The Captain
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 259
I still have fond memories of my days in San Diego County and I read the Union-Tribune most every day. I saw this article today and thought that you Loungers would enjoy it.
THE WAY WE WERE
History week recalls city's star-filled days
By Diane Welch
UNION-TRIBUNE
July 15, 2007
DEL MAR – Longtime Del Mar resident Don Terwilliger is known for his tales of a bygone era.
Recalling Del Mar during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, when celebrity sightings were commonplace, makes Terwilliger a treasured source for the city's connections to some of Hollywood's most celebrated entertainers.
The historical society will kick off its annual History Week on Saturday with an evening event at the Del Mar Hilton that will feature entertainment with historic roots. International cabaret star Talya Ferro will perform her renditions of Prohibition-era songs at the gala event, “Puttin' on the Ritz.” The theme is a nod to Del Mar when it was a haven for Hollywood stars.
“Del Mar has always drawn movie stars, going back to the '20s up through the '70s,” said Terwilliger, past president of the Del Mar Historical Society.
In the 1920s, it was Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford.
“They stayed while they were building Rancho Zorro in Rancho Santa Fe,” Terwilliger said.
As a young child in the 1930s, Terwilliger would play at the beach with Bing Crosby's sons, Gary and twins Dennis and Philip. Crosby had bought the former Osuna Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe in 1934, when his wife, Dixie Lee, was pregnant with the twins.
With the opening of the Del Mar racetrack in 1937, Hollywood stars became regular summer visitors, and some moved here permanently. Pat O'Brien, vice president of the Del Mar Turf Club, was a resident, as were Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Jimmy Durante rented a summer home for 38 consecutive years.
Several stars stayed at the Hotel Del Mar, which was “the in place,” Terwilliger said.
Film starlet Betty Grable, nicknamed “The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs,” stayed there in the prewar years with her boyfriend, actor George Raft. Terwilliger was star-struck by the platinum-blond, red-lipped Grable.
“She was made for Technicolor,” he said.
When he had a chance encounter with the actress, who was sunbathing at the hotel pool in a pink two-piece suit accompanied by her black pet poodle, a gift from Raft, Terwilliger was at a loss for words. He shyly stuttered, “May I pet your poodle?”
When Grable married bandleader Harry James, the two stayed by the beach during the racing season. Terwilliger recalled that in 1952, Grable and James cruised around in new twin Corvette convertibles.
Two years later, when Terwilliger had moved up to Hollywood to study at the American School of Dance, he got a small part in the movie “How to Be Very, Very Popular,” the last film Grable contracted to make.
Reporting to Stage 5 at 20th Century Fox, Terwilliger opened the door and there was Grable, in full costume, propped on a slant board, having those Technicolor lips touched up.
“I saw her and it was like the pearly gates – a light was shining onto her face, the color was out of this world,” Terwilliger said.
This time he found the nerve to chat.
“Oh, pardon me, Miss Grable, I've talked to you before. I'm Don from Del Mar,” he said.
“Oh, honey, I just love Del Mar,” Grable replied. “I'll be glad to get out of here and go to the Del Mar races.”
It was Grable's insistence on not working during the summer that eventually resulted in her contract with 20th Century Fox being severed. Grable, who died in 1973, went on to star in other films and stage shows.
Over the decades, the memories of his personal encounters with Grable remain as vivid for Terwilliger as those famed red lips.
For more information about Del Mar History Week events, call (858) 792-5861. To make reservations for “Puttin' on the Ritz,” go to www.delmarhistoricalsociety.org.
THE WAY WE WERE
History week recalls city's star-filled days
By Diane Welch
UNION-TRIBUNE
July 15, 2007
DEL MAR – Longtime Del Mar resident Don Terwilliger is known for his tales of a bygone era.
Recalling Del Mar during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, when celebrity sightings were commonplace, makes Terwilliger a treasured source for the city's connections to some of Hollywood's most celebrated entertainers.
The historical society will kick off its annual History Week on Saturday with an evening event at the Del Mar Hilton that will feature entertainment with historic roots. International cabaret star Talya Ferro will perform her renditions of Prohibition-era songs at the gala event, “Puttin' on the Ritz.” The theme is a nod to Del Mar when it was a haven for Hollywood stars.
“Del Mar has always drawn movie stars, going back to the '20s up through the '70s,” said Terwilliger, past president of the Del Mar Historical Society.
In the 1920s, it was Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford.
“They stayed while they were building Rancho Zorro in Rancho Santa Fe,” Terwilliger said.
As a young child in the 1930s, Terwilliger would play at the beach with Bing Crosby's sons, Gary and twins Dennis and Philip. Crosby had bought the former Osuna Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe in 1934, when his wife, Dixie Lee, was pregnant with the twins.
With the opening of the Del Mar racetrack in 1937, Hollywood stars became regular summer visitors, and some moved here permanently. Pat O'Brien, vice president of the Del Mar Turf Club, was a resident, as were Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Jimmy Durante rented a summer home for 38 consecutive years.
Several stars stayed at the Hotel Del Mar, which was “the in place,” Terwilliger said.
Film starlet Betty Grable, nicknamed “The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs,” stayed there in the prewar years with her boyfriend, actor George Raft. Terwilliger was star-struck by the platinum-blond, red-lipped Grable.
“She was made for Technicolor,” he said.
When he had a chance encounter with the actress, who was sunbathing at the hotel pool in a pink two-piece suit accompanied by her black pet poodle, a gift from Raft, Terwilliger was at a loss for words. He shyly stuttered, “May I pet your poodle?”
When Grable married bandleader Harry James, the two stayed by the beach during the racing season. Terwilliger recalled that in 1952, Grable and James cruised around in new twin Corvette convertibles.
Two years later, when Terwilliger had moved up to Hollywood to study at the American School of Dance, he got a small part in the movie “How to Be Very, Very Popular,” the last film Grable contracted to make.
Reporting to Stage 5 at 20th Century Fox, Terwilliger opened the door and there was Grable, in full costume, propped on a slant board, having those Technicolor lips touched up.
“I saw her and it was like the pearly gates – a light was shining onto her face, the color was out of this world,” Terwilliger said.
This time he found the nerve to chat.
“Oh, pardon me, Miss Grable, I've talked to you before. I'm Don from Del Mar,” he said.
“Oh, honey, I just love Del Mar,” Grable replied. “I'll be glad to get out of here and go to the Del Mar races.”
It was Grable's insistence on not working during the summer that eventually resulted in her contract with 20th Century Fox being severed. Grable, who died in 1973, went on to star in other films and stage shows.
Over the decades, the memories of his personal encounters with Grable remain as vivid for Terwilliger as those famed red lips.
For more information about Del Mar History Week events, call (858) 792-5861. To make reservations for “Puttin' on the Ritz,” go to www.delmarhistoricalsociety.org.
