 | This article needs more citations. (October 2013) |
Gower Gulch is a nickname for the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
| This article needs more citations. (October 2013) |
Gower Gulch is a nickname for the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
Since the days of silent film, the surrounding area had contained several movie studios, including the Christie Studios (on the northwest corner) during the 1920s, then later, Columbia and Republic Studios to the south along Gower Street.[citation needed]
Western films at both studios were extremely popular, especially from the 1930s through the 1950s, and actual working cowboys would come to Hollywood hoping to find work in the movies. They would congregate at that particular street corner, which is how it acquired its nickname. The Columbia Drug Store, which stood on the southeast corner for several decades, was a hangout for many Western film extras in hopes of finding work, knowing the casting agents from the studio could reach them there.
In February 1940, actor Blackjack Ward became involved in a homicide on Sunset Boulevard at Gower Gulch, near Columbia Pictures studios, when he shot and killed stuntman and background actor Johnny Tyke.
A strip mall, Gower Gulch Plaza, "paying homage to the past" and designed in the style of an Old West backlot, was built in 1976 on the southwest corner of Sunset and Gower. The name "Gower Gulch" is painted on the side of a vintage Western medicine show wagon. The strip mall remains unchanged as of 2024 and has been described as "Old West kitsch".