Academy Theater
3141 West Manchester Boulevard,
Inglewood,
CA
90305
3141 West Manchester Boulevard,
Inglewood,
CA
90305
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Fox Circuit
Architects: Simeon Charles Lee
Functions: Church
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Fox Academy Theater
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News About This Theater
- Feb 17, 2010 — LAHTF's February 20th "All About the Academy"
- Aug 31, 2007 — The Academy Theater Book
- Jul 18, 2007 — Academy Theater memories
- Jul 12, 2007 — Academy Theater book release
- May 29, 2007 — Incredible History of the Academy Theater
- Mar 3, 2005 — Celebration At Academy Theater/Cathedral
Opened on November 7, 1939 and designed by architect S. Charles Lee, the Academy Theater, a classic Art Moderne style structure, was originally designed to house the Academy Awards.
Sadly, however, the Academy Theater never did host the ‘Oscars’, but it was often the location of film premieres and served as a major suburban theater for the Fox West Coast Theatres chain.
The Academy Theater continued to show movies until 1976, when it became a church.
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Recent comments (view all 67 comments)
I couldn’t get the script at the bottom of the etching at all. I took some interior photos but my bb failed me, so I didn’t post those.
Nice photo here:
http://tinyurl.com/yc3427q
That’s nice, Ken. I’ve seen the tower lit up, but not the marquee. Very colorful.
My husband and I visited the Academy yesterday. A member of the church saw us taking pictures and introduced himself, we talked for a while about the Academy and Inglewood’s other churches. Such a pleasant encounter.
I had wanted to visit the Academy for a long, long time, and was so impressed with it. (photos to come)
A photo I took of the Academy on 4-16-11:
View link
I changed the marquee at the Academy Theatre in the early 70’s. One title I misspelled late at night that caused the manager to phone me to come pack and correct was for a movie called “The Public Eye.” I innocently spelled the second word and put “The Pubic Eye.” My uncle, Arlo Nalder, was part owner of the Yum Burger across the street. As a child, I remember seeing a movie I didn’t understand there called “A Letter to Three Wives.” I saw the movie recently and remembered sitting in the Academy trying find some meaning to all the talk about love and marriage…
This past January, while flying into LAX at night, I looked out my window and saw that, although the marquee of the Academy was not on, the tower was—completely operational and animating!
I GREW UP NEAR THE ACADEMY THEATER, 1936 TO 1956.
THE YUMBURGER WAS OUR HI SCHOOL HANGOUT. IT SERVED THE BEST HAMBURGER OF THE TIME. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO IT AND IT’S GREAT RECIPE?
I lived in Inglewood as a kid from 1955 thru 1961. I went to the Academy practically every Saturday afternoon.
I was a regular at the local movie theaters in my extended neighborhood of Southern California, and the Academy was definitely on my list. One of the nicer theaters around, it was probably a close second to the old “Figueroa.” Neither the “Fig,” (as we called it) or the Academy had the “neighborhood” theater feel. Great movie experience and down the street from the “5th Avenue” which was a true “neighborhood” theater, where I saw the first run presentation of “Shaft.”