Whitley Heights 101

2041 Grace Avenue (1921)

2041 Grace Avenue was built in 1921 by architect H.L. Wilson and owner, Harriet Corey, originally as a 6 room, 2-story home. Below is an advertisement in October of 1922 auctioning the recently built home.

The house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Bennett who added a bedroom and a bathroom in 1924. The Bennett’s resided at 2041 Grace Avenue up until 1939 and also added a 12 x 18 room and an entry to the kitchen in 1931. In 1933, they enlarged the dinning room and master bedroom and added another bathroom. The same year, they added a “summer house” which is now called a “bonus room” on the first floor.

Herbert (H.E.) Bennett was an employee at Barker Brothers who worked his way to become President of the company up until 1934. See H.E. Bennett below.

His wife spent her time raising and breeding Old English sheepdogs. Mrs. Bennett took her two famous sheepdogs to dog shows frequently. Pictured below is Mrs. Bennett with Piccadilly Circus and Scalawag in 1933. Additionally, Piccadilly Circus appeared in a movie in 1933.

In 1939, musician Ted Fio Rito and his wife, Madeline, resided at 2041 Grace Avenue. Fio Rito was a composer, songwriter, conductor, and pianist. He wrote, “Charley My Boy” and “I Never Knew”. He is known for the soundtracks: The Jazz Singer (1922), Mata Hari (1931) and The Remains of the Day (1993). In 1940, director, Albert Ray, and his wife, writer Francis C. Ray lived at the house. Ray directed over 85 films. When movie producer, Leo Meyer bought the house in 1940, he added the garage.

Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970, actress Joyce Van Patten purchased the house. Van Patten starred in over 150 movies and television shows, usually as a co-star. She is best known for roles in As the World Turns (1956-57), Gunsmoke (1963), Perry Mason (1963 & 1965), The Odd Couple (1970), and Hawaii Five-0 (1970 & 1972). Her brother, Dick Van Patten, starred in the television show Eight is Enough (1977-81) and was a frequent guest on The Love Boat. Joyce had a habit of marrying men that she worked with on the set. She was married to actor Martin Balsam from 1957 to 1962 and they had a daughter, Talia Balsam. Talia became an actress and has guest starred in over 100 television shows starting with Happy Days in 1977. Talia had also dated George Clooney. Talia was listed as living here in 1985. (Below is Talia with her mother, Joyce.)

Joyce then married actor Hal Lynch from 1968 to 1970 and they purchased this house. James Harold Lynch “Hal” guest starred in over 30 television shows from 1965 through 1975 and is known for his roles in Hogan’s Heroes, The Wild Wild West, Bonanza and Big Valley. Lynch served in the Navy and apparently had a thing with guns.  In June of 1973, a burglar broke into 2041 Grace Avenue and Lynch fired a gun at the man who was in the kitchen. Lynch retired from acting in 1975 and moved back to his hometown, Opp, Alabama and spent the rest of his years living with his mother and writing a column for a local newspaper. According to friends, Lynch was known to be a racist and had difficulty interacting with others. According to IMDB, “Hal was known for sitting on his back porch taking pot shots with his .22 to hurry blacks along who were crossing his property”. On October 5, 2006, he dropped off his column at the newspaper office, picked up a suit at the dry cleaners, called 9-1-1 to report that a man had been shot at his address, and then shot himself in his backyard. Below is Lynch in starring in a television show holding a gun. Obviously Joyce there was something about him that she did not like as their marriage lasted only a year.

Joyce’s fourth and final husband was actor, Dennis Dugan, from 1973-1987. (When she was 16 years old, she married actor Casey King from 1950-53 and they had one son. Joyce and Dennis resided in this home until the late 1980s. While residing here, they repaired the porch and the pool in in 1976 and added another closet and remodeled the bathrooms in 1981.

Actor Dennis Dugan continues to act and has guest starred in over 65 movies and television shows. He is best known for Happy Gilmore (1996), You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008) and Big Daddy (1999). Below is Dugan with Cybil Shepherd in a scene from the television show, Moonlighting.

2041 Grace Avenue may have not recently been inhabited by someone in the entertainment field, the house has seen four actors, one producer, one writer, one musician, one director and a notable Old English sheepdog named Piccadilly Circus.