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Image / Playing for the silents

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Title
Playing for the silents
Alternative Title
Los Angeles Neighborhoods Photo Collection;
Creator
McCulloh, Douglas
Contributor
Part of the Los Angeles Neighborhoods Project. Made accessible through a grant from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
Date Created and/or Issued
Circa 200-
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
Title supplied by cataloger.
Bob Mitchell passed away on July 4, 2009.
Photographer's caption reads, "Bob Mitchell was four when his mother sat him down at the family piano. She had an Episcopalian hymnal and a switch. He commenced to learn every song in the hymn book. His mother stood by. "Whenever she switched me, I knew I probably deserved it." He thanks her for that. At age twelve - that was in 1924 - he got a job at the Strand Theatre on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena playing organ accompaniment for the silent movies. Thus began a lifetime in music. On the 79th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's death, they projected Camille on the side of Valentino's crypt - the Cathedral Mausoleum in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Twilight deepened and people settled in to watch the movie. Two assistants helped Bob Mitchell, 93, walk to the organ on the cemetery lawn. He ran nimble, bony fingers up and down the keyboard."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;24 x 36 cm. on sheet 26 x 38 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00081688
Los Angeles Neighborhoods Collection;
GPC_b4_f2_i64
CARL0004974408
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/3837
Subject
Mitchell, Bob,--conductor
Hollywood Forever Cemetery (Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Organ (Musical instrument)--California--Los Angeles
Organists--United States
Cemeteries--California--Hollywood (Los Angeles)
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles Neighborhoods Collection photographs

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