West SFV Lifestyle

By Unknown author – Scan from the original work, Public Domain, Link

Bess Meredyth was a screenwriter and silent film actress. She was born Helen Elizabeth MacGlashen on February 12, 1890 in Buffalo, New York. She died on July 13, 1969 (aged 79) in Los Angeles, California.

Meredyth is credited with writing  The Affairs of Cellini (1934) and adapted The Unsuspected (1947). She was also one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In her early career years, she wrote for the Daily Story Publishing Company.

She was married 3 times- Burton Leslie (m. 1912; annul. 1912), Wilfred Lucas (m. 1917; div. 1927), Michael Curtiz (m. 1929; his death 1962).

In 1940, her address was listed as 4900 Oakdale in Canoga Park, according to her son’s WWII Draft Card found on Ancestry.com. Her son was John Meredyth Lucas and was 21 years of age at the time.

Fun fact: In 1913, Bess Meredyth wanted to be Police Chief for Universal City, California.

By Unknown author – J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, Public Domain, Link

Colin Clements and Florence Ryerson mention of their home Shadow Ranch. 1939 Fri, Oct 13, 1939 – 7 · Monrovia News-Post (Monrovia, California) · Newspapers.com

Colin Clements was born February 25, 1893 in Omaha, NE. His father was born in England and his mother born in Indiana from Dutch and Prussian heritage. His father was a cattle driver in Omaha. In 1917 he graduated from the University of Washington.

“The following year he attended classes at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. Before enlisting in the US Army in 1918, Clements worked as a play reader, actor and stage manager for Stuart Walker’s Portmanteau Theater.” –IMDB

He met his wife, Florence Ryerson while in Santa Barbara, CA, they got married a year later in 1928 and became a team. By 1945, they had put out 8 novels, over 100 short stories, and 50 plays and screenplays. Ryerson and Clements were both screenwriters, playwrights, and authors.

Clements and Ryerson wrote two of the earliest novels featuring the topic of teenage girlhood, This Awful Age (1930) and Mild Oats (1933).

They bought the Workman Ranch on Vanowen and refurbished the home and added an addition. According to the article included they even had monkeys! They renamed the Workman Ranch, Shadow Ranch.

Florence Willard Ryerson 1919 Thu, Jun 5, 1919 – 5 · Los Angeles Evening Express (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Florence Ryerson was born Florence Willard on September 20, 1892 in Glendale, CA. Her father worked on the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Herald, and was author of The Fall of Ulysses – An Elephant Story (1912) and other books.

She married Harold Swayne Ryerson (1914–1927, divorced) and worked in the manufacture of women’s clothing. She later married Colin Campbell Clements (1927–1948) the same year she divorced her first husband.. Clements passed away January 29, 1948 from a heart attack.

Ryerson was the co-author of the screenplay for Wizard of Oz. Ryerson died on June 8, 1965 in Mexico City, Mexico of heart complications.

Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements Sat, Mar 24, 1934 – 18 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Public Domain, Link

Baby Peggy 1921 Fri, Feb 4, 1921 – 17 · The York Dispatch (York, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com

“Baby Peggy” Ill 1922- Motion Picture Actress Fri, Nov 10, 1922 – Page 12 · The Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana) · Newspapers.com

Diana Serra Cary was born Peggy-Jean Montgomery October 29, 1918 in San Diego, CA. She was known as “Baby Peggy” was an American child film actress, vaudevillian, author and silent film historian. She was outspoken about child actors. Cary died in Gustine, CA on February 24, 2020.

“As a toddler she worked eight hours a day, six days a week. She was generally required to perform her own stunts, which included being held underwater in the ocean until she fainted (Sea Shore Shapes), escaping alone from a burning room (The Darling of New York), and riding underneath a train car (Miles of Smiles).” –Wikipedia

Cary was married twice. Her first husband, Gordon Ayres
(m. 1938; div. 1948), she met on set when she 17 years old and was trying to escape the film industry and her parents plans for her life. She married Bob Cary (m. 1954; died 2001). They had one son, Mark Cary.

“She was a million dollar baby, a child star of the 1920s, whose career in motion pictures and began at the age of 20 months In her first 10 years she earned over $2 million, made nearly 150 films,, toured the stager of the Interstate circuit and gained international recognition as a comical child called Baby Peggy.” –Mark Reynolds, Star-News Special Writer

Fun Fact: Diana Serra Cary’s handprints and signature are preserved in cement outside the Vista Theater in East Hollywood.

Probably the most well known motion picture actor in Canoga Park was Francis Lederer, born František Lederer onNovember 6, 1899 in Prague, Czech Republic. He was prolific out in our part of the valley as he loved it dearly.

His property still exists. You can visit the stable portion which became an art gallery in 1963 named the Canoga Mission Community Art Center. Presently it is Malibu Wines and Beer Garden located at 23130 Sherman Way in West Hills, CA 91307. He and his 3rd wife, Marion started the sister city program for Canoga Park and Taxco, Mexico which still exists to this day.

“In his later life, Lederer, who had become very wealthy, invested in real estate, especially in the Canoga Park community (part of which at one time included West Hills in 1987). He was active in local and Los Angeles civic affairs, philanthropy and politics. He served as Recreation and Parks Commissioner for the city of Los Angeles, received awards for his efforts to beautify the city and was the honorary mayor of Canoga Park for quite a time. He became involved with peace movements, taught acting, and was one of the founders of the American National Academy of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and the International Academy of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In 2000, he was honored by the Austrian government with the Cross of Honor for Science and Arts, First Class.” –Wikipedia

In 1934, he founded the World Peace Federation. He was a lifelong pacifist especially after his brother was killed in WWI.

He married 3 times- Ada Nejedly (m. 19??; div. 1928), Margo (m. 1937; div. 1940), Marion Irvine (m. 1941; his death 2000). Scroll down to find Margo below.

In 1934, he began building his residence by hiring architect John R. Litke. He copied the architecture from the missions at San Luis Rey and Santa Inez. You can find what the residence looked like here.

He moved to Palm Springs just after the Northridge Earthquake in 1994 and passed away at the age of 100 on May 25, 2000.

Fun Fact: Although known to be a leading man, he was quite intellectual-into arts, poetry, peace policy and wanted to be known for this. He preferred women not to wear make-up and look more natural. He didn’t like large gatherings.

PD-US, Link

Fred Kohler Owensmouth Sherman Way Home 1927 Fri, Jan 7, 1927 – Page 10 · The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, California) · Newspapers.com

Fred Kohler Home Finished 1928 Owensmouth Sat, Aug 25, 1928 – 22 · Los Angeles Evening Express (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Fred Kohler Owensmouth mention of peacocks on his ranch 1931 Tue, Apr 28, 1931 – Page 5 · Shamokin News-Dispatch (Shamokin, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com

Fred Kohler was born on April 21, 1888 in Dubuque, Iowa. His father William Kohler was an inventor. He grew up in Kansas and debuted on stage at 14 as a spear carrier in Kansas City, Kansas.

As a teen he pursued vaudeville and eventually his first silent film which was “Code of Honor” in 1911. He did not get a steady stream of parts until he was in “The Tigers Trail” in 1919. At the beginning of the sound era, he appeared in “Tide of Empire” in 1929.

He married actress Marjorie Prole and had a son, Fred Kohler Jr. who was also an actor. Kohler died October 28, 1938 at the young age of 50 of a heart attack in his sleep.

He had a chicken ranch and had peacocks his his in Owensmouth/Canoga Park ranch as evidenced by the articles I was able to find in old newspapers.

Fun Fact: Known as everyone’s “Bad Guy”. Kohler “would scowl and grit his teeth as a bad man so effectively that the audience, even in silent movies, vowed they could hear it.”

Jim Tully, orphaned as a young boy, turned vagabond, prizefighter/boxer, tree surgeon, later a writer, once lived in Canoga Park, CA. According to Wikipedia, he was born on June 3, 1886. His WWI Draft Record has his birth as June 3, 1891 as well as his headstone states (1891).

He went to Hollywood in 1912, living in Pasadena for some years. He was married to his first wife, Florence May Bushnell on October 14, 1910 in Kent, Ohio. They had two children together: T. Alton Tully, born in Kent, OH and daughter Trilby Jean Tully born in California. His first wife accused him of desertion. Later his son would get into trouble for attacking two women on two separate occasions. His son served time and they did not seem to have a very close relationship.

He married his 2nd wife, “Marna”, Margaret Rider Myers in 1925. He met her while giving a lecture at USC where she was attending school. They divorced a few years later. He then married Myrtle Zwetow on June 28, 1933. Headlines at the time were not too nice, “Former Hobo to Wed…The bride to be is reported wealthy”.

He reported on Hollywood before there was such a thing. He worked with Charlie Chaplin and “studied and took notes” and published a biography that Chaplin was not too happy about. He went on to work as a scenario writer and published books that were even banned in some states.

He died of a heart attack on June 27, 1947. He had suffered one a few years prior to his death. Just researching for this post has me curious about his life and writings so I have posted a couple books found on Amazon above. His more controversial books were Jarnegan and Ladies in the Parlor.

By CBS Radio – eBay item photo front photo back, Public Domain, Link

Ad for Berkshire Farms-mentions Joe E Brown ranch 1937 Sun, Feb 21, 1937 – 38 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Mention of Mae West and Joe E Brown in Canoga Park 1937 Mon, May 3, 1937 – 24 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com

Mention of Joe E Browns Ranch on Woodlake 1937 Thu, Aug 12, 1937 – Page 1 · The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, California) · Newspapers.com

Joe E. Brown, born Joseph Evans Brown in Holgate, Ohio on July 28, 1891. He was an American actor and comedian. He made his start in 1902 when he was only 10, joining a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons, who toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits.

He married Kathryn Francis McGraw in 1915 and had two sons, Don Evan Brown (December 25, 1916 – October 8, 1942; Captain in the United States Army Air Force, who was killed in the crash of an A-20B Havoc bomber while serving as a ferry pilot)^[8] and Joe LeRoy “Joe L.” Brown (September 1, 1918 – August 15, 2010).

He later became a professional baseball player. He was offered to sign with the New York Yankees which he declined. He preferred entertaining. In 1928 he started making films with Warner Brothers.

“In 1939, Brown testified before the House Immigration Committee in support of a bill that would allow 20,000 German-Jewish refugee children into the U.S. He later adopted two refugee children.” –Wikipedia His adopted daughters, Mary Katherine Ann (b. 1930) and Kathryn Francis (b. 1934) were adopted as infants.

His best known role was as an aging millionaire, Osgood Fielding III, in Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy “Some Like It Hot”. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. He died in Brentwood, Los Angeles, CA on July 6, 1973 at the age of 81.

Fun Fact: Flatrock Brewing Company in Napoleon, Ohio offers many brown ales such as Joe E. Coffee And Vanilla Bean Brown Ale, Joe E. Brown Hazelnut, Chocolate Peanut Butter Joe E. Brown, Joe E Brown Chocolate Pumpkin, and Joe E. (Brown Ale).

By unknown (RKO Pictures) – eBay, Public Domain, Link

Francis Lederer Says Margo Is the Loveliest in Hollywood 1936 Thu, Dec 10, 1936 – 36 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com

Margo Bolado Weds Francis Lederer 1937 Sun, Oct 17, 1937 – Page 6 · The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa) · Newspapers.com

Known as simply, “Margo” her name at birth was María Marguerita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado Castilla y O’Donnell
May 10, 1917 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. She was a Mexican-American actress and dancer.

She was born into a musically talented family and as a child trained with Rita Hayworth’s father, Eduardo Cansino.

She was married twice – Francis Lederer (m. 1937; div. 1940) and Eddie Albert (m. 1945; her death 1985).

She was blacklisted from Hollywood because of her progressive political views, although not a communist.

“Margo founded Plaza de la Raza (Place of the People) in East Los Angeles. A cultural center for arts and education, Plaza de la Raza remains in operation today, providing year-round programming in arts education. Her work with Plaza de la Raza included serving as the artistic director and as chairperson of the board.Albert’s commitment to the arts extended beyond her work in East Los Angeles: she served as a steering committee member on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and was a member of the board of the National Council of the National Endowment for the Arts.” –Wikipedia

Margo died of brain cancer on July 17, 1985 in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Fun Fact: “As a niece to famous bandleader Xavier Cugat, she performed with his orchestra from the age of nine as a specialty dancer in nightclubs, and, later, on the Starlight Roof of the hotel Waldorf Astoria in New York. When she was fifteen years old, she was head-hunted by writers Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, who saw her dance and cast her in the Claude Rains drama Crime Without Passion (1934).“ –IMDB