-2024 there were fears that the owners were pulling the plug and hoping to pass the project along to whoever buys the building.   

 

But in mid-2025 work finally began on the facade. The 1969 "Aquarius" facade mural that Quentin Tarantino had repainted for his film "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" was still on the building. The permit was applied for two years ago and finally issued on June 4. Thanks to Escott O. Norton for digging out the scope of work from the LADBS website: 

 

"Rehabilitation of an existing historical building, including repair and repainting of the existing concrete exterior finishes, repair of existing windows, replacement of two non-historic windows back to the historic appearance, restoration of north and west facades and restoration of the porte-cochere including the exterior cladding on the columns, stucco/plaster ceiling, stucco canopy, marquee and electrical, existing paving under existing porte-cochere to be replaced in kind. Porte-cochere columns to be reinforced and ground beams installed."

 

Escott noted at the time: 

 

"The contractor is Spectra, who was involved way back when I was working on the project. Everything but the actual neon is mentioned, I will see if I can find out if that also has been approved. I know there were some holdups on that." 

 

Exterior scaffolding went up in June 2025. In September Paul Stoakes of Signmakers noted that he had a new contract for the sign letters and neon from Spectra, the general contractor, and was ready to go. See a photo of scaffolding going up that was shared by F Hudson Miller. 

 

The building had been painted and some of the scaffolding was down in November 2025. See a video clip on Facebook from Esotouric. By the end of 2025 work on the marquee had begun and version #1 of the outline of the Beryl Wallace neon sculpture has been drawn on the facade. 

 

 

 

In early 2026 Paul and Dydia did a long, long, series of short video clips for the Museum of Neon Art explaining some details of the exterior neon work and then they pivoted to offering a tour of the interior. See links to all those clips in the "Earl Carroll on Video" section at the bottom of the page. Or you can head to the "reels" section of the MoNA Facebook page where they all reside.  

 

 

A March 4, 2026 Instagram video clip from Signmakers shows the letters being fabricated in their shop that will be installed across the top of the marquee.   

 

Status: As of early March 2026 no tubing or letters had been installed. The building is still for sale.  

 

Earl Carroll and his theatre in the Movies: He was involved in film production with early credits as either producer or co-producer including the cult-classic "Murder at the Vanities" with Jack Oakie and Kitty Carlisle (Paramount, 1933), "Stowaway" with Shirley Temple (20th Century Fox, 1936) and "Love is News" with Tyrone Power and Loretta Young (20th Century Fox, 1937). See a lengthy IMDb list of his writing and producing credits dating back to 1912.

We get to go to a show at the Earl Carroll in "Second Fiddle" (20th Century Fox, 1939). Studio PR guy Tyrone Power finds Minnesota schoolteacher Sonja Henie for the lead in a new film and they're out seeing the sights. Also featured are Rudy Vallee, Mary Healy, Edna Mae Oliver, Lyle Talbot, Alan Dinehart and Mina Gombell. The songs are by Irving Berlin. Sidney Lanfield directed. Leon Shamroy did the cinematography. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for seven more views at the Earl Carroll plus a shot of the Carthay Circle when the film they've been making premieres. 

All the wonders of the great stage were demonstrated in "A Night at Earl Carroll's" (Paramount, 1940). The plot is slim, but it doesn't matter. A mobster engineers a kidnapping of Mr. Carroll and the lead performers so there won't be a show. But quite a show we get!

The house left side of the proscenium revolves open to reveal a stack of four ladies playing four pianos in "A Night at Earl Carroll's." In addition to Mr. Carroll, the film features Ken Murray, Rose Hobart, J. Carrol Naish, Lela Moore and Forbes Murray -- and a cameo by Beryl Wallace. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for twenty more shots from the film.

 

Later films revolving around Carroll's work included "Earl Carroll Vanities" (aka "Moonstruck Melody," Republic, 1945) with Dennis O'Keefe, Constance Moore, Eve Arden and the Woody Herman band. Mr. Carroll was played in that one by Otto Kruger. And there was "Earl Carroll Sketchbook" (aka "Stand Up and Sing" and "Hats Off to Rhythm," Republic, 1946) that starred Constance Moore and William Marshall. "Sketchbook" was without Carroll or even an actor portraying him but we do get a parade of various stagehands, agents, and even the Costello Twins. The latter were reported to be intimate acquaintances of Mr. Carroll at one time. The titles of these two films came from Broadway shows Carroll had co-written and produced titled "Earl Carroll's Vanities" (1923 to 1932) and "Earl Carroll's Sketch Book" (1929, 1935).

The set Republic used for the interior of the theatre in both "Earl Carroll Vanities" and "Earl Carroll Sketchbook." Interestingly, they did a great job of contouring the front of the stage with the center stairs and narrow protrusions on each side to match the real theatre. On this set the band is in that recess we see in the house right wall. As far as exterior shots, both films give us only a couple of quick glimpses of the real theatre. 

We get quite a tour of the theatre in its Moulin Rouge days Douglas Sirk's "Imitation of Life" (Universal-International, 1959). The film stars Lana Turner, John Gavin and Sandra Dee. Here we get a look at the dropped ceiling added in the lobby area. Thanks to Escott O. Norton for the screenshot. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for nine more Earl Carroll shots from the film as well as views of the Music Box/Fonda.

We get some nice aerial shots in the Jerry Lewis film "The Errand Boy" (Paramount, 1961). Here looking west on Sunset it's the Earl Carroll (here renamed the Moulin Rouge) on the left and the Palladium across the street. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for a Hollywood Blvd. aerial view and visits to the Fox Westwood Village and the Chinese.

Elvis takes the beat to Bagdad in Gene Nelson's "Harum Scarum" (MGM, 1965). Of course while in the Middle East to premiere his new desert-themed movie Hollywood filmstar Johnny Tyronne (Elvis) gets kidnapped, meets a princess, and falls in love. We wind up at the Earl Carroll for the final number, "Harem Holiday." See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for more shots from that scene.

"The Big T.N.T. Show" (American International, 1966) was filmed at the theatre in November 1965. It features Bo Diddley, Petula Clark, Joan Baez, The Byrds, David Crosby, Ray Charles, Donovan, Roger Miller and many more. 

 

 

The opening credit sequence of "Farewell, My Lovely" (Avco Embassy, 1975) features this image just before the title appears. Thanks to Wayne King for noting the film's use of this footage. In this adaption of Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel Moose Malloy, just out of prison, is looking for his former girlfriend Velma Valento, who for several reasons doesn't want to be located. 

Jack O'Halloran is Moose. Robert Mitchum plays private eye Philip Marlow. Also involved are John Ireland, Charlotte Rampling, Sylvia Miles, Harry Dean Stanton, Anthony Zerbe, Sylvester Stallone and Kate Murtagh. Dick Richards directed. The cinematography was by the "King of Noir," John A. Alonzo. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for the film's shots of the Hollywood Theatre, the Warner, the Iris and the Gayety Theatre on Main St. 

A vintage exterior photo of the theatre as the Earl Carroll that's used at the beginning of "Zoot Suit" (Universal, 1981).

Another exterior image from the opening. The end credits of "Zoot Suit" note that it was filmed at the Aquarius Theatre, as it was then called. There are some shots of the audience in the auditorium during the film -- but we really don't see anything except seats. There are, however, some views of the lobby.

A lobby shot from "Zoot Suit" Thanks to Lanna Pian for the tip on this one. The Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post has several more lobby shots.

The Earl Carroll is one of a number of theatres brought back to a late 60s look by Quentin Tarantino for his epic "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (Sony, 2019). Regrettably, the theatre doesn't appear in the finished film. Thanks to Zzub McEntire for this October 5, 2018 progress shot of the work. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies pages about the filming for 40 shots of the Earl Carroll as well as views of other theatres used including the Cinerama Dome, Vogue, Ritz/Pussycat, Grauman's Chinese, Bruin and Fox Westwood Village.  

 

The theatre on TV: The "Moonlighting" episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" was shot in the theatre. It was episode four of the second season, airing October 15, 1985. Thanks to Laurel Woods for the data as well as an ad for the episode she located.  

 

The Earl Carroll on video: See "A Day at Earl Carroll's," Mike Hume's three and a half minute 2017 video tour of the building on YouTube. 

 

Neon historian Paul Greenstein leads Kim Cooper and Richard Schave on a flashlight tour of the wonders of the stage basement in a five minute 2026 video clip from the Facebook page Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles.  

 

 

A January 2026 teaser clip on Instagram from the Museum of Neon Art promised more detailed reports in the coming months about the wonders of the theatre, the research by Paul Greenstein and Dydia DeLyser that led to the exterior signage restoration project, and progress reports on the installation. It's also on Facebook. Thanks to Trey Callaway for spotting it. 

In part 2 of the series (on Facebook 1/28) Paul discusses the way the neon was installed on the building and other peculiarities of the job. Their initial pounce pattern, designed from photos, hit some of the holes in the concrete where the neon had gone through, but not all. The pattern is getting adjusted and a revised version will be put on the building. In part 3 (1/31) Dydia discussed why their initial pattern was off -- it was done from photos and all those were taken from various angles to the facade. 

In part 4 (2/1) they discuss the polished aluminum construction of the marquee and the type of housings there for the neon tubing. In part 5 (2/3) Dydia notes the 1938 use of phosphor coated neon tubing that produced a white light as being perhaps the first documented use for that color. Part 6 (2/3) lasts all of eight seconds, time for one comment about what copy was sometimes on the marquee. 

In part 7 (2/4) Paul is in the lobby talking about the kind of shows Earl Carroll did as well as the use of neon for internally lit columns and for house lights in the auditorium. In part 8 (2/5) they investigate different materials of the marquee, possibly repairs done in steel rather than the original aluminum. In part 9 (2/6) Paul discusses the two-tone paint job on the channel letters that were atop the marquee. In part 10 (2/7) Paul and Dydia talk about the neon that had been installed on the porte cochere soffit. In part 11 (2/9) Paul is back in the lobby mentioning that the space had once been open to the auditorium, instead of being walled off.  

 

In part 12 (2/9) they discuss the mysteries of the Goddess of Neon and her 50' long 24mm white tube that was the first element in the array of tubing that lit the auditorium.  In part 13 (2/10) Paul discusses the lobby layout. In part 14 (2/11) they head up the stairs to the restrooms for a look at Willy Pogany's sculptures. In part 15 (2/12) we get a quick tour of tye ladies lounge. In part 16 (2/13) Paul and Dydia head into the auditorium to discuss the original "patent leather ceiling" and the wavy 2' tall stalactites of neon. 

 

In part 16 (2/14) they discuss how, after some experiments in the 20s and earlier, the Earl Carroll became the first real installation of neon interior lighting by a sign contractor. Previously there had been an agreement between General Electric and Claude Neon for GE to stay indoors and Claude and its licensees to get the outdoor territory. Electrical Products Corp. had the Claude license for the west coast. 

 

Part 17 (2/14) discusses the wood veneer wallpaper used on the house left side of the auditorium, aka the "masculine side." Although Paul refers to the house right side as a "fur wall," it was actually draperies. In part 18 (2/15) they talk about the clientele for the theatre: mostly tourists. In part 19 (2/17) we get a twenty-three second comment about the streamlined shape of the sound booth. 

 

In part 20 (2/18) they talk about celebrity investors and refer to an opening on the house left wall as a VIP lounge when actually it was a small performance area for soloists, etc. The "Inner Circle" VIP lounge was indeed house left near the dressing rooms but at ground level and not visible to the audience. 

 

In part 21 (2/19) Paul mentions the "eat-at-the-theatre" sequencing of the side wall neon plus a discussion of the theatre being a full evening's entertainment with dinner, a show, and the bar. As he notes, this "immersive" experience was the model for Las Vegas. Some directors who staged shows here, such as Donn Arden, did go on to have Vegas careers. He doesn't mention that there was also pre-show dancing for patrons on the stage. 

 

In part 22 (2/20) Dydia mentions that the "Thru These Portals Pass the Most Beautiful Girls in the World" signage referred not just to Earl's dancers but also to the well-dressed ladies in the audience who also passed through the portal. The very short part 23 (2/21) has them wandering the stage looking for outlines of Nickelodeon sets. 

 

In part 24 (2/23) Paul plays with the controls for the stage's inner and outer revolves located offstage right and makes some guesses about what other controls could have operated. Paul points out the scene shop addition in part 25 (2/25). 

 

The rotating multi-level stage right proscenium column gets an eighteen second mention in part 26 (2/25). In the film clip four ladies are revealed playing four pianos when it revolves. Paul heads into the stage basement to look at machinery for the two revolves in part 27 (2/26) and part 28 (2/26). He investigates the structure of the revolves and wanders over to check out the screwjack for the downstage soloist's lift in part 29 (2/28). The original door to the upstairs offices is admired in part 30 (3/1), a 19 second clip. 

 

Earl Carroll merchandise is mentioned in part 31 (3/2). Paul talks about the design style of the building as being "Regency Moderne" in part 32 (3/3). They take a peek down the stairs to the former basement kitchen and note an "Aquarius" sign on a fire sprinkler main in part 33 (3/4). 

 

In part 34 (3/4) Paul finally gets back to the facade neon project. He's upstairs in the offices looking at junction boxes and discussing how the tubing came through the wall with all the terminations done inside the building. In part 35 (3/5) Dydia and Paul get out a Tesla coil to light up a short piece of tubing that was found in the wall. The phosphors in this produced a new "peachy" color branded as Orchid that was used for Beryl Wallace's face. 

In part 36 (3/6) Paul plays with his section of old tubing for another 21 seconds. In the big 18 second long part 37 (3/7) Paul shows a short section of the GTO wire from 1938 and notes that it was rubber with a woven cloth covering. The rubber, of course, hardens and cracks. Dydia and Paul talk in part 38 (3/8) about getting tubing manufacturer Voltarc to perhaps find some old stock that resembles the GE Orchid tubing, not an available color. 

Part 39 (3/9) is about the use of historic photos for redesign of vanished neon installations.  In this case, they're determining how many sections of tubing there were, where supports were positioned, and where tubing went through the wall for connections inside the building. In part 40 (3/10) Paul and Dydia continue that discussion. Paul notes in part 41 (3/11) that some of the holes through the wall haven't yet been located in cases where they were plastered over for later signage. 

 

In part 42 (3/12) Paul and Dydia talk about tearing out walls to find more of the holes in the facade. These had a glass insulator inside the metal pipe and were angled so rain wouldn't come into the building. In part 43 (3/13) Paul points out some of the anchors in the wall where boxes with the transformers had been mounted. In part 44 (3/13) we're back under the stage for 39 seconds to look at names of performers and shows from years past scrawled on a wall. 

 

We're inside the spot booth in part 45 (3/15). In part 46 (3/16) we get fourteen seconds of looking around upstairs and our MoNA narrator talking about color choices and items around the building as being reminders of its days as a studio for Nickelodeon. In Part 47 (3/17) Paul talks about the freak plane accident that killed Earl Carroll and Beryl Wallace in 1948. 

More Information: See Mike Hume's fine page about the Earl Carroll on his Historic Theatre Photography site. And don't miss "A Day at Earl Carroll's," his three and a half minute 2017 video tour of the building on YouTube. 

The City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning has a 2016 Cultural Heritage Commission Final Report available as a 498 page pdf. See the Draft Environmental Impact Report from March 2015 and a pdf with the L.A. Conservancy's comments.

On Facebook see the Beryl Wallace Homepage, a project of Scott Zone. Alison Martino's 2015 Los Angeles Magazine article "Uncovering a Secret Gem..." has some history of the venue. The Rock Prosopography 101 post about the theatre's Kaleidoscope era has a list of 1968 shows and images of poster art.

Martin Turnbull has a fine article about the theatre on his website. The Wikipedia article on the Earl Carroll Theatre has an informative history on the Hollywood theatre and Earl Carroll Theatre in New York City. Also visit their listing for Earl Carroll. Earl Carroll also has a listing on Find A Grave.

The Earl Carroll Theatre pages: back to top - history | exterior | lobby areas | auditorium | stage | stage basement | sceneshop | ephemera |

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