Normandie Theatre
4811 S. Normandie Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90037
4811 S. Normandie Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90037
1 person
favorited this theater
The Academy Theatre was opened in 1913 and closed in 1921. It was reopened as the Normandie Theatre in 1925. It was reopened on February 28, 1944 with Ann Southern in “Swing Shift Maisie” & Joan Crawford in “Above Suspicion”. It was still open in 1957.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
It actually looks pretty good. The marquee has held up well.
I’m going to make reservations at the United Artists and act like I feel the ‘word’ just to get a peek at it.
The Normandie was advertised at 4817 S. per the LA Times in 1925. I believe that should be the proper address. I may get a chance to go by there tomorrow.
There is a small store at 4817 with a house behind it. 4811 is an apartment building. I would say the theater is long gone.
The Normandie Theatre was listed at 4811 S. Normandie in the 1956 City Directory. I’m sure that’s the correct address. The Academy Theatre, its aka, is listed at 4811 S. Normandie in the 1915 City Directory.
The building listed at 4811 by L.A. County Assessor has “0000” for the year it was built, and has an effective year built of 1963. It looks as though some part of an earlier structure might have survived a 1963 rebuilding, but the Assessor’s office has lost track of the original construction date.
Live Search bird’s eye view shows what looks like an apartment house on the lot at 4811 today, and Google Maps street view shows that the building has an address of 4807. The 1963 development must have incorporated one or more lots to the north of the theater’s site. There’s a small, shed-like building at the back that might be older than the apartment building, but it doesn’t look like it was ever part of a theater. The Normandie must have been demolished in 1963 or earlier.
I’m not sure why the Normandie was listed at 4817 in those mid-twenties ads. Some sort of address promiscuity, I guess. The building at 4817 today is a house dating from 1911, with a 1953 commercial addition at the front, according to the assessor’s office (and confirmed by Google satellite view.) That could never have been the theater.
In any case, as the Academy was already operating at 4811 Normandie in 1915, and the Normandie was still operating in 1956, the place had a long run. It’s too bad the building is gone. I’d like to have seen it. Maybe a photo will turn up someday.
This blog has a picture of the Normandie Theatre
View link
Thanks for the photo link. That was a nice Art Moderne front. It had probably been recently remodeled when the photo was taken.
Opened (or reopened) on February 28th, 1944. Ad posted.
The Academy Theatre at 4811 S. Normandie was first listed in the city directory in 1914, so most likely was opened in 1913.
There was a gap between the closing of the Academy and the opening of the Normandie. The 1922 Cahn-Leighton guide lists the Academy at this address with the notation “OB”, meaning out of business. No theaters are listed at this address in city directories later than 1921 until the Normandie appears in 1925.