Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Nichols Canyon is an area in the Hollywood Hills
of Los Angeles County
, California
. It begins at Hollywood Blvd.
on its south end and snakes its way north into the hills below Mulholland Drive
. Nichols Canyon has a natural, year-round, spring-fed creek and water fall over 100’ high, and several natural and man-made small water falls. They are among the many natural water falls in the streams of the Santa Monica Mountains, which run through the City of Los Angeles. The stream that flows through the bottom of Nichols Canyon attracts coyotes, frogs, deer, raccoons, skunks, rabbits and other wildlife. Hawks can often be seen circling the area as well. Home to many celebrities throughout the years, Nichols Canyon is a favorite jogging and cyclist road.
Nichols Canyon was named after John G. Nichols
who served as mayor of Los Angeles, California between 1852 and 1853 and again from 1856 to 1859. He was a businessman and a builder who lived in the first brick house to be built in Los Angeles, and he was the first mayor to expand the city. In 1851 his son, John Gregg Nichols, was the first Anglo American to be born in the city.
In the early days, approximately 3/4 mile up the canyon, was a small sales office with an old western type porch and roof overhang where canyon children would gather to play in the stream and make forts in the native sycamore, oak, sumac, sage, yucca and laurel. It is now known as "Rick E Lake", named after the current owner, Rick Ambrose. The property features 150 ft (45.7 m). of waterfront on a year-round stream with four waterfalls. Prior to being converted into a residence, the structure served as the real estate office for the Nichols Canyon development (1941). Remodeled several times, the home was featured in 1976 issue of House Beautiful's Home Remodeling magazine. Expanded to the present 2 bd/2ba configuration, the interior now features a rustic antique heart pine interior,inspired by James Cagney
's 1930 cabin in Lake Arrowhead. The house is widely believed to be the centerpiece of David Hockney's painting " Nichols Canyon". Today, few of the original bungalow and cape cod style houses remain, having been expanded or replaced entirely.
There are many stories to be told about the Canyon. For instance, on the evening of May 13, 1874 a sheriff’s posse from Los Angeles camped near the mouth of Nichols Canyon a mile and a quarter northeast of Greek George’s ranch house. The next morning, in a shoot out at Greek George’s, they captured the Mexican bandit Tiburcio Vasquez. The present day Los Angeles County Park of Vasquez Rocks was one of his favorite hideouts.
In more recent times one of the more bizarre residents of Nichols Canyon was Father Yod
, an ex-marine and self styled guru for lost and wayward youth, who founded The Source restaurant in the 1970s. He lived in a three bedroom house that at one point housed nearly a hundred people. Everyone slept in a beehive like complex of cubbyholes. In 1974 he took his cult of followers to Hawaii to avoid a child endangerment charge.
The British artist David Hockney
was a Hollywood Hills resident near the top of Nichols Canyon. He created an acrylic painting on canvas (213.3 x 152.4 cm or 84" x 60" inches) called Nichols Canyon in 1980. The bright colors depict the winding road and landscape of the Hollywood Hills in the late 1970s. Nichols Canyon is also featured in his painting Mullholland Drive.
The two story red-roofed white house featured prominently in the center of the Nichols Canyon Road painting is the Michiels House, which is located approximately one mile up Nichols Canyon Road from Hollywood Boulevard. As in the Hockney painting, there is a stop sign and a right hand turn in the road in front of the house. Members of the Michiels family have lived in this home for three generations. Next door lived Ava Gardner who purchased her Nichols Canyon home in 1948. This home is featured in Architectural Digest, Hollywood at Home, March 2006. In the mid 1950s it was home to Madeline Foy O’Donnell, one of the original Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foy’s of Vaudeville fame.
In the 1970s Allen Funt moved his production offices of "Candid Camera" to a home at the corner of Nichols Canyon and Willow Glen Road where many segment introductions were shot and the popular show was edited. The home, a canyon cottage built in 1939, was expanded and sits on over a half acre with the Nichols Canyon stream running the length of the property. Giant bamboo, palm trees and lush tropical vegetation cover the property. The Funt family sold the property in 1994.
Dan Aykroyd
, Mama Cass, John Kay
, John Cassavetes
, Gower Champion
, Marge Champion
Joe Cocker
, Kevin Costner
, Wes Craven
, Ellen DeGeneres
, Janice Dickinson
, Richard Dreyfuss
, Bud Ekins
, Ava Gardner
, Betty Garrett
, George Harrison
, Robert Hays
, Rob Lowe
, Melissa Mathison
, Matthew McConnaughey, Steve McQueen
, Alex Murray
, Ricky Nelson
, Larry Parks
, Anthony Perkins
, Chris Pontius
, Julia Roberts
, Henry Rollins
, Melody Rogers, Telly Savalas
, Ryan Seacrest
, Doc Severinsen
, Pauley Shore, Frank Sinatra
, Ringo Starr
, Kiefer Sutherland
, Rudy Vallee
, Larry Storch
, Cindy Williams
, Guy Williams, Bruce Willis
, Adam Sandler
, Frank Zappa
, Renée Zellweger
, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Ian Ziering
are just a few celebrities in the music and movie industry that lived, worked, and played in Nichols Canyon over the years. Movies filmed in Nichols Canyon include Lethal Weapon II, Unknown World
, Laurel Canyon
and The Limey
. Its also a favorite location for shooting commercials. Many authors such as David Freeman, Jackie Collins
, Michael Connelly
, Harley Jane Kozak
, Carol Wolper and Robert Crais
have used Nichols Canyon as a location. Buddy Miles
wrote a song named Nichols Canyon Fuunk. Most recently Nichols Canyon was identified as where a murder victim lived on the TV series The Closer
.
Hockney Painting
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It begins at Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
on its south end and snakes its way north into the hills below Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after Los Angeles pioneer civil engineer William Mulholland...
. Nichols Canyon has a natural, year-round, spring-fed creek and water fall over 100’ high, and several natural and man-made small water falls. They are among the many natural water falls in the streams of the Santa Monica Mountains, which run through the City of Los Angeles. The stream that flows through the bottom of Nichols Canyon attracts coyotes, frogs, deer, raccoons, skunks, rabbits and other wildlife. Hawks can often be seen circling the area as well. Home to many celebrities throughout the years, Nichols Canyon is a favorite jogging and cyclist road.
Nichols Canyon was named after John G. Nichols
John G. Nichols
John Greg Nichols was a businessman, builder, and politician.He lived in the first brick house to be built in Los Angeles, California, and was the third Mayor of Los Angeles from 1852 to 1853 and again from 1856 to 1859....
who served as mayor of Los Angeles, California between 1852 and 1853 and again from 1856 to 1859. He was a businessman and a builder who lived in the first brick house to be built in Los Angeles, and he was the first mayor to expand the city. In 1851 his son, John Gregg Nichols, was the first Anglo American to be born in the city.
In the early days, approximately 3/4 mile up the canyon, was a small sales office with an old western type porch and roof overhang where canyon children would gather to play in the stream and make forts in the native sycamore, oak, sumac, sage, yucca and laurel. It is now known as "Rick E Lake", named after the current owner, Rick Ambrose. The property features 150 ft (45.7 m). of waterfront on a year-round stream with four waterfalls. Prior to being converted into a residence, the structure served as the real estate office for the Nichols Canyon development (1941). Remodeled several times, the home was featured in 1976 issue of House Beautiful's Home Remodeling magazine. Expanded to the present 2 bd/2ba configuration, the interior now features a rustic antique heart pine interior,inspired by James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
's 1930 cabin in Lake Arrowhead. The house is widely believed to be the centerpiece of David Hockney's painting " Nichols Canyon". Today, few of the original bungalow and cape cod style houses remain, having been expanded or replaced entirely.
There are many stories to be told about the Canyon. For instance, on the evening of May 13, 1874 a sheriff’s posse from Los Angeles camped near the mouth of Nichols Canyon a mile and a quarter northeast of Greek George’s ranch house. The next morning, in a shoot out at Greek George’s, they captured the Mexican bandit Tiburcio Vasquez. The present day Los Angeles County Park of Vasquez Rocks was one of his favorite hideouts.
In more recent times one of the more bizarre residents of Nichols Canyon was Father Yod
Father Yod
Father Yod or YaHoWha was the American owner of a Los Angeles health food restaurant on the Sunset Strip who founded a spiritual commune in the Hollywood Hills known as the Source Family...
, an ex-marine and self styled guru for lost and wayward youth, who founded The Source restaurant in the 1970s. He lived in a three bedroom house that at one point housed nearly a hundred people. Everyone slept in a beehive like complex of cubbyholes. In 1974 he took his cult of followers to Hawaii to avoid a child endangerment charge.
The British artist David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
was a Hollywood Hills resident near the top of Nichols Canyon. He created an acrylic painting on canvas (213.3 x 152.4 cm or 84" x 60" inches) called Nichols Canyon in 1980. The bright colors depict the winding road and landscape of the Hollywood Hills in the late 1970s. Nichols Canyon is also featured in his painting Mullholland Drive.
The two story red-roofed white house featured prominently in the center of the Nichols Canyon Road painting is the Michiels House, which is located approximately one mile up Nichols Canyon Road from Hollywood Boulevard. As in the Hockney painting, there is a stop sign and a right hand turn in the road in front of the house. Members of the Michiels family have lived in this home for three generations. Next door lived Ava Gardner who purchased her Nichols Canyon home in 1948. This home is featured in Architectural Digest, Hollywood at Home, March 2006. In the mid 1950s it was home to Madeline Foy O’Donnell, one of the original Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foy’s of Vaudeville fame.
In the 1970s Allen Funt moved his production offices of "Candid Camera" to a home at the corner of Nichols Canyon and Willow Glen Road where many segment introductions were shot and the popular show was edited. The home, a canyon cottage built in 1939, was expanded and sits on over a half acre with the Nichols Canyon stream running the length of the property. Giant bamboo, palm trees and lush tropical vegetation cover the property. The Funt family sold the property in 1994.
Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
, Mama Cass, John Kay
John Kay (musician)
John Kay is a German-Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf...
, John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
, Gower Champion
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School...
, Marge Champion
Marge Champion
Marge Champion is an American dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue. In addition, she also worked in film and appeared in a number of television variety shows.-Early years:...
Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
, Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
, Janice Dickinson
Janice Dickinson
Janice Doreen Dickinson is an American actress, author, fashion photographer, model and talent agent.Initially notable as a model, she has described herself as the first supermodel. One of the most successful models throughout the 1970s and 1980s, she expanded her profession to reality television...
, Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
, Bud Ekins
Bud Ekins
Bud Ekins was one of the foremost stuntmen of his generation. Born James Sherwin Ekins in Hollywood, California, he is known to most as the actor who jumped the fence on a disguised Triumph TR6 Trophy 650cc motorcycle in The Great Escape, and who drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in Bullitt...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, Robert Hays
Robert Hays
Robert Hays is an American actor and is arguably most well known for his role in the movie Airplane!-Life and career:...
, Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
, Melissa Mathison
Melissa Mathison
Melissa Mathison , sometimes credited as Josh Rogan, is an American film and television screenwriter.-Career:She is perhaps most notable for writing the screenplays for the films E.T...
, Matthew McConnaughey, Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
, Alex Murray
Alex Murray
Alex Murray was the Scottish Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1970 and 1975....
, Ricky Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
, Larry Parks
Larry Parks
Larry Parks was an American stage and movie actor. He was born Samuel Klausman Lawrence Parks. His career was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been a member of a Communist party cell, which led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios.-Background:Parks grew up in Joliet,...
, Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
, Chris Pontius
Chris Pontius
Christopher Andrew "Chris" Pontius is an American entertainer and daredevil. Pontius is a member of Jackass, and along with Steve-O, was the co-host of Wildboyz.-Life and career:...
, Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
, Melody Rogers, Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
, Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
, Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
, Pauley Shore, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
, Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
, Larry Storch
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...
, Cindy Williams
Cindy Williams
Cynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams is an American actress best known for starring in the television situation-comedy series Laverne & Shirley, in the role of "Shirley Feeney", and for her role as Laurie Henderson in the classic film American Graffiti.-Early life:Williams was born in Van Nuys,...
, Guy Williams, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Renée Zellweger
Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire , and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary ...
, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Ian Ziering
Ian Ziering
Ian Andrew Ziering is an American actor best known for playing Steve Sanders on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210.-Personal life:...
are just a few celebrities in the music and movie industry that lived, worked, and played in Nichols Canyon over the years. Movies filmed in Nichols Canyon include Lethal Weapon II, Unknown World
Unknown World
Unknown World is a 1951 independent, science fiction, adventure film, directed by Terry O. Morse and starring Bruce Kellogg, Marilyn Nash, Jim Bannon and Otto Waldis...
, Laurel Canyon
Laurel Canyon (film)
Laurel Canyon is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. The film stars Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Natascha McElhone, and Alessandro Nivola.-Plot:...
and The Limey
The Limey
The Limey is a 1999 American crime film, directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs. The film features Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Peter Fonda and Barry Newman.Filming locations included Big Sur and L.A.-Plot:...
. Its also a favorite location for shooting commercials. Many authors such as David Freeman, Jackie Collins
Jackie Collins
Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins is an English novelist and former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. She has written 28 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 400 million copies and have been...
, Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...
, Harley Jane Kozak
Harley Jane Kozak
-Life and career:Kozak was born Susan Jane Kozak in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Dorothy , a university music teacher, and Joseph Aloysius Kozak, an attorney. She has seven siblings: brothers John, Joseph, Peter and Andrew and sisters Dorothy, Mary and Ann. Harley is the youngest of...
, Carol Wolper and Robert Crais
Robert Crais
Robert Crais is an American author of detective fiction. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A. Law. He lists amongst his literary influences the authors Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest...
have used Nichols Canyon as a location. Buddy Miles
Buddy Miles
George Allen Miles, Jr. , known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a founding member of The Electric Flag in 1967, then as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.-Early life:George Allen Miles was born in Omaha, Nebraska on...
wrote a song named Nichols Canyon Fuunk. Most recently Nichols Canyon was identified as where a murder victim lived on the TV series The Closer
The Closer
The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods...
.
Hockney Painting
