The seeds for Hollywood Park were planted in 1933, the same year prohibition was repealed nationally. Thus, began a love affair between celebrities and Hollywood Park that would not end until the track closed for good in 2013. Hopper’s prying eyes would not be disappointed.Ĭlaudette Colbert, Dolores Del Rio, and Joan Crawford were just a few of the movie stars watching the inaugural races, while famous entertainers Pat O’Brien, Jack Benny, George Burns, and Gracie Allen broadcast the day’s events live from the stands. “The studios have declared a half-holiday… Now our visitors wonder whether we’re producing pictures, racehorses or both.” “Like all of Hollywood, I’ll be right there watching the sport of kings for the kings and queens of the cinema,” gossip columnist Hedda Hopper wrote in the days leading up to Hollywood Park’s opening. It was of the almost completed Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, set to open June 10. The talk was not of the latest premier or on-set romance.
It was early summer, 1938 and the entertainment industry was abuzz.
