Architectural Ramblings
July 16, 2007 | 9:54
pm
Photograph by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times
Here's something fun to do on a Saturday morning: Meet friends for breakfast at a restaurant where a drunk movie actress plowed her new convertible through the front window in 1957.
The friends in question were Brady Potts and Mary McCoy and the restaurant was Jan's, 8424 Beverly Blvd., where Gail Russell trapped the janitor under her car when she jumped the curb and crashed into the building.
When I read the story I assumed Russell was in the parking lot and simply hit the gas pedal instead of the brakes. But no. After looking at the height of the curb and width of the sidewalk, I decided she must have been flying. And as there's no side street directly across Beverly Boulevard from where she struck the restaurant, I can't imagine how she managed to hit it so squarely perpendicular. But she did.
Here's the counter, 1957:
Los Angeles Times
And the counter today:
Photograph by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times
Since you asked, Jan's is a pretty nice breakfast place. It was a bit
of a brain-teaser that early in the morning to ponder why a half-order
of French toast costs more than the jumbo French toast, but the three
of us put our heads together and figured it out. Definitely worth
another visit.
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When I read the story I assumed Russell was in the parking lot and simply hit the gas pedal instead of the brakes. But no. After looking at the height of the curb and width of the sidewalk, I decided she must have been flying. And as there's no side street directly across Beverly Boulevard from where she struck the restaurant, I can't imagine how she managed to hit it so squarely perpendicular. But she did.
Here's the counter, 1957:
Los Angeles Times
Photograph by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times
Email me