History and Historic Sites of the Valley * Then and Now Photos * Lost Crescenta * Rockhaven * Membership and Donations
Long before "Hollywood" became synonymous with the commercial film industry, the area of Echo Park known as Edendale was the center of filmmaking on the West Coast. By the teens, several film studios were operating on Glendale Boulevard along the Echo Park-Silverlake border, including the Selig Polyscope Company, the Mack Sennett Studios, the Pathe West Coast Film Studio, and others.Presented by Hollywood biographer and film historian Robert Birchard.
The first pie-in-the-face scene was filmed at what later became the Mack Sennett Studios on Glendale Boulevard, in the first purpose built filming studio, still in existence today as a storage facility.
Several silent film stars worked in the Edendale studios, including Mabel Normand, Fatty Arbuckle, Tom Mix and Harold Lloyd. Charlie Chaplin's first film was made in the Mack Sennett/Keystone Studios, and the iconic Keystone Cops got their start on the streets of Edendale.
