The SearchVoat Forum

1944

Stout, glad-handed Park Commissioner John B. Vesey of Memphis, wanted his city to have 1) the largest zoo in the U.S., 2) an eye-catching art collection. With the zoo the Commissioner was doing splendidly. But last week his art boom had the mange. He had spent some $25,000 in good taxpayers' cash for "old masters." There were some 38 paintings, all from the collection of Warner S. McCall, retired St. Louis public-utilities developer, a man who was wont to tread on rare Tabriz rugs and drink from cut glass goblets said to have been fingered by mad King Ludwig of Bavaria. Some of McCall's paintings bore such signatures as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Sir Thomas Gainsborough. But certain Memphis newsmen were not impressed. They called on fastidious Dr. Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner, Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Valentiner's thudding opinion: the City of Memphis had been stung.

Park Commissioner Vesey did not take this lying on the grass. Ripped he: "If we had the opportunity to make the same purchase tomorrow, I would certainly do it." The controversy gathered momentum, spilled over into local editorial columns (under such puzzling title-lines as "Art, or Beauty, or Both?"). Dr. Valentiner thought a Rubens in the collection, "all right, but not very interesting," worth $6,000 to $8,000. To John B. Vesey the Rubens was tremendously interesting and worth at least $25,000. Besides, it was "valuable because it was painted in Italy, with Italian costuming."

At week's end Memphis politicians and art lovers kept watching their daily papers.

Besides serving as President and
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of
Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children,
he was Illustrious Sovereign of the Red
Cross of Constantine (San Gabriel Conclave), was an active member of the
Grand Council of DeMolay and a member of the Royal Order of Jesters.
Among his numerous civic activities,
Lloyd was Past President of the Beverly
Hills Chamber of Commerce and was
former President of the Hollywood Bowl
Association. He was of the Episcopal
Faith and in politics was strictly an independent, voting for the man and his
principles rather than for a party. At
one time a movement was started to
run Lloyd for Governor of California,
but he declined it.
The Lloyd home in Beverly Hills,
“Greenacres,” is one of the show places
of Southern California and is frequently
the site of some charitable affair.
Lloyd has been President of the Harold
Lloyd Corporation since its formation in
1923 and still guided its activities at his
death.

The famous American silent film star Harold Clayton Lloyd was born on April 20, 1893, to an itinerant family in Burchard, Nebraska. It was the year after the first American automobile was made and the same year that Thomas A. Edison produced the kinetoscope, which made possible the making of motion pictures... He first appeared in a few not-so-well-known movies in 1915, but by 1917 he had progressed in the industry to the extent that he had already created the glasses-and-straw-hat character, which would ultimately make him famous.

..This was "The Golden Age of Comedy" for silent films, and Lloyd became one of the great film actors and producers of the time. For over two decades, he was at the forefront of producing movie classics, over 250, many of which remain popular today. By the time he was 31, he was a millionaire and the owner of his own movie studio distributing his films around the world. By 1927, he had become one of the wealthiest entertainers in the country, due not only to the success of his productions but also to his shrewd ability to invest wisely. Wealthier than Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin. or Gloria Swanson, he bought 20 acres in Beverly Hills and built Green Acres, a mansion that came close to exceeding the San Simeon estate of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon.

...He was initiated in Alexander Hamilton Lodge No. 535 of Hollywood in 1925 at the height of his movie career. After his Third Degree, with his usual thoroughness and energy, he proceeded through both the York and Scottish Rites, and then joined Al Malaikah Shrine in Los Angeles. He took his Royal Arch Degree with his father. In 1926, he became a 32° Scottish Rite Mason in the Valley of Los Angeles, California. In recognition of his services to the nation and Freemasonry, Bro. Lloyd was invested with the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander Court of Honour in 1955 and coroneted an Inspector General Honorary, 33°, in 1965. As his movie work began to decline, he replaced it with ever-increasing activity in Masonry, especially the Shrine, becoming Potentate of the Los Angeles Temple in 1939. By the time he had stopped making movies altogether in 1949, he had become Imperial Potentate of the Shrine in North America, the first actor ever to be so recognized. He was installed into this prestigious position at Soldier Field in Chicago in the presence of a crowd of 90,000 including the then President of the United States and fellow Shriner, Ill. Harry S. Truman, 33°.

..During the 1950s and 1960s, much of his time was devoted to the Shrine Hospitals, and he said his work for the Shrine gave him more satisfaction than anything he'd done in the previous decades. He was appointed a Director of the Shrine Hospitals for Crippled Children, and in 1963 he was elected President of the Shriners Hospital Corporation and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children. His involvement in these activities was so pervasive that his granddaughter, Suzanne, believed for years that his occupation was that of Hospital Administrator.

..In 1962, he produced a compilation of some of his best films, Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy, and took it to the Cannes Film Festival where he was honored by a standing ovation. Due to this favorable reception, Lloyd released another compilation of his works, titled The Funny Side of Life, in 1964. It featured another of his famous films, The Freshman.

..1950 vintage photo (7"x9") Newly made Shriners Roy Rogers, Potentate Harold Lloyd, Red Skelton, and Dick Powell
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmu ... loyd_2.jpg

The Harold Lloyd Estate, also known as Greenacres, is a large mansion and landscaped estate located in the Benedict Canyon section of Beverly Hills, California. Built in the late 1920s by silent film star Harold Lloyd, it remained Lloyd's home until his death in 1971. The estate originally consisted of a 44-room mansion, golf course, outbuildings, and 900-foot (270 m) canoe run on 15 acres (61,000 m2). Greenacres has been called "the most impressive movie star's estate ever created."[3] After Lloyd died, the acreage in the lower part of the estate along Benedict Canyon was subdivided into approximately 14 large home lots. The mansion, on top of its own hill, retained approximately 5 original acres of flat land. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984...

In August 1925, Lloyd announced plans to built a $1 million estate on the 15-acre site, including a three-story French-Italian Renaissance home, a nine-acre golf course, a 50' x 150' swimming pool (the largest in southern California) an open-air theater, dance pavillion, tennis courts, and bridle path. Sumner Spaulding (Webber, Staunton and Spalding) was hired as the architect..

An unusual feature was the separate fairyland estate that Lloyd and A.E. Hanson designed for Lloyd's four-year-old daughter, Mildred Gloria. The play village had its own private gate with a sign reading, "Come into my garden and play."[12] The fairyland estate included a four-room miniature old English house, a miniature old English stable with a pony and cart, Great Dane dogs, a wishing well with water for the daughter's garden, a slide, acrobatic devices and a swing.[12] The miniature house had electricity and a kitchen and bath with running water, where the Lloyds' daughter played with friends, including Shirley Temple...

In 1993, billionaire Ron Burkle bought the home for $20 million – $19 million less than the $39 million asking price (which had included a valuable art collection of old masters' paintings in the original asking price)

http://archive.is/5K1rV

A couple of quotes from the above article:

*"Clinton stayed at Green Acres often enough so that a bedroom was designated for his use."

"The two men decided that Clinton would become a partner in several of these funds, helping to find investors and projects. “I spent all my time with him,” Burkle said. They travelled the world on Burkle’s 757, clocking hundreds of flight hours."

"In April, 2002, his wife, Janet, moved out of Green Acres and, the next year, filed for divorce. Around that time, Burkle was seen at an L.A. night club, with “two drop-dead-gorgeous girls, maybe twenty years old, one on either arm,” a person who was at the club said. “It was such a statement: I can do whatever I want.”

Ron Burkle > Relativity Media

The flashy producer behind House of Cards, The Social Network, and Fifty Shades of Grey is one of the most controversial figures in show business. Evgenia Peretz gets to know the man behind the braggadocio—and his three Ferraris [that's code... I'll get to that later].

..But what really rankles some Hollywood folk is his résumé, which suggests that if he keeps at it he could be the next Scott Rudin. In a landscape dominated by mind-numbing, big-budget tentpole movies, he’s produced two recent films—The Social Network and Captain Phillips—that earned Oscar nominations, got critical raves, and turned big profits, a combination that’s becoming increasingly rare. He has also helped change the face of entertainment delivery systems with the Netflix streaming series House of Cards. ..

..In January, along with his business partner, Kevin Spacey, he swept in to save Relativity, Ryan Kavanaugh’s studio that had recently crashed and nearly burned... Spacey, who gave Brunetti his first Hollywood job, as his personal assistant, appreciated Brunetti’s “common sense and his bullshit radar” and found in him a rare tenacity. ...

JET SET - Brunetti, Kevin Spacey, and Beau Ryan, 1998. https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/56b ... ess-02.jpg

Via a CDAN Blind Gossip Comment:

"The Munich founders and start-up event Bits & Pretzels is breaking new ground in the corona crisis. Founders, investors and other interested parties come together for a virtual start-up breakfast on Sunday. The keynote is to be held by the fallen Hollywood star Kevin Spacey - who will appear in public again for the first time in a long time."..

They invite him often...And the one who took the pic is also involved with Patch Adams....They're definitely part of the network. Kevin Spacey is not the only suspicious guy around.

Kevin Spacey at Bits & Pretzels, you say?...They are connected to NICOLE JUNKERMANN

Steven Mnuchin was involved in Relativity Media, who had connections to Deutsche Bank, and later Ron Burkle...

Ryan Kavanaugh was the founder of Relativity Media.....

British tycoon Richard Branson is moving aggressively into Hollywood in partnership with Ryan Kavanaugh. Branson is launching Virgin Produced as a film and TV development, packaging and production company, along with a joint venture with Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media through its genre label, Rogue Pictures, to develop, produce and market films...

Virgin Produced is the film, television and entertainment division of the British Virgin Group. The Chief Executive Officer is Jason Felts and Chief Creative Officer is Justin Berfield...

Justin Tyler Berfield (born February 25, 1986) is a former American actor, writer, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Malcolm's dimwitted older brother, Reese, on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. He also played Ross Malloy on The WB sitcom Unhappily Ever After. As of 2010, Berfield is Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Produced, a film and television development, packaging, and production company announced in 2010 by the Virgin Group...

In 2001, Berfield was asked to serve as a National Youth Ambassador for Ronald McDonald House Charities, in which he participated for three years until turning 18. He has been active with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and most recently Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of Virgin Group..

Since 2007, Virgin Unite has held the Rock the Kasbah gala in Los Angeles each year to raise funds for their programs. Rock the Kasbah is their only US fundraising event..Coincidentally, Steve Bing was a producer on the 2015 film Rock the Kasbah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_the_Kasbah_(film)..

. Scott Fitzgerald famously remarked that “there are no second acts in American lives,” but the remaking of the Bob Hope house in Palm Springs might be considered an exception to that rule.

Thanks to the drive and deep pockets of billionaire investor Ron Burkle, the restoration of the 24,000-square-foot home — in a manner consistent with the original design of architect John Lautner — is almost finished. The results of the 2 ½-year project are eagerly awaited by architecture buffs, Lautner groupies and residents of the Coachella Valley....

As a longtime journalist based in Los Angeles, I frequently covered fundraisers and charity events at Burkle’s Greenacres mansion, a Beverly Hills estate designed for silent film star Harold Lloyd. In 2016, when I heard that the billionaire had purchased the desert home built for Dolores and Bob Hope, I immediately called his office...

As construction was wrapping up, I managed an invitation to a party at another one of Burkle’s properties, the members-only Soho house in West Hollywood.

2018

Previous owner: BBC

Now: Nick Jones the founder and chief executive of the Soho House group. He doesn’t hang about — White City, which opens fully today in the former BBC TV Centre, is his 19th club and within weeks he will open his 20th, in Brooklyn, followed by outposts in Amsterdam, Mumbai and Hong Kong, adding to an empire that already stretches from New York to Istanbul, Berlin to Barcelona.

Going forward, the plan is to open three or four new properties a year in North America, Europe and Asia...

Not everyone can get Prince Charles to open one’s hotel!

1971:

C. VICTOR “VIC” THORNTON was
born in Salt Lake City, Utah, February
8, 1915, and lived his early years in Utah
and Idaho. He graduated in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah in
1935 and was employed by steel companies in Youngstown, Ohio, Washington,
D.C. and Alexandria, Va. before founding with his younger brother, Lloyd, two
steel fabricating companies, Thornton
Industries, Inc. in Ft. Worth, Texas in
1945, and Western Steel Company in
Corpus Christi, Texas in 1947.

Imperial Potentate Thornton is past
president of the Ft. Worth Chamber
of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club of Ft.
Worth, Ft. Worth Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Texas
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
and a past director of several civic, cultural, youth and business organizations.
He is currently director of Southwestern
Exposition and Fat Stock Show, Trinity
River Development Committee and Casa
Manana Theater, and a member of the
executive board, Longhorn Council, Boy
Scouts of America.

The Imperial Sir is past master of
Julian Feild Lodge No. 908, past president of the Ft. Worth Scottish Rite Association, a member of the York Rite
bodies and a 33° Scottish Rite Mason.
He is past director, Ft. Worth Court No.
32, Royal Order of Jesters, past Grand
Orator of the Grand Lodge of Texas,
Honorary Legion of Honor of the International Order of DeMolay, currently
Sovereign of St. Timothy Conclave of
the Red Cross of Constantine and a
member of the Royal Order of Scotland,
Cabiri, Quetzalcoatl and Grotto.

He was Potentate of Moslah Temple
in 1959, Director General of the Texas
Shrine Association in 1964 and was
elected to the office of Imperial Outer
Guard in New York in 1964. Committee
assignments held include hospital budget committee, study committee and
hospital evalution committee among
others. He was appointed in March of
1971 to fill the unexpired term of the
late Harold Lloyd as President of the
Colorado Corporation and chairman of
the Board of Trustees of Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children.

He was married in 1937 to the former
Marget Louise Wiggins of New Castle,
Pa., and they have three children, Charles,
a lawyer in Los Angeles; a daughter,
Mrs. John J. Moorhouse (Carolyn) of
Seymour, Texas, and another son, David,
a senior at Texas Christian University.
All are members of University Christian
Church, of which the Imperial Potentate is past chairman of the Board of
Elders. The Thorntons have two grandchildren. Mr. Thornton’s mother, Mrs.
Winnie M. Thornton, lives in Salt Lake
City.

The Imperial Sir’s hobbies are amateur movies, bridge, golf, hunting, skiing,
boating, water skiing and railroad
trains. He is a licensed instrument pilot
and a member of the Aircraft Owners
and Pilots’ Association. He is past president and member of the Colonial Country Club of Fort Worth, the Ft. Worth
Amateur Movie Club, and a member of
the Shady Oaks Country Club, the Ft.
Worth and Exchange Clubs.

John Wayne was also a Shriner..
C. Victor Thornton ... established the "Hundred Million Dollar Club"

It takes millions of dollars a year to operate the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children. .. In order to encourage Shriners and non-Shriners to contribute to Shriners Hospitals for Children, the HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR CLUB was established in 1972. ..

Retired New York Supreme Court Justice Ronald H. Tills, 74, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for a felony charge of transporting prostitutes across state lines (a violation of the Mann Act). He began serving his sentence on October 1, 2009.

Tills’ long fall from grace, from a well-respected jurist known for imposing tough sentences to a federal prisoner, resulted following an investigation into the Royal Order of Jesters, a Masonic group that has 191 chapters and 22,000 members nationwide.

The probe, conducted by the Western New York Human Trafficking Task Force, began in late 2007 after federal agents learned that a judge and a police captain were among the customers of a Niagara County massage parlor that hired illegal immigrants to work as prostitutes.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny admonished Tills for victimizing the most vulnerable illegal immigrants, “the undocumented women involved in the sex trade.” One woman, Coco, barely spoke English and had been sold into sexual slavery. Tills took her across state lines to work at a Jesters convention in Kentucky.

Further, Tills reportedly engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman who appeared before him in court and recruited her to work as a prostitute at a Jesters convention. Likewise, he recruited prostitutes who appeared before him to provide sexual services at such conventions.

The federal investigation also resulted in the convictions of two other members of the Royal Order of Jesters – John Trowbridge, a former Lockport police captain, and Michael R. Stebick, Tills’ former law clerk. Trowbridge was sentenced to two years on probation. Stebick received four months of home confinement and was required to forfeit the motor home he used to transport prostitutes across state lines.

A spokesman for the Jesters said only the group’s Buffalo, New York chapter had used prostitutes at organizational gatherings, which was “isolated, inappropriate” and not condoned by the national leadership. Several U.S. presidents, including Truman and Ford, as well as a number of other politicians have been members of the Jesters.

“I quit the Jesters more than 20 years ago, and this kind of thing has been going on at least 40 or 50 years,” said former member Malcolm Herring. “I quit because I don’t drink, and I don’t mess around with other women, other than my wife. Going to one of their events was like going to a whorehouse.”