The ABC Entertainment Center
Oh how I miss The ABC Entertainment Center in Century City. It was located right across the street from the Century Plaza (which is also in trouble). It was the coolest Mid Century out door plaza ever. It was home to the Shubert theater, Harry's Bar (where I would see Andrew Loyd Webber sipping a vodka martini in a dimly lit booth), The Playboy Club and the Plitt theater. The Plitt was a gigantic movie theater that had massive rocking chairs. I have so many incredible memories in this theater. I saw just about every block buster from my childhood including Starwars and Jaws. I miss the complex so much I can't even drive down Ave of the Stars anymore to see the shamless CAA offices that have replaced it. The Century Plaza now stares at soul-less glass and steel building. I have given up on LOS ANGELES presevering or protecting any structures anymore. We have lost so much these past few years. The city is a giant coffin and in it lies the corpse of my youth. These are some fantastic photos. I am also posting an Olivia Newton John video that was shot here to get a better sense how magical this place was.
Fascinating post, even though I'm French and have never ever been to LA.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is great, it makes me dream of a time and place I can imagine completely thanks to your extraordinary images and videos.
Thank you so much, and please keep up the good work.
Thank you so much. I've been away for a while, but I'm back. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with every word in your post. I remember seeing movies at the Plitt in the early 90's, and of course seeing Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd at the Shubert! I used to work at the Century Plaza hotel, and would take the underpass to the food court. It is indeed a travesty this is gone!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG I think I'm in love with you. I thought I was the only blogger who still appreciated the magnificence that was Century City. I vacationed there from 1989 to 2001, then lived there from 2002 to 2012. I was a regular visitor to the ABC Entertainment Center, especially to the Plitt theatre (which was known towards the end as the Loews Century Plaza Cinemas). I love the old Century City and wish it was still with us. Thanks so much for this trip down memory lane!
ReplyDeleteAllison, I feel the exact same way as you do. I saw Jaws at the Plitt in 75, Beatlemania at the Shubert in 77 and my dad used to workout at the Century West club. It was such a great complex. I don't know why they couldn't leave it alone. I no longer recognize the city I grew up in :(
ReplyDeleteTrying to find photos of Yamato restaurant which was in the center, particularly the interior. I also miss the center very much.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Yamato was in the Century Plaza Hotel rather than in the ABC Entertainment Center. At least, that is my recollection from having dined there in the mid-'70s.
DeleteAlison, thanks so much for this remembrance. I have great memories of having seen "A Chorus Line" in the Shubert and attending events at The Playboy Club, but I never really spent any time really exploring and enjoying the Center itself. I rally wish I had!
DeleteI was there at the Playboy Club in 1981 and had a great time! I distinctively remember the fountain in the front of ABC Entertainment Center. Thanks for posting the photos and for the memories! 😘
ReplyDeleteI was there at the Playboy Club in 1981 and had a great time! I distinctively remember the fountain in the front of ABC Entertainment Center. Thanks for posting the photos and for the memories! 😘
ReplyDeleteI worked at ABC in the 80's and I loved seeing these photos. I have such wonderful memories of being in the elevator with stars. I worked for an attorney for General Hospital. I was thinking about this last week and was trying to find the actual address number of the ABC building, but haven't had any luck finding it. Thanks for your trip down memory lane!
ReplyDeleteThe complex address was 2020 and 2040 Avenue of the Stars. The building on the site today is 2000 Avenue of the Stars
DeleteAs a teen having moved to Los Angeles in the early '80s, one could imagine that Westwood Village and the ABC Entertainment Center really stood out as impressive landmarks. I'll never forget seeing Gandhi at the Plitt Theater. I drove by and everything is CAA, Law Offices, and the new mall.
ReplyDeletewas the eye of providence in the courtyard between the towers and the 12 story building at 2000 ave of the stars there before 2007? when ABC was there? or did they add the eye of providence in the courtyard later? you can only see the pyramid and the eye if you’re looking down on the whole block from the sky. I am fascinated with this place for different reasons, and believe many a ritual has bestowed the plaza. i am from texas and only visited LA once to skate some iconic spots. and i went before i had researched everything i know now. but what i would do to go back and explore these areas where the elite use magik. but as far as a coffin of your youth, your youth was just the new buildings that crushed the youth of those before you. don’t ever trade progress for nostalgia
ReplyDeleteomg and you posted this on 09/09/09.... you have to be kidding me, the elite have to be hiding something they don’t want us to learn. that’s a very ironic date to publish this, but anyway, was the eye of providence that’s in the century city plaza today there before 2007? you can only see it from the sky, but was that added after ABC? before? during?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting these photos. I have very fond memories of attending Filmex several times during the 70s and early 80s. I saw many interesting international films, retrospectives and movie marathons at the Plitt Theater during the festivals. That theater was really something special. And no night of movie going was complete without a nightcap at Harry's Bar. It's a shame that magical place is no more.
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