Whitley Heights 101

2110 Fairfield Avenue

2110 Fairfield Avenue was built in 1922 by architects Blair & Mackinga who were responsible for designing the house located at 2021 Whitley Terrace Steps in 1923 and several homes on Woodland Way in Hollywoodland. This two story, 5 room house sat on the downslope of Fairfield Avenue adjacent to Whitley Terrace.

The house was located towards the end of the road next to 2102 Fairfield (lot 23) and 2101 Fairfield (lot 24). Below, 2101 and 2102 Fairfield are both under construction and 2110 Fairfield is partially in view to the left. The houses above are on Whitley Terrace.

The house was surrounded by a fence with a large backyard that ran down to Odin Street. This residence was built for Eugene F. Bradley, a telephone company manager, who often rented the house out.

2110 Fairfield Avenue was owned by Bradley until its demise in 1950 as it was directly in the path of the new Hollywood Freeway. There is no record of the home being relocated or demolished. In 1950, the house was advertised to be moved at a public auction. Below are several photos indicating where the property used to be before the freeway.

Bradley made news in 1931 after he was arrested for a bar fight at Henry’s Cafe, 6321 Hollywood Boulevard. Henry’s was the first establishment in Los Angeles to stay open past midnight and was financed by Charlie Chaplin and managed by actor Henry Bergman when it opened in 1930. Bergman often played an extra in Charlie’s movies during the 1920s and 1930s.

Bradley was cut by a knife on his face by another patron and he retaliated by punching the assailant in the face. He was sitting with friend, Charles Vanier, who lived over on Whitley Terrace; Vanier’s father managed Roosevelt Hotel at the time. Charges were dropped on both Bradley and Vanier while the other suspect was sentenced to six months the county jail for assault with a deadly weapon. Apparently, several unidentified film notables were present during the fight. It was not the first fight that happened in Henry’s since the joint was opened all night and served alcohol.

2110 Fairfield Avenue backed up to several residences on the 6800 block of Whitley Terrace. There was an alley behind these homes for access to their garages that were placed in the rear of all of their properties.

In 1926, actress Eleanor Boardman rented 2110 Fairfield Avenue. She had previously rented 2139 Fairfield Avenue for several years before moving across the street to this home. Before marrying director King Vidor in September of 1926, they may have briefly stayed here while they were waiting for their Beverly Hills mansion to be built on 9941 Tower Lane. Vidor had also talked John Gilbert into building a house nearby on the same street. This house has since then demolished.

Before moving, they advertised Vidor’s “baby grand piano” and two vehicles: a 1917 Cadillac chummy Roadster and 1920 Stutz for sale. The two quietly married at Marion Davies mansion at 1800 Lexington Road in Beverly Hills. Davies walked Boardman down the aisle while Irving Thalberg stood as the best man. Out of respect of Rudolph Valentino’s recent death, there were only 25 guests to the wedding. This wedding was supposed also involve another couple getting married: John Gilbert and Greta Garbo, but apparently Garbo “chickened out”.

Vidor previously lived in another mansion designed by Wallace Neff located at 1400 Seabright Place (now Tower Grove Road), but he sold the property to actor John Barrymore in 1927. Barrymore expanded the home to 16 structures and the house has since then demolished!

In 1930, 2110 Fairfield Avenue was rented to screenwriters Mary Alice Scully and her husband, Pierre Gendron. The two had married in 1928 when Gendron was 32 years old and Scully was 25 years old after meeting at the movie studio when they co-wrote “Brooding Eyes” in 1926.

Scully was born in Lowell, Massachusetts before going to college at Wellesley College. However, she had to leave school to take care of her sick mother. The pair headed west to California for her mother’s health, where Mary Alice studied shorthand, won typing awards, opened a public stenographer service, served as secretary to Christine Wetherill Stevenson, a financier to the Hollywood Bowl, and eventually gained work at a film studio. By 1925, she had sold four scripts to First National and six more to other studios. After marrying Gendron, the two had two children and Scully retired to take care of the children.

Her son, Frank Scully, would also become a writer and built his own house in Whitley Heights in 1936, located at 2071 Grace Avenue. Below is 2071 Grace Avenue circa 1937.

Actor George L. Murphy and his wife, Julie, (both pictured below) rented 2110 Fairfield Avenue in 1931. Murphy (1902-1992) gave up college to become a dancer. Starting in 1927, he worked with his wife and partner Julie Johnson on Broadway.

In 1934, after his wife retired from show business, he worked with Shirley Temple, in Hollywood, as well as Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Ronald Reagan. Below with Judy Garland in “Little Nellie Kelly” in 1940.

He retired from the silver screen in 1952, became a TV producer and in 1964 was elected as Senator of California, the first actor to be elected in California as a politician prior to both Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Murphy died in 1992 in Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 89.