Next year will mark the 90th anniversary of Griffith Observatorythis majestic Art Deco landmark located atop the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, and the grand old lady has never been more popular, especially when seen in hit films and television series.
Noted for its bright Beaux-Arts/Art Deco concrete exterior, distinctive copper-paneled domes, interior marble floors, exotic woods, bronze ironwork and travertine panels, this marvelous window to the cosmos has been visited by more than 85 million people during its long history. .
Thanks to Griffith Jenkins Griffith, a Welsh immigrant who arrived in America as a teenager in the 1860s to claim his future in Mexican silver mines and California real estate, the city of Los Angeles was fortunate to benefit from his generous donation of 3,015 acres in 1896 to create a splendid park for his newly adopted hometown.
“It must be made a place of rest and relaxation for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the common people,” Griffith said at the ceremony on December 16, 1896. “I consider it to be my duty to make Los Angeles a happier, cleaner and more pleasant city. I thus wish to repay my debt to the community in which I have thrived.
Just before his death in 1919, Griffith bequeathed funds to build a spectacular observatory in Griffith Park that would include a Greek theater, movie screen, and science exhibits that would all be free to the public.
But it wasn't until 1930 that the Griffith Trust assembled a team of scientists to realize this dream, including astrophysicist George Ellery Hale, Caltech physicist Edward Kurth, and amateur astronomer Russell W. Porter. Working with the Griffith Trust and the Los Angeles Park Commissioners, they selected architects John C. Austin and Frederick M. Ashley to finalize plans for the main observatory.
The ambitious $400,000 project began on June 20, 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression and his small army of Cal Tech consultants, Mount Wilson engineers, talented sculptors, masons and construction workers were able to complete their monumental task in two years.
This Art Deco temple to the stars welcomed its first visitors on May 14, 1935, and over the decades, the Griffith Observatory has become one of the most popular public observatories on the planet. Now home to the Samuel Oschin Planetarium and the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater, its wealth of exhibits, programs, educational events, and busy schedule make it a must-see destination. The original 12-inch Zeiss refractor telescope as well as the coelostat and solar telescopes have been scrutinized by more than seven million stargazers.
But part of Griffith's mystique has been immortalized in the multitude of Hollywood feature films and television shows over the years, perhaps most notably in 1955's “Rebel Without a Cause.” More recently, a futuristic iteration of its Zeiss telescope was seen in this year's “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” where chimpanzee hero Noa and his friends peered into the corroded eyepiece of the celestial device reclaimed by nature in a post- apocalyptic. world.
Another highlight showcasing this stunning structure was director James Cameron's “The Terminator” (1984), where Arnold Schwarzenegger's deadly cyborg encounters a trio of punk rockers (including a young Bill Paxton) outside of Griffith and demands their clothes.
In total, the majestic observatory has more than 170 screen credits, more than most of the iconic actors, starting with “The Phantom Empire” (1935), then further roles in “Flash Gordon Conquers the World”. universe” (1940), “The Dark City” (1950), “War of the Colossal Beast” (1958), “The Rocketeer” (1991), “Bowfinger” (1999) and “La La Land” (2016).
It has long been a backdrop for science fiction films like “Crash of the Moons” (1954), “Tobor the Great” (1954), “The Cosmic Man” (1959). “Back to the Future II” (1989), “Transformers” (2007) and “Moonfall” (2022). On the small screen, the majestic Griffith Observatory and its grounds have been used in numerous films, from “Mission Impossible,” “Melrose Place” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” to “Star Trek: Voyager,” “NCIS: Los Angeles.” Angeles,” and Prime Video’s adaptation of “Fallout.”
“The Griffith Observatory has starred in many films, but there is a deeper relationship that goes back very early,” Griffith Observatory Director Dr. Ed Krupp said in a statement. Maintenance 2022. “It has to do with learning about the Hollywood Observatory, and then also Hollywood learning about astronomical things. This is especially important in regards to the new planetarium show “Signs of Life,” where we have created our own production studio and hired absolute masters of digital animation craft because we are in the middle of Hollywood.
An enchanting monument of inspiration and wonder representing humanity's thirst for knowledge, the Griffith remains indelibly linked to the entertainment industry, whose dreams live just below Observatory Hill, amidst the lights shimmering lights of the Los Angeles basin.
