Monday, January 13, 2025

Polo in Hollywood

 (There are so many many many horrible things happening now, but I don't have the mental strength to get through them all without screaming, so I am ignoring it all.)

I am reading a fascinating biography of Michael Curtiz - the director of Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, Robin Hood (with Errol Flynn), and more. There are a lot of cool  informational nuggets in the book, and some surprises too.

Michael Curtiz and others had ranches in the San Fernando Valley, and many of them kept horses and polo ponies. At that time, there were over 23 (maybe 31?) polo fields in LA. The only one left was at Will Rogers Park in the Pacific Palisades—who knows if it is still there.

Anyway, look at the picture below. That is Spencer Tracy (2nd from right). And Leslie Howard (2nd from the left). It was a thang.

Hollywood was in the heart of Polo in America in the 1930’s! The Los Angeles Equestrian Center, between Warner Brothers and Dreamworks, was the epicenter of Polo for celebrities at that time: Spencer Tray, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, and Robert Montgomery were regulars. Los Angeles had no less than 25 polo fields at that time!

Here is an image of Walt Disney and a friend playing on the grounds of Walt's polo field.

Here are the members of the "Donald Ducks," Disney's Polo Club.



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I’m in Steamboat Springs - most posting begins on Sunday

 However, I had to post this. Everything is kind of poopy now (see no curse words). So I take humor were I can.