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The Hollywood Roosevelt hotel held its grand opening on May 16, 1927. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the Hollywood Roosevelt' was to host the first academy awards presentation on May 16, 1929. The ceremony itself only lasted fifteen minutes. Janet Gaynor won Best Actress with Emil Jennings picking up his award for Best Actor. The movie, Wings' won Best picture.

The Hollywood Holding Company financed the Roosevelt. Its investors included Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplain. Not surprisingly, the hotel soon became known as The house of the stars'. Marilyn Monroe famously stayed at the hotel and even posed for her first ad for a suntan lotion on the diving board of the hotel's pool. Indeed, it was the British artist, David Hockney, who designed the images which are still visible on the bottom of this same pool.

In 1986, the Roosevelt went through a major restoration. The hotel now holds over 320 rooms, of which twenty could be classed as themed suites'. These suits include: the Grand suite,' the Celebrity suite,' ten movie themed' suites, and nine three room Hollywood' suites.

The Hollywood Roosevelt has always been a favourite location for feature films. These include: Internal affairs,' Beverly Hills Cop Two,' and more recently, Catch me if you can,' with Leonardo DiCaprio. Take a step outside the hotel and you will find the walk of fame stars for Errol Flynn, Cybill Sheppard, Eddie Murphy and Julio Inglesias.

Learn more about this author, Chris Sanders.
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