2172 Vista Del Mar Avenue

2171 Vista Del Mar Avenue was built in 1926 by famed architect Carl Jules Weyl, who later became Warner Brother's art director in the 1930s and worked on the film "Casablanca" in 1942.  This two story Spanish style house was originally built with 7 rooms and a detached 2-car garage in the front of the house.  This residence has 2,171 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.  According the Zillow.com, this residence was once the dance studio of Fred Astaire, although unconfirmed.

The residence was completed in January of 1926 and went on the market for $22,000 by the builders.  The property was sold in March of 1926 to Leo E. Nicholson and his wife, British actress Lillian Rich.  Rich married the young Canadian pilot in 1919 and accompanied him back to his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Nicholson's father took an interest in Rich's acting ability and moved the young couple to Hollywood that same year where Lillian got a small part in her first film "The Day She Paid" for Universal.  A year later, Rich was cast opposite actor Frank Mayo in "The Red Line".  In 1921, they moved to an apartment on Vista Del Mar Avenue and Rich was cast opposite H.B. Warner in "Dice of Destiny".  

By the time they moved into 2171 Vista Del Mar Avenue, Lillian appeared in almost 40 films including: "The Kentucky Derby" opposite Reginald Denny and "Braveheart" opposite Rod La Rocque.  

Below, Rich was seen at the front gate of this residence in 1927 before she and her husband left for London, where she would continue her film career.  Rich returned in the 1930s where she had difficulty transitioning to sound.  Rich ended up getting smaller and sometimes, uncredited roles until 1940.

2171 Vista Del Mar was rented to Dr. Eugene Nelson and his wife, actress Helen Lee Worthing after they eloped in Mexico in June of 1927.  Worthing who was born in 1900, started her career as a Broadway dancer in 1920 and appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies between 1921 and 1923.  She started getting minor roles on the screen in 1923, appearing in films starring Lionel Barrymore, Alma Rubens and Marion Davies.  She moved to Hollywood in 1925, renting a house in Whitley Heights, where her car went over a cliff landing on the roof of a house.  The following year, she was rented another house on Iris Circle, in Whitley Heights and claimed she had been beat up by an intruder while she was sleeping.  She sought medical treatment where she met her future husband, Eugene Nelson, an African-American physician.  After the two married, Worthing's acting career came to an end, as her bi-racial marriage was considered very controversial in the 1920s.  Nelson may have been the catalyst for Worthing's dependance on drugs and alcohol as Worthing spend the rest of her life in and out of treatment centers and ended up in LA's Skid Row where she died at the age of 43 in 1948.

Leo and Lillian returned to Hollywood after Leo's father died; he had been financing their stay so they were forced to put 2171 Vista Del Mar Avenue up for sale at the end of 1928.  The house did not sell until early 1930 when screenwriter John Clymer and his wife, Nathalie, moved into the home.  Clymer (1887-1937) began his film career in 1914 and had 55 film credits until his death including; "The Delicious Little Devil" and "What Am I Bid?" both starring Mae Murray in 1919.  Author Edgcumb Pinchon lived in this house in 1934; the film "Viva Villa" starring Wallace Beery in 1934, came from the adaptation of his novel.  In 1936, Pinchon wrote the screenplay for "Daniel Boone" starring George O'Brien.  In 1952, Pinchon and author, John Steinbeck, adapted Steinbeck's novel for the film "Viva Zapata" starring Marlon Brando.