CELEBRITIES, MOVIES and POP CULTURE OF RODEO DRIVE
Rodeo Drive is known as the most glamorous, expensive and high profile shopping spot in the world. Every year tourists arrive from all over the world to either shop, window shop or just check the drive out. While Rodeo Drive may have a rich reputation for high end shopping, it is equally known for its many celebrity sightings and movies that have been shot or taken place on Rodeo Drive.
Although hoards of celebrities and dignitaries have made their way to Rodeo Drive, probably the most high profile movie/celebrity that most people associate Rodeo and movies with is "Pretty Woman" starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. It was Pretty Woman, dating back over 20 years that put Rodeo Drive on the map with modern day movie goers and celebrity followers. Its this movie in which Julia Roberts plays a prostitute who is invited to stay with Richard Gere at the Beverly Wilshire (located at the intersection of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Blvd). In one of the scenes, Julia Robert's character ventures out on to Rodeo in an attempt to obtain a higher end look for an upcoming event she would attend with Gere's character at the hotel. A huge part of this movie was shot on Rodeo Drive and adjacent Wilshire Blvd as well as at the Beverly Wilshire.
While Pretty Woman is a fantasy, even today celebrities frequent Rodeo Drive. While not a guarantee that you will see one when visiting, and no, contrary to what the tour bus guides may tell you, they are not there, all day long, on every street corner, they do indeed visit. Larry King, a resident of Beverly Hills can be found most mornings walking along Rodeo Drive between 8 and 830AM. It is said he often ends up at Nate N'Als (see Rodeo Drive dining for more information). During Britney Spears crazy escapades of 2007-2008 she was a regular driving along Rodeo with throngs of Paparazzi chasing her either on foot or in their cars. Diane Keaton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sylvester Stallone and Warren Beatty have all been recently spotted along Rodeo Drive. In December 2010 the Kardashian sisters and their brother were endlessly filmed by paparazzi as they shopped along Rodeo.
Before he passed away, John Candy lived in a house on Rodeo just north of Santa Monica Blvd. Today this
house is still standing, completely unchanged. You won't miss it, it is the unique, almost fantasy/Disney like architecture that allows it to stand out. It is located on the west side of the street right before the Presbyterian church. In case you still can't find it, just wait five minutes when one of the many tour buses coming through the area stop in front of it and everyone takes out their cameras. By the way the same church that it is next door to is the same Presbyterian church Jimmy Stewart would speak at every year at Christmas.
At end of Rodeo where it intersects with Wilshire Blvd is the Beverly Wilshire. Warren Beatty lived on the top floor suite of this hotel and declared it "the best place in all of LA to live". Elvis Presley used to also stay at this hotel when visiting LA in the 1970s. Hundreds of adoring fans would gather on Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Blvd and tie notes for him on to helium balloons where they would float up to his window.
During 2006-2008 Britney Spears was almost a daily fixture on or in the area of Rodeo Drive. Usually she was seen in her white Mercedes as she would cruise by on Wilshire Blvd or Santa Monica blvd with hoards of paparazzi in chase-but every now and then she would take a stroll down Rodeo-and what a spectacle that was.
As Bijan on Rodeo has catered to the most prominent men in history, Rodeo Drive has also seen its share of Presidents and foreign dignitaries from President Bush to Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In addition to the potential accidental sighting of a celebrity on Rodeo, many of the stores along the Drive hold major media events to either support charities or to promote a new product lines. Often celebrities can be seen arriving at these events in big black SUVs or limos where they are greeted by lights, a red carpet and throngs of photographers.
