Los Angeles Theatres: Deluxe Theatre

1873 W. Jefferson Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90018 | map |

Opening: 1914 as the St. Andrews Theatre on the north side of the street between Western Ave. and St. Andrews Place. The area is called Jefferson Park, not far from USC. In this detail from a c.1955 photo from the Sean Ault collection we're looking west from Western Ave. toward the theatre, then called the Deluxe. The marquee is just to the left of the billboard.

Seating: 550

Architect: Frank L. Stiff. Thanks to Joe Vogel for the research. He found an item from the November 22, 1913 issue of Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer noting that Stiff had done the plans for a one-story brick theatre and store building, 40x130 feet, on Jefferson near St. Andrews Place for F. E. Bundy

The July 29, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World noted: "The St. Andrews Theatre at 1973 West Jefferson St. is now being conducted by F.B. Hanawalt."

The St. Andrews is included in these 1918 ads for southside theatres in the L.A. Express. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ads.

It's in the 1919 city directory as the St. Andrews at 1871 W. Jefferson and with an 1875 address in the 1921 edition. In the 1922 through 1925 directories it's called the Favorite Theatre, sometimes at 1873, sometimes at 1871.

By the time of the 1926 directory the theatre has returned to the St. Andrews name. It closed sometime around 1930. It's in the 1929 directory but not in 1932. It reopened around 1936 as the Deluxe Theatre and by the late 1940s was catering to a predominately African-American clientele.

Closing: 1955, according to Bill Gabel.

Status: It's been demolished.

c.1955 - This is the full photo the detail at the top of the page was taken from. We're looking west toward St. Andrews Place with the theatre seen behind the car to the left of the trolley. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.