Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital

The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a motion picture and television industry complex complete with a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California.

Related Topics:
Motion picture - Television - Woodland Hills, California

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In 1940, then president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Jean Hersholt, found 48 acres (194,000 m²) of walnut and orange groves in the southwest end of the San Fernando Valley that was selling for $850 an acre ($0.21/m²). The Board purchased the property for the Motion Picture Country House. To offset the costs for the first buildings, which were designed by architect William Pereira, seven acres (28,000 m²) were sold. Mary Pickford and Jean Hersholt broke the first ground. The dedication was on September 27, 1942.

Related Topics:
1940 - Motion Picture Relief Fund - Jean Hersholt - San Fernando Valley - William Pereira - Mary Pickford - September 27 - 1942

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The Motion Picture Hospital was dedicated on the grounds of the Country House in 1948. In attendance were Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple, and Robert Young, among other stars.

Related Topics:
1948 - Ronald Reagan - Shirley Temple - Robert Young - Stars

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Eventually, services were extended to those working in the television industry as well, and the name was altered to reflect the change.

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Scores of movie notables spent their last years here; so have far less famous people from behind the scenes of the industry. Fees are based solely on "ability to pay."

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All kinds of workers in movies, TV, and other aspects of the industry, are accepted, from actors, artists, backlot men, cameramen, directors, extras, producers, security guards and stars. To qualify for a cottage, applicants (or their spouses) must have reached a minimum age of fifty-five for women and sixty for men, working steadily for at least twenty years in entertainment industry production. The waiting time is usually a few months, with no preference given to celebrities or those who can pay their own way, officials of the fund have said.

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This full-service facility has an annual budget of $100 million.

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