Whitley Heights 101

6654 Whitley Terrace

6654 Whitley Terrace was built in 1926 by architect D. Kramer for Mr. and Mrs. Roy Clark, a general contractor. A single family 11 room house was built with four levels and two fireplaces. There is a total of 4,058 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. An apartment with a separate entrance, listed as 6654 1/2 Whitley Terrace, continues to be rented. Below, the entrance to 6654 1/2 Whitley Terrace is on the left side. For a period of time, the apartment did not have a kitchen; it would be rented as a one bedroom apartment with a den.

Romanian born actor George Calliga rented 6654 1/2 Whitley Terrace in 1928. Calliga was born in 1897 and moved to the states in 1922 with $1,000 in his pocket given to him by his foster mother. Calliga was credited for 157 minor roles, mostly uncredited party patrons or court spectator parts, between 1921 and 1968 on both film and television. Calliga’s resume includes: Bud Abbott and Louis Costello in Hollywood (1945), Copacabana (1947), A Star is Born (1954), Funny Face (1957), An Affair to Remember (1957), My Man Godfrey (1957), Pillow Talk (1959), and an episode of Bewitched in 1964.

Calliga became romantically involved with a socialite from Pasadena named Mabel Gould as early as 1942 and they married in 1944. Calliga was 47 at the time and Gould lied about her age, stating she was 58, when in fact, she was really 66 years old. However, the two remained married until her death in 1959. Gould once owned an interior design business with her brother and was involved with the Rose Bowl Parade in her younger years. Below, 6654 Whitley Terrace, with a car in front of the home, soon after the retaining wall was built in Whitley Heights in the 1930s.

Director Peter Godfrey and his wife, actress Renee Haal Godfrey resided here briefly in 1942 before moving to 2015 Whitley Avenue that same year. Godfrey was born in London in 1899 and began his acting career on the London stage. Godfrey met his wife in 1938 who was part of Danny Kaye’s nightclub act in London; she was only 19 and Godfrey was 20 years older than she. The couple moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s to pursue their acting careers and married in 1941. Godfrey began working for RKO Studios and then Warner Brothers and had a successful career in directing. He was credited for 49 films between 1930 to 1959 including; Christmas in Connecticut (1945), starring Barbara Stanwyck, One More Tomorrow (1946), starring Ann Sheridan, The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), starring Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck, Cry Wolf (1947), starring Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck, That Hagen Girl (1947), starring Ronald Reagan and Shirley Temple, Escape Me Never (1947), starring Errol Flynn and Ida Lupino, and Please Murder Me (1956), starring Angela Lansbury.

Below is the rear of 6654 Whitley Terrace seen on BonAir Place.

His wife, Renee, took some time off work to have three children (with one set of twins). When she went back to work, she took her husband’s last name hoping to regain stardom riding his coattails, as she got several minor roles in some of his films. She was credited for 38 minor roles in film and television between 1940 to 1965 including; Citizen Kane (1941), Inherit the Wind (1960), Tender is the Night (1962), The Donna Reed Show (1960-1962), Perry Mason (1960-1962), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962), and Wagon Train (1960-1963). During WWII she and her husband put together a vaudeville act and entertained the troops on USO tours. During the 1950s, Godfrey was directing television shows but had to stop due poor health. Renee got some small parts and work in real estate to support the family but then she was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1964 at the age of 44. While she was ill, her good friend was actress, Barbara Stanwyck, who became temporary guardian to their children, during that time.

In the early 2000s, actors Ethan Sandler and Kathryn Hahn (both pictured below) resided at 6654 Whitley Terrace for approximately four years. Sandler started acting in 1988 with many minor roles including; Sex in the City (2000), The Princess Diaries (2001), Will & Grace (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Crossing Jordan (2002-2007), and most recently the voice in the animated show, House Broken (2021), which he also co-produced. Kathryn Hahn began her acting career in 1997 and has starred in; How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), The Holiday (2006), Crossing Jordan (2001-2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), Wanderlust (2002), and Parks and Recreation (2012-2015). Perhaps her most memorable role is Carla in Bad Moms (2016) and A Bad Moms Christmas (2017). The two met when they were attending Northwestern University and after they both graduated in 1995, they moved to New York City and lived in the Hell’s Kitchen area of 8 years. They married in 2002 and have two children.