Back in the day, when Hollywood was a small town, The Beverly Hills Hotel was ground/grand zero for LA’s celeb set. Having recently marked its 100th anniversary, the legendary “Pink Palace,” where Liz Taylor cavorted pre-Hilton/Kardashian times and movie moguls cut deals that defined American culture, is rebirthing its iconic bungalows (21 in total), with new décor, up-to-date amenities, and, in the case of five of those A-list abodes, a special Golden Age-of-Tinseltown sparkle that will commemorate some of the big screen’s greats.
Bungalow 1, a favorite of Hollywood’s “second” blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe (lest we forget Jean Harlow), will debut next year to much fanfare. Incredibly, this year would be Monroe’s 90th birthday. Famously, the 1950s sex goddess sensation, who off-set eschewed Bev Hills and resided in her own, residential bungalow in Brentwood, spent countless hours holed up at The Beverly Hills Hotel, dining at her favorite table (Number 6) in the Polo Lounge, and even filming a movie, the appropriately named Let’s Make Love, with one of her erstwhile lovers, French star Yves Montand, in Bungalows 21 and 22.
From “Hello, Norma Jean” by Spencer Beck for LA Confidential Magazine, 2016; Photo by Bruce Davidson
