Video Tour of the Warner Bros. Ranch

Tour of the Warner Bros. Ranch

I came across this very funny video tour of the Warner Bros. Ranch. that someone did a great job editing together. The Warner Bros. Ranch is located less than a mile from Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California and has been the home to some of the most famous houses in TV history, including Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie and Gidget to name a few. The video includes clips from these famous shows and others comparing what you can see today, along with comical commentary and sound effects. Check it out and make sure you have your sound up.

Lucille Ball's Dressing Room - Behind the Scenes Look

Lucille Ball

I was going through some of my old photos and came across one that someone took of me with Paramount Studios historical consultant, Gary DeVaugn, in front of the former soundstage for The Lucy Show. The photo was taken back when I was a page on the Paramount lot. Gary was usually around the Paramount lot and available to share his wisdom on the history of the studio and all things Hollywood. As you can imagine, being the Hollywood history fan that I am, I used to try and get as many stories out of Gary as I could. I probably drove the man crazy! 

To get a sense of the kind of stories I was able to learn from Gary, here is a behind the scenes look at Lucille Ball's (and Ginger Rogers') dressing room on the old Desilu Studios lot (now part of the Paramount Studios lot). The video is filmed and narrated by Gary.

Lucille Ball's dressing room

Is that a great video or what?! You just got a tour inside a Hollywood Legend's former dressing room. Now you won't get to see the inside of this building if you take the Paramount Studios tour, but you will get to see the exterior and what is known as Lucy Park across from the dressing room.

Lucille Ball's Office @ Desilu Studios

Above is a photo of where Lucille Ball's office was when this was Desilu Studios. Before it was Desilu it was RKO Studios. Now it is part of the Paramount Studios lot. Looking at the photo below you will see "Lucy Park," which not only serves as a park area on the lot, but also, sometimes as a filming location.

The "Chevalier building" in Lucy Park

Lucy Park

"Lucky Stage 25" next to "Lucy Park"

Above is another photo of Lucy Park and in this shot we can see the exterior wall of soundstage 25. This soundstage is where they used to film The Lucy Show, as well as Bosom Buddies, Cheers, and Frasier. Where the blue awning is would have been the entrance to Lucy's stage dressing room "the leading ladies dressing room" as Gary refers to it in the video, which had direct access to the soundstage. Now, don't confuse this dressing room with Lucy's other one in the video which is located across from the park in the Bob Hope building.

Robby Cress & Gary DeVaughn

Above is the photo I mentioned at the start of myself with Gary

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James Dean Comes West for "East"

James Dean, East of Eden (C) Warner Bros.

James Dean started his acting career in Los Angeles, but after struggling for roles in Hollywood, he took the advice of his mentor, radio director, Roger Bracket and moved to New York City. While in New York, Dean would land roles in several episodes of various television series which then led to him being accepted in to the legendary Actors Studio, an acting school led be Lee Strasberg. Dean's acting skills began to blossom and the young actor was starting to make a name for himself in New York. Soon Hollywood would be calling him back West.

Director, Elia Kazan was casting his film East of Eden and was looking for an actor who could play the character of the young, emotional Cal. Marlon Brando, another Actors Studio alumni, was first considered for the part. Paul Newman also did a screen test for the role. Ultimately, Dean would win the part.

Formerly the Olive Drug Store, Now part of Warner Bros. Studios

Kazan arranged for James Dean to move from New York City out to California to start work on East of Eden. Hoping to create a brotherly relationship between his two young actors who would be playing on-screen brothers, Kazan found a one bedroom apartment located above what was then the Olive Drug Store on Olive Avenue in Burbank, for Dean and his Eden co-star, Richard Davalos to share. At this time, the Olive Drug Store was located across the street from Warner Bros. Today, the Olive Drug Store business no longer exists. The building is now part of the Warner Bros. lot and is building #5. Above and below are photos of the building as it appears today from the side facing Olive Avenue.

Building #5 on the Warner Bros. Lot, Burbank, CA

While Dean lived above the Olive Drug Store he did not necessarily develop the brotherly relationship with Davalos that Kazan was hoping for. Dean often did his own thing. Sometimes Dean would join his other co-star, Burl Ives, and the two would go to the nearby Smoke House restaurant or Bob's Big Boy (both still operating today) for lunch or dinner.

View of Building #5 from inside the Warner Bros. lot, Burbank, CA

Dean started getting into too much mischief while living in the apartment above the Olive Drug Store so Kazan, in order to keep an eye on his troublesome actor, had Dean moved out and arranged for the two of them to share a living space inside one of the bungalows on the Warner Bros. lot. Kazan and Dean continued to live in the bungalow on the WB lot during the rest of the East of Eden production. Story goes that Dean continued to live in the bungalow even after production wrapped and was eventually forced out when word made it's way up to the top Warner brass that he was living on lot.

If you take a tour of the Warner Bros. studio this is not one of the areas of the lot you will get to see. However, you can easily see building #5 when driving along the outside of the studio along Olive Ave.

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Tour the Warner Bros. Ranch

Photo from How the Ranch Was Weathered

Just north of the Warner Bros. Studio lot is another, much smaller, studio lot known as the Warner Bros. Ranch. It was originally called the Colombia Ranch after the studio that founded the facility. Unlike the WB Studio, the Ranch is not open to the public, so if you would like to get a glimpse of what the Ranch lot looks like the folks over at How the Ranch Was Weathered have a pretty nice photo tour. Check it out here.

The How the Ranch Was Weathered group was made up of fans of the classic television show Betwitched, so the view of the lot is photographed from that perspective. In addition to Bewitched many other titles were shot here: National Lampoon's Vacation, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Pleasantville, Friends, Dennis the Menace (tv show), I Dream of Jeannie, and Partridge Family just to name a few.

Ed Wynn Brings Network TV to Hollywood

Ed Wynn, "The Perfect Fool," was best known as a vaudeville comedian with a distinct laugh who wore silly costumes. Younger people probably remember Wynn more for his comedic film work in many Disney films which include The Gnome Mobile, That Darn Cat!, and the voice of the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland; but before these film roles, Wynn would bring network television to Hollywood.

In the early days of television shows were aired live on the East Coast, a kinescope film was made of the broadcast, and then shipped to the West Coast to be aired at a later date. In 1949, Wynn's variety show, The Ed Wynn Show became the first show to air in Hollywood first and then shipped to the East Coast to be aired at a later date.

The Ed Wynn Show consisted of many of Wynn's vaudeville jokes and gags. The humor was old-fashioned even for its time but audiences still enjoyed Wynn's likable personality. Although stars were nervous to go on live television where anything could happen, the show still managed to feature many guest stars such as Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, and Dinah Shore during its short one season run.

Here's a video of The Ed Wynn Show featuring The Three Stooges as guest stars:

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