Wilshire Theater
Theater Location: 201 W. Wilshire Avenue, Fullerton, CA
Theater Status: Demolished
History
The Wilshire theater was a historic cinema located in Fullerton, California, south of Los Angeles, in Orange County.
The original building was erected on the site of an orange grove in 1927 and was designed as an eleven-unit apartment complex, complete with indoor swimming pool and retail space, known as the Malden Arms Hotel. It was also, apparently, a speak-easy during the depression years.
In 1946, the swimming pool was converted into the Wilshire Theatre, evidenced by diving boards retained behind the screen at the "deep end" with a spectator balcony on both sides.
The theater eventually became an eclectic, independent cinema with staged musical revues and counter-culture films such as “Pink Flamingos”.
In 1978, Tommy Cooper, the owner of the Tiffany Theater, leased the Wilshire theater, and began showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight in March of 1979. For its opening night, The Tiffany Troupe appeared, performing a pre-show to a sparse crowd, including some apparently confused patrons who called out "go back to Hollywood, faggots" to the cast members.
Falling into disrepair after becoming an exclusively Spanish-langiuage theater in the '80s, It was demolished in 1991 and in 1992, new apartments were built on the site.
External Links
Cinema Treasures [1]
