vodianova/ chateau marmont

my boyfriend is out of town and i think that for the next 2 weeks i'll turn into a movie junkie

tonight i'm watching sophia copola's "somewhere" and i couldn't be more excited!

mostly because the story is set on chateau marmont, the famous hollywood retreat, which has served as the backdrop for a number of events in the lives of well-known rock stars and actors.

here are some interesting facts, found on wikipedia

• Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante briefly resided in the hotel in 1996. During this period, Frusciante was dealing with a serious drug addiction that almost claimed his life. The New Times LA interviewed Frusciante at the hotel and published an article about the musician in which his physical appearance was described as "a skeleton covered in thin skin," whose flesh was noticeably scarred and bruised from injecting himself repeatedly with heroin and cocaine. Frusciante was kicked out of the hotel shortly after the interview.
• Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded his vocals for "By the Way" in this hotel.
• Vivien Leigh, estranged from her husband Laurence Olivier, nevertheless had every surface space in her suite, 5D, covered with photographs of the great actor. In the bedroom, however, she displayed only one: on a side table near her pillow was a photograph of she and Olivier together during happier times.
• Fashion photographer Helmut Newton died on January 23, 2004, after his car crashed into a wall on the driveway of the hotel.
• Howard Hughes moved into the attic of the hotel and would spy on beautiful women in the pool area using prism binoculars.
• When Montgomery Clift was almost killed in a 1956 auto accident near her home, Elizabeth Taylor brought him to the Chateau Marmont, where she leased the penthouse as a place for him to recuperate.
• Led Zeppelin band members rode their motorcycles through the lobby one evening to cheering guests, causing modest damage.
• Jim Morrison used up what he called "the eighth of my nine lives" after he hurt his back here while dangling from a drain pipe and falling onto a shed while trying to swing from the roof into the window of his hotel room.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald suffered a heart attack in Chateau Marmont