Holly Theatre
1500 W. Fullerton Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60614
1500 W. Fullerton Avenue,
Chicago,
IL
60614
1 person
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The Hollywood Theatre was located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood at Fullerton Avenue and Greenview Avenue. It opened in 1926 and could seat 1,000.
The Hollywood Theatre had a relatively brief lifespan, closing around 1955. For about the last decade of its operation, it was called the Holly Theatre. The theater was demolished in 1959, and a parking lot for a Walgreens is on the site today.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
I could not activate to view a picture of the hollywood theatre posted by heinrich f on 11/2/2008.
Are there any other sources available to view this photo. Does anyone else have photo’s of this theatre?
It would be nice to see it again. I used to go to the Holly in the 40’s and 50’s.
Did you click on the word “here”?
The link still works for me, and I only have a WebTV server.
QuillHill is only an e-mail address.
The link is above that in the word “here”.
Thanks David. I got it.
JYI—Thanks for sharing some of your memories. My grandfather owned the theater. Any chance you have some photographs of the property? Also if you don’t mind, what was your grandmother’s name?
(Janesville WI Gazette, February 19, 1957)
Body of Man Found in Abandoned Theater
CHICAGO IL â€" A plumber summoned to clear a stopped-up catch basin in an abandoned movie house Monday found the body of a man wedged in a pump duct. The body of a small man clad only in shorts was not identified immediately . Chief of Detectives Patrick Deeley said the victim appeared to have been dead several weeks. Jack J. Manzella, 60, a plumber, found the body in the basement sump of the Holly Theater which closed Jan. 1. The cause of death was not apparent, Derley said.
Good story jyi.
I lived at the Holly, 1506 W.Fullerton, most of my life, was living there during some of my high school years which was the early 60’s, which means the Holly was still standing after 1957. Just want to get the facts straight. Also, Florence Miller Crawford was a very loving woman who took care of most of her grandchildren and certainly never abused any of them. There was not one child who had to clean the place up all alone. How sad that would have been for the poor little girl. I remember sweeping the stairs and I loved helping the rest of my family clean up. I only wish that Florence was still around to tell her stories.
I believe the HOLLY lasted a bit longer than 1959, as I recall being in a car passing the HOLLY one Saturday night in the mid-‘60s and seeing that demolition had begun; the HOLLY’s marquee was on the sidewalk.
David Zornig: coincidentally, the manager of that picture framing shop where your grandfather’s cycle shop was, is now married to one of the grandsons of the Holly owner Harold Hill. Small world!
Anyway, if you have a Chicago Public Library card, you should be able to access this link, which is to a Chicago Tribune article about the plans to build the theater:
View link
I just have a general question. Why is this theater listed only as “closed,” when it is obviously “demolished” as well? Is there a link to a place that explains how theaters are categorized?