The Palladium

6215 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028    | map |

Opened: September 23, 1940 with the Tommy Dorsey Band and relatively unknown vocalist Frank Sinatra. It was built on land that had been part of the original Paramount Studios lot. The building was financed by Norman Chandler, the owner of the L.A. Times. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

 Phone: 323-962-7600    Website: www.livenation.com

Capacity: Up to 4,000 or 2,500 when set up banquet style. The dance floor is 10,200 Sq. ft.

Architect: Gordon Kaufmann, who also was the architect of the Earl Carroll Theatre, Greystone Mansion, the 1935 Los Angeles Times building, the Santa Anita Racetrack and Hoover Dam.

Status: Operated by Live Nation as a concert venue. Reopened in 2008 after a lengthy renovation. In 2016 it was declared a Cultural-Historic Monument by the City of Los Angeles.

A December 1940 Herald Examiner photo by Gil Harris from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.  Also see another similar LAPL photo of the Palladium in action.

The photo above appears on the History, Los Angeles County blog post "Hollywood Palladium Then." The post reports the L.A. Times account of the opening: 

"Dorothy Lamour was there to snip the ribbon, spangled with orchids, and as Jack Benny, Judy Garland and Lana Turner looked on, hundreds of couples danced the jitterbug on a 11,200-square-foot dance floor made of maple wood. With its coral and chromium interior, Streamlined Moderne swoops and shimmering chandeliers, the Palladium that night must have seemed like a dreamy refuge in a world that was growing darker by the day."

Thanks to Alison Martino for sharing this great 1946 photo on her Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles.

This nice shot by John Eng appeared on a now-vanished blog post by Sunil Rampersad.

 

Thanks to Paul Wright for sharing this 2024 photo he took as a post on the Lost Angeles Facebook page.


More exterior views: 

An August 15, 1940 L.A. Times photo of the Palladium under construction. Thanks to Scott Collette for finding the shot for a post on his Facebook page Forgotten Los Angeles. It also makes an appearance in the 2017 article "A Timeline of Sunset Boulevard's Key Musical Moments..." on the Times website. 

 

Over toward the left in the distance on Vine St. the stagehouse of the Montalban Theatre is visible, at this time with "KNX" and "CBS" signage. There's a version that's less cropped from the site Turbine that appears on a Water & Power Associates Museum page about the Palladium. It reveals a bit of the Earl Carroll Theatre on the left  as well as the NBC signage on their building at Sunset and Vine.

Opening night. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

A night postcard view of the Palladium from Brian Michael McCray's amazing Hollywood Postcards collection. The collection used to be on Picasa until Google pulled the plug on that platform. Thanks, Brian!

A 1942 entrance detail appearing on Shorpy.  It's a photo taken by Russell Lee for the Office of War Information.

A c.1942 photo by Dennis Lewis Sr. that appeared on the now-vanished site Scenes of L.A. in WW II.

A c.1947 look west on Sunset from Gower toward the Palladium. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. 

 Another c.1947 photo from Ken McIntyre on Photos of Los Angeles.  

Thanks to Sean Ault for finding this 50s photo. 

A late 50s card from Cezar Del Valle's collection. Cezar is a Brooklyn-based theatre historian. For other interesting material check out his Theatre Talks blog and visit him on Facebook. Thanks, Cezar! The card was postmarked 1958. On the back: 

 

"The Palladium, Hollywood California, located in the midst of Hollywood's radio row, which boasts one of the largest dance floors in the world, and also features top names in the musical world."

An undated view of the Palladium's "modernized" facade that was located by Camille Grasso for a now-vanished Facebook post. 

The Wikipedia entry on the Palladium includes this 2005 pre-renovation photo along with a history of the venue and links to other resources.

 

After the facade restoration. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

 

 

 

The Palladium in the Movies: 

We get some nice aerial shots in the Jerry Lewis film "The Errand Boy" (Paramount, 1961). Here we're 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 Theatres In Movies post for a Hollywood Blvd. aerial view and visits to the Fox Westwood Village and the Chinese.

The Palladium is used for the interior of the Monte Carlo nightclub in the Coen Brothers epic of Hollywood "Hail, Caesar!" (Universal, 2016). See the Theatres in Movies post about the film for a view during the shoot at the Palladium as well as shots from the Warner Hollywood, Music Box/Fonda Theatre and the Los Angeles Theatre seen in the film.  

The Palladium on TV: TJ Edwards notes that the facade makes an appearance in season 10 episode 26 of "My Three Sons" when Chip gets a job at a movie theatre. On the marquee: "Planet of Scorpions."

More Photos: Check out the array of photos in the McAvoy/Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection. Also see Ethereal Reality's Palladium post on Noirish Los Angeles. 

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