Herman J. Schultheis was born in Aachen, Germany in 1900, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s after obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering. He married Ethel Wisloh in 1936, and the pair moved to Los Angeles the following year. He worked in the film industry from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, most notably on the animated features Fantasia and Pinocchio. His detailed notebook, documenting the special effects for Fantasia, is the subject of a 14-minute short-subject included on the film's DVD. In 1949, he started employment with Librascope as a patent engineer. Schultheis was an avid amateur photographer who traveled the world with his cameras. It was on one of these photographic exhibitions in 1955 that he disappeared in the jungles of Guatemala. His remains were discovered 18 months later. The digitized portion of this collection represents the images Schultheis took of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities after he relocated to the area in 1937. Built in 1926 by Edward B. Rust and Luther Mayo in a Mission Revival style, the Los Altos Apartments were originally developed as a "co-op", but went bankrupt during the Great Depression. It is rumored that William Randolph Hearst once kept his mistress, actress Marion Davies, in the penthouse apartment. Other Hollywood stars also rumored to have stayed at the famed hotel include Bette Davis, Mae West, Judy Garland and Loretta Young, among others. In 1999, Los Altos received a design award from the California Preservation Foundation, it was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1999 - Building #99000765; it is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #311.; The Thriftimart building was designed by Morgan, Walls & Clements and completed in 1934. Paul R. Williams later transformed it into the second location for Perino's Restaurant. Looking northeast across the street towards the Spanish style Los Altos Apartments, located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard (foreground) and Bronson Avenue, and the Thriftimart food store (right) at 4101 Wilshire Boulevard.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm. Photographic prints
Los Altos Apartments (Los Angeles, Calif.) Thriftimart Dwellings--California--Los Angeles Architecture, Domestic--California--Los Angeles--Spanish influences Art deco (Architecture)--California--Los Angeles Apartments--California--Los Angeles Grocery stores--California--Los Angeles Streets--California--Los Angeles Lost architecture--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Wilshire Boulevard (Los Angeles, Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs Rust, Edward B Mayo, Luther Morgan, Walls & Clements
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
