|
Olvera Street
The Heart of the City
Lights, Camera, Action!
 The City of Los Angeles had great pride in Olvera Street. Always recognizing the Street as Los Angeles' birthplace, we were chosen to welcome Walter Alston, Manager of the Dodgers and also take place in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Dodger Stadiums that opened the 1960 Dodger Season. Olvera Street had Aztec dancers, which participated in the blessing of the terrain, and Chinatown warded off the evil spirits with their dragon. Walter Alston had a wonderful time with Ru Ru (aka Reuel)and Rosita (aka Ginette) as they were cracking confetti eggs at one another’s heads. Another great story that took place in the Avila Adobe House was the time that President John F. Kennedy came and took a  nap on Mother's antique sofa, which was being borrowed by Christine Sterling. The street filled with people that crowed around to see him during his Presidential Campaign. My heart pounded and I began to panic as I watched the crowd grow. The Street was always safe and peaceful, but never like this. I began wondering where Ru Ru was? From the balcony of La Casa Sepulveda I searched and finally spotted him on Cruz's shoulders. I thanked God and sighed with relief. This was another "Great Day" in the history of Olvera Street.
 Many dignitaries and celebrities came to visit, like Roy Rogers, Leo Carillo, “Cantinflas” (Mario Moreno) and other prestige artists. Sometimes we would go downtown on the bus to the Million Dollar Theater in see a Cantinflas movie. We especially liked the one with the watermelon plant growing out of his ears. He was a legendary comedian in Mexico and beloved around the world. I remember them shooting “Where the Action Is” television show and Ginette (aka Rosita) and Suki (aka Rebecca) were part of the filming. The girls had a blast following the beautiful dancers all day long. They were very close cousins and used to enjoy making dance routines; both Mexican and rock and roll. After dancing on Olvera Street, they would put on their boots and hot pants and dance to several popular 60’ and 70’s songs at home.
 "True Confessions" was filmed at the "Kiosko" (The Plaza Park) here on Olvera Street. Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Charles Durning were the principle actors. It was a hot day and about seven of the women in our family were asked to work in their movie. Mother worked close to Charles Durning during the filming. He learned that mother had work in silent movies with Rudolpho Valentino in “Blood and Sand” and doubled for Mary Pickford and Mable Norman. He found her to be very interesting to talk to. Mr. Durning was very charming to mother. It was a very hot day and he placed a few wet paper towels on her forehead to keep her cool and made sure she was well taken care of through out the day. We talked about having him for dinner at our house, then got caught up in the movie and never did set a date. Robert De Niro played his part and we all looked on patiently waiting for our great debut. He caught his eye on my niece and it made a very interesting day to say the least. It was an exciting time. We haven't stopped talking about the movie shoot since then.
Guest, who came to the Street, always enjoyed being there as much as we loved having them. It was a mutual exchange. The Los Angeles Times, Herald Examiner, La Opinion and other well known newspaper journalist frequented the Street consistently. Television stations came to cover human-interest stories and commercials stirred up public appeal to our ever-continuous activities.
|
