This year marks the 30th anniversary of Decor Art Galleries, the best shop in the Valley for frames and unique photos
Lynne Crandall sits behind her tidy desk in the show room of Decor Art Galleries on Studio City’s main drag, Ventura Blvd. and with a few strokes of her keyboard shows me photos of LA and Hollywood I’ve never seen before.
The native Angelena knows the way around her database of 60,000 photos from the golden era of Hollywood, but also has stories that bring them to life.
All around her clean, comfortable storefront hang framed photos of all the big stars from the Stones to Marilyn Monroe, to the Hollywood sign, to Nirvana, but many are ones that aren’t overly-manufactured. Some seem like diamonds in the not-so-rough.
These are the types of framed photos you could imagine in mansions and swanky hotels — because they do end up in mansions and swanky hotels.
Lynne has been providing estates, designers, restaurants and people like you and me with photos of our heroes since 1994.
And not only does she have access to all of these pictures and art pieces, but she knows a lot about the stories behind them. She can easily bounce from one era to the next with as many facts about the Muhammad Ali meeting the Beatles to the formation of Studio City itself.
Hear in LA: What would you say are your top three best selling images?
Lynne Crandall: There’s one in the window, it’s Boris Karloff on the set of The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and he’s drinking a cup of tea and smoking a cigarette. That’s probably our all-time best seller.
Karloff!
Yeah, it never stops selling — day in and day out. It always sells.
I would have thought it would be Marilyn, but it’s Frankenstein Boris Karloff in makeup in between scenes.
And he was British, so he was drinking tea, not coffee.
I first moved here in 1984, this will be my 40th year in California, and I was shocked at the Hollywood Blvd culture of cruising in the mid ‘80s. Was that going on when you were in high school?
It was on Sunset Boulevard in the ’70s and then it moved to Hollywood.
You went to Hollywood High on Sunset. So would it go past your high school?
We would get a couple of our friends, 12 o’clock midnight and we’d walk the Sunset Strip.
Midnight?
Midnight.
Nobody bothered you? You were 15 years-old.
Nobody bothered us.
They just whistled?
Yeah.
And?
We liked it.
There was no violence, right?
There was no violence.
Just people communicating? “Hey, pretty girls.” “Hey boys in cars.”
Yeah, we’d go to La Brea and Sunset to Tiny Naylors car hop drive in.
We’d buy a hamburger. There were several of them all over the place.
Now about these guys cruising with their cars: did teenage girls like you like the boys and cars? Because these days women say cars don’t impress them.
Yeah, we liked them. But we didn’t get in their cars.
Where did the high school kids dance in Hollywood?
The Palladium. They’d have bands there. You could go and dance.
But I used to hang out with rock ‘n roll bands.
Oh?
I went to the Argyle recording studio and I hung out with Red West who was Elvis’ cousin.
And Ricky Nelson.
You were hanging out with Ricky Nelson?
Yep.
Handsome as can be!
He and his brother had a house up on Mulholland and they’d have parties there. And one time we were there and they had candles on beer cans and the dog knocked one over and it caused a fire.
I remember we all had to go outside while they put out the fire.
Let’s talk about these parents of yours. They’re letting you walk around at midnight, going to parties…?
I was the youngest of three. That’s why, and they couldn’t be bothered with my antics. They just couldn’t be bothered.
As long as I got home at a decent hour, or called that I was coming home, they never questioned.
Would you tell your parents, “hey, I was hanging out with Ricky Nelson today”?
I just wouldn’t tell them anything.
But he’s on TV.
I was out with strangers. They didn’t know these people.
But —
I remember as a little kid I drew a picture of Elvis Presley and I had it on my dresser and I said, “would you let me marry Elvis Presley?”
My father said no. So I knew right then and there never ask him anything.
We also went to Elvis’ house on Bellagio road.
He had a house in LA?
Yep.
So when you say you’d go there, you’d go to the gates?
Now we’d go inside with his cousins.
Red would let you into Elvis’ house?
Yeah. Yeah. I used to hang out with them at the recording studio.
My theory is native Angelenos are not impressed with any of this fame and fortune, because, like you are describing, you all see it at a young age. You have to be a good person to impress Angelenos.
Yes, exactly.
A good person is what we admire the most.
Visit Lynne at Decor Art Galleries, 12149 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, 91604
Not sure if she has the image or frame you want? Call the shop at (818) 755–0755.
You can also browse through tens of thousands of the images she can print for you at hollywoodhistoricphotos.com
Also, check out the episode we did with her son-in-law Dr. Arik Greenberg, the biblical scholar who taught us a bunch about the Good Book.
How great was Lynne?
Hear in LA is produced and edited by Tony Pierce.
Music and music supervision by Jordan Katz.
Special thanks to Cindy for creating the logo, Jen for inspiring this, and Lynne’s daughter Melissa for recommending her mom and setting this up!
And also to native Angelenos who lead by example in every way. Thank you, patriots!
