Fox Oakland Theater

The auditorium of the Fox Theatre has a colorful East Indian Buddhist temple gloss applied over a standard squared off Weeks & Day interior. The entry portion of the main facade takes the form of a polychrome mosaic-like shrine, with smaller lantern-topped towers on either side. Trim with a Near Eastern flavor forms the cornice line for the remainder of the building.

Opened by West Coast Theatres as the West Coast Oakland Theatre on October 27, 1928 with the movie “The Air Circus” starring Louise Dresser, a Fanchon & Marco revue “Up in the Air” on stage, plus Hermie King and his Band. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3 manual, 15 ranks organ. In November 1924 it was taken over by the Orpheum Circuit. It was renamed Fox Theatre in 1929 after West Coast Theatres was purchased by William Fox. The theatre was said to have the largest seating capacity on the Pacific Coast, of between 3,200 and 3,800 seats. Stars appearing live on stage over the years included Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and the Jimmy Dorsey Band.

The Fox Theatre closed on September 14, 1965 with Marlon Brando in “Morituri”. Following this it was mainly closed but opened occasionally for exclusive runs such as “Planet of the Apes”. The Fox’s long history of exclusive first run films concluded in 1968, with “Rosemary’s Baby”. From 1969 until 1973, the Fox Theatre played porn movies and second run films. The City of Oakland had a plan to demolish it to create a parking lot. Other events continued until the movie palace closed in 1984.

In 1996, the City of Oakland purchased the theatre for $3 million.

Wagner Electric Sign Company of Ohio meticulously restored the marquee and vertical signs in the Fall 2001, before reuse plans were determined for the interior.

A $68 million restoration project enables the Fox Theatre to be used for a variety of events. An extensive restoration by the architectural firm ELS Architects has included travel to Morocco to find replacement light fixtures. An innovative seating design, movable and on platforms, will make the facility an intimate space or 3,000 seats, depending on production requirements. Chairs were fabricated to match the original theatre seating. It took almost a year to repaint the theatre’s ornate nine-color plaster ceiling as it had to be re-anchored and repainted with faux wood grain and metallic notes. With new construction added, the building will also be a home to the Oakland School of the Arts and to a sixth to twelfth grade public charter school.

Operated by Another Planet Entertainment, the Fox Theater reopened on February 5, 2009. Together with the nearby Paramount Theatre, and Grand Lake Theatre, Oakland is now a ‘must visit’ destination for any movie palace enthusiast.

The Fox Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 2, 1979.

Recent comments (view all 108 comments)

TLSLOEWS on March 27, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Thats for the update on the Fox balconyclosed, and hope you had a nice Birthday.

Mikeyisirish on June 26, 2012 at 4:30 pm

A 2010 photo can be seen here.

HenrySchmidt on July 13, 2012 at 7:49 pm

More photos here: http://www.thefoxoakland.com/gallery.html

Gorgeous theater!!!

Joe Vogel on February 6, 2013 at 1:27 pm

This article about the restoration of the Fox Oakland Theatre is by Kurt Schindler, principal of ELS Architecture and Urban Design, the Berkeley firm that did the plans for the renovation of the theater.

The firm’s web site also offers this page with several photos of the Fox.

In addition to the Fox, ELS has designed the restorations of the Grand Theatre in Tracy, California, the California Theatre in San Jose, and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, formerly the Portland Theatre, in Portland, Oregon. More recently, ELS handled the renovation of the old AMC Kabuki multiplex for Sundance Cinemas.

Ian Grundy on March 12, 2013 at 2:07 pm

Two photos of the exterior taken in 2000, just after restoration had apparently started, but was not yet visible!

FOX OAKLAND

FOX OAKLAND

terrywade on August 1, 2016 at 12:38 am

If you see a music event here and sit up stairs you won’t see the stage as most people stand up and block the view. The music is way to loud. Bring ear plugs. They even sell them in the lobby at the Fox Oakland Theatre. The manager needs to check all the people smoking up stairs and have them sit down. They were not smoking cigarette’s. A fire danger and the ushers don’t care. No seats downstairs, you pay a high price and have to stand all during the show. Nice job on all the color lights when they have them on. Hope some day they show some movies on 35mm film or DCP and put in a large screen and get the curtain to work. APE the gang that books the place offers nothing for seniors to enjoy. Check the Fox out and take the Bart train to almost the front door. Don’t forget your ear plugs!!!!

DavidZornig on May 7, 2018 at 10:53 pm

1929 photo & copy added courtesy of Philip Duhe‎.

rivest266 on August 3, 2018 at 6:25 pm

October 27th, 1928 grand opening ad in the photo section.

rivest266 on August 3, 2018 at 6:26 pm

October 26th:

Oakland theatre opening Fri, Oct 26, 1928 – Page 27 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com

50sSNIPES on July 18, 2026 at 8:16 am

Taken over by Orpheum Circuit in November 1924.