Star Theatre
182 N. Main Street,
Heppner,
OR
97836
182 N. Main Street,
Heppner,
OR
97836
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The Star Theatre was opened on February 5, 1919 in the Elks Building. It was destroyed in a fire on May 16, 1962.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Lots of references to a Mrs. Elaine S. George of the Star Theatre, Heppner, Oregon, appear in various issues of Boxoffice through the 1950s. But the latest item about the Star that comes up in Boxoffice searches is one from June 25, 1962, saying that a fire had destroyed the theater and the Elks Club upstairs, with the loss estimated at $250,000. “Water in the theatre, owned by Elaine George… was 14 to 16 inches deep when the roof fell in.” Maybe Elaine rebuilt?
No photos yet of the Star Theater, but did discover through newspaper scans that “Dangerous Palace” played there in 1930, and a reissue of John Wayne’s “Reap The Wild Wind” in 1954 for only 70 cents admission.
As for Elaine George, in a newspaper article from 1972, it states she was a “motion picture theater operator by inheritance” and that she was “elected to city hall with first term starting January 1, 1965”, with no reference to the theater after this point. She died in May 1981 at the age of 74.
Theater opened in 1918 by Mrs. J.B. Sparks, one of the few women at the time to operate motion picture houses. It was taken over by Bert Sigsbee, a local photographer and his wife, Sadie in 1921. Their daughter Elaine (George) took over when Bert Sigsbee died in 1932 and ran it until the 1962 fire damaged it beyond repairs. It was never rebuilt.
J.B. Sparks moved the Star Theatre to new digs in 1912 - the second of the Star’s three locations. In 1919, he moved to the final location for the theatre.