Whitley Heights 101

6616 Odin Street

Real estate broker Oliver Van Amberg hired architect K. Albright to build a 5 room one-story bungalow on Odin Street in 1922. At that time, Odin Street was between Whitley Terrace and Highland Avenue before it was taken away by both the construction of the Hollywood Freeway and for a parking lot across the street from the Hollywood Bowl in the 1950s. As there are no other building permits on the house, other than when it was built, the house was most likely demolished in the 1950s. Van Amberg was a prominent builder before his death in 1928; he even had a building named after him located at 6611 Hollywood Boulevard (now a restaurant).

Van Amberg’s brother, Frank, an electrician, was also residing in Whitley Heights at the time, a house located at 2012 Holly Hill Terrace. However, Oliver Van Amberg, put the 6616 Odin Street house up for sale in 1922 and was asking $11,000. A 28 year old actress named Lucille Carlisle purchased the property in 1923 and moved into the bungalow with her sister, Helen Carlisle for two years. Helen, born Edna Mae White in Spokane Washington, was the oldest of four daughters born to Frank and Della White. In 1920, at the age of 25, Edna changed her name to “Helen Carlisle” (pictured below) and moved to Hollywood hoping to make it in the entertainment industry.

Helen moved into the Hollywood Studio Club (pictured below), the place where young, single women went to stay hoping to make it in the movies. Cecille DeMille and Mary Pickford were active in keeping the boarding house afloat. The only requirement of living there was the young lady had to be seeking a career in the entertainment business. When Helen was living at the club in 1920, she lived with the social worker named Anna Johnstone and 9 other women between the ages of 19 and 25. One other boarder, Sarah Mason, became a famous screenwriter and wrote screenplays for “Little Women” (1933 and 1939), “Stella Dallas” (1937) and “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944). Another boarder, Julanne Johnston, became a character actress, known for her roles in “The Thief of Bagdad”, “Madame Satan”, and “Cleopatra”.

Below is the boarders in 1920 at the Hollywood Studio Club having Sunday tea. Helen is most likely one of the women below in the photo. Helen was able to get a bit parts in the films, “Her Country First”, “The Usurper”, but decided on a career of writing and was hired by the magazine, “Camera” in 1920. Her first story was about Cecile DeMille. Helen went on to write for Motion Picture Classic Magazine in 1921.

Meanwhile, Lucille Carlisle, who was born Ida Lucille White (both Helen and Lucille were born in 1895 and were only ten months apart), moved to 7th Street, where the LA Financial District is today, in 1920. Lucille had moved from New York City where she performed on the stage and had married at the age of 16. In 1918, s (both pictured below).

The two took their on-screen romance to real life and were rumored to be getting married circa 1921, but their is no record of a marriage. At the end of 1922, they had a falling out so Lucille bought the bungalow home in Whitley Heights. During this time she decided to get surgery on her nose for a “slight deflection of the septum” and ended up having two surgeries which kept her confined to the house as her nose got infected. The results of the surgery hindered her getting further movie roles. As for Larry, he went on to directed several films during the 1920s, but squandered his fortune and died penniless in 1928 after being hospitalized for a nervous breakdown.

Lucille starting drinking, but did not want to end up like Semon and was not able to get any work, so she married a loan manager for an insurance company and moved back to Spokane, Washington, where they lived with her mother and her 17 year old nephew. The house in Whitley Heights was now for sale and Helen moved to the Cross Arms Apartments on Yucca Street (now Halifax Apartments). She continued to write for Motion Picture Classic Magazine. Then tragedy struck. On June 2, 1928, Helen was found unconscious on the floor of her apartment of a drug overdose. Her death was ruled a suicide, but many wondered if she was murdered.

Lucille moved back to Los Angeles during the 1940s and made several radio appearances, but nothing further. She continued to drink heavily and eventually died of a liver complications in 1958 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park near her sister.

In 1932, 6616 Odin Street was rented by producer Willis Kent and his wife, Cora. Kent (1878-1966) was a veteran low-budget producer, primarily of westerns and exploitation pictures in the 1930s. He owned his own production companies called Kent Pictures and Willis Kent Productions. He also founded Progressive Pictures with Ralph M. Like, in 1933, that went out of business within a year.

Between 1938 and 1939, musician Gertrude Ross, and her daughter, Corinne Ross Harris, lived at 6616 Odin Drive. Gertrude Ross was composer and pianist who wrote music for films and stage as well as songs and instrumental works. Perhaps she is best known for performing the first song at the Hollywood Bowl with Anna Sprotte in 1920 on a wooden slab that was used as the stage.

Gertrude Ross was the daughter of Abner L. Ross, a wealthy hotelier who owned hotels all over the United States. While touring Los Angeles, Ross decided to purchase the Hotel Lindsay and renamed it the Rosslyn Hotel and made it successful and then sold it. He bought a house on Alvarado Street and continued to make a profit buy land and then subdividing it and selling lots.

In 1903, Gertrude married Herbert Leslie Harris at the Ross’ home in Los Angeles and was one of the most elaborate weddings of the year with between 500 to 600 invitations being sent. Herbert and Gertrude had one daughter, Corinne, born in 1905 and were divorced by 1910. Harris was on probation for 5 years for attempting to rob a safe of a store in Los Angeles after he received news that his brother, Lamar, robbed a bank in Chicago and then killed himself right before he was about to get captured. Harris had tried to get custody of their daughter, Corinne, but failed. A few months later, it was announced that Harris would be marrying a school teacher from San Pedro. The two had met a few years earlier as they worked together. During this time, Gertrude spent two years in Germany learning how to play the piano and then moved back in with her parents on Alvarado Street while she was busy composing music. Corrine also became involved in the entertainment industry, singing and acting in the local theaters.

While living at 6616 Odin Street, Corinne (pictured below) met and fell in love with Cesare Grimaldi, the Italian Consulate in Los Angeles. In 1928, Grimaldi left Rome and sailed to America, escaping Mussolini’s tyrannic rule in hopes to having better life. College educated with an ability to speak Italian, English, Spanish, and French, Grimaldi entered the United States as a legal immigrant and secured a position with the Italian consulate. They were married on July 26, 1938 and three years later had a son whom they named Gian.

Grimaldi, pictured below, left the consulate and began working as a personal assistant to a movie director. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States began rounding up Italian, German, and Japanese immigrants presumed to have ties with enemy nations. Grimaldi’s life would be dramatically altered on December 8, 1942 when suddenly and without due process, FBI agents arrested him, leaving Corinne without her husband and their six-month old baby without his father.

During the next several years, Grimaldi would be sent to different detention camps throughout the United States: Fort Missoula, Montana, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Fort MacAlester, Oklahoma. During this time, Grimaldi continued to petition for his release indicating he had committed no crime. He was eventually granted a rehearing, which was held at Tuna Canyon Detention Station in Tujunga on May 26, 1943. Sadly, the hearing officer ruled that Grimaldi’s detention would continue. Grimaldi was released in October 1943 after spending almost two years in confinement.

Upon his release in 1943, Grimaldi was reunited with his wife and son who were living on Holly Drive. Ironically, Grimaldi had to register for the draft when he was released and was 50 years old when he finally granted a pardon and became a US Citizen in 1953. Cesare passed away in March 1975 at the age of 73. Corrine lived to be 89 and died in July 1993. Their son, Gian “Gino” Grimaldi, grew up to become a television producer and director, most notable for television series Knight Rider and Emergency! He died in 2016.

The house located at 6616 Odin Street in Whitley Heights was most likely demolished in the early 1950s. However, there was no permit to relocate or demolish the home. Below would be the approximate location of the home if it was still existed today.