Whitley Heights 101

6642 Emmet Terrace

6642 Emmet Terrace was built in 1925 by architect Henry Auerbach for widower Lillian Ebner. The quaint 1,386 square foot home sits on a downslope on Emmet Terrace and has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Ebner sold the property in 1929 to widower Emily Levin and her three daughters: Emily (28), Henrietta (25), and Natalia (22). Singer and actor Clyde Creighton (24) lived with them in 1930. Was he a boyfriend to one of the daughters? It is a very small house. Perhaps he stayed in the storage room that is below the main house. All three girls were involved in the entertainment industry and were popular in Mexico, where their father was from. Emily, who was once actress Dolores del Rio’s secretary, was involved in several film productions in Mexico. Henrietta was part of the Vignette Group who appeared at the Knickerbocker Hotel in 1930. Natalia, a violinist, appeared at the Hollywood Bowl and married political writer Salvador Echavarria in 1930. Mrs. Levin gave the bride and groom a wedding breakfast at this home. The Levins owned this home until 1935 and rented the home out a few years before they sold the property.

Upon entrance from the front door, there is a foyer that opens to a great room consisting of the kitchen, dining room, living room, and sunroom. The house remained untouched until 2000, when the owner remodeled this section of the home. There used to be three separate rooms and the foyer led to the dining room. Below are before and after photos of each area.

In 1932, actor Olympio Guilherme rented the home. Guilherme (1902-1973) was a journalist, economist, writer, actor, film maker, broadcaster and novelist. He played an important part in the history of Brazil, but was not well known in Hollywood. Olympio wrote and published 12 books and more than 1,600 news articles. In 1927 he won a competition by Fox Films and was selected to be “the most handsome man in Brazil.” Together with the winner of “the most beautiful woman in Brazil,” Lia Torá, he went to the United States of America. He didn’t find fame there with Fox Films, but instead became interested in film directing. He wrote and directed a film of his own, entitled “Hunger,” which he filmed on the streets of Hollywood.

Historical writer Maxim Armbruster rented 6642 Emmet Terrace in 1934. Armbruster wrote 5 editions of “The Presidents of the United States” and stopped with President Ford. The books were published between 1960-1982. Armbruster has been mentioned in several history books since he published these books.

Canadian born Betty Blanche Cawthorpe rented the home in 1939. Cawthorpe had been a bank teller in 1927 and at the age of 25, she embezzled $5,000 from the bank where she worked and fled the area for ten months before she got caught. She relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1950s and finally became a US Citizen at the age of 74! Below are before and after photos of the bedroom. The white brightens the room up!

Screenwriter Kenneth Sheehan (cannot find any of his credits) and musician Atze Taconis rented the house between 1940-1942. Taconis was born in Holland and worked in the music department for Universal. He worked on the following films: Young Eagles (1934), The Last Stand (1938), and Border Wolves (1938).

Perhaps the most notable tenant was baritone singer Jules Bledsoe, who rented this home from his friend and former manager, Adrian Huygens, when he first moved to Hollywood to advance his career in more movies. Huygens is pictured below with the famed singer.

Jules Bledsoe was born on December 29, 1898 in Waco, Texas, as Julius Lorenzo C. Bledsoe. Bledsoe developed his talents as a composer and began performing original songs. One of them, a patriotic anthem titled Ode to America, was dedicated to President Franklin Roosevelt. This song earned Eleanor Roosevelt’s attention and respect; she accepted the dedication in person at its inaugural radio performance in 1941, and Bledsoe was subsequently invited to sing it for President Roosevelt in Washington, accompanied by Howard University’s glee club. Below is Bledsoe with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

Bledsoe was credited for the following films: Showboat (1929), Drums of the Congo (1942) and Old Man Trouble (1929). He is remembered for his role of Joe in the movie Showboat and singing “Ol’ Man River” and one of the first African-American artists to gain regular employment on Broadway. Despite his popularity, Bledsoe had been confronted with discrimination in his lifetime. One specific incident involved a confrontation with police who stopped him during a tour of Show Boat in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1930. The local African American newspaper, The Pittsburgh Courier, described how the police pulled him and his passenger over, searched the vehicle–a Packard, verbally harassed them with racial epithets and accusations that the car was stolen, and then the police threatened to arrest them. Only after Bledsoe stated that he would sue the city for $10,000 (equivalent to more than $150,000 in 2022) did the police allow them to continue on their way. It was said that Bledsoe hired a white chauffeur, which at the time, was not common, but his way of payback to all the harassment.

Bledsoe had just returned home to 6642 Emmet Terrace from a war bonds promotional tour when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died in the home on July of 1943 at the age of 43. He apparently had been feeling ill for several weeks. Below are before and after photos of the second bedroom.