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Arnold Kirkeby

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Name
  
Arnold Kirkeby


Arnold Kirkeby

Died
  
March 1, 1962, New York, United States

Arnold Sigurd Kirkeby (June 12, 1901 – March 1, 1962) was an American hotelier, art collector and real estate investor. He is now best known for owning the mansion in the West Los Angeles suburb of Bel-Air, which was the exterior set for the CBS television show The Beverly Hillbillies.

Contents

Biography

Kirkeby was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Norwegian immigrants. He was married to Carlotta Cuesta (1906–1985), the daughter of Angel LaMadrid Cuesta, founder of the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Company based in Tampa, Florida. Arnold Kirkeby was the founder of the Kirkeby Hotel chain, beginning in Chicago with the Drake Hotel, and ending his hotel interests when he sold the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California.

After selling the hotel chain, he then invested in the Janss Investment Company development of Westwood, Los Angeles, California in 1959. As part of this project, Kirkeby broke ground on the Kirkeby Center on Wilshire Boulevard in 1960, but died before the building was completed. Kirkeby Center is now known as the Occidental Petroleum Building, and is the home of the Armand Hammer Museum.

Television fans will note that Kirkeby owned the stately mansion located at 750 Bel Air Road, Bel Air, California used for exterior shots in the hit CBS sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Series producer Paul Henning paid the family (Mr. Kirkeby was killed in a plane crash prior to the series debut) $500 per day for filming on the mansion's grounds. The mansion's interior and rear were duplicated on Stage 4 at General Service Studios. Contractual provisions at the time prevented disclosure of the mansion's address in press releases, and required restoration of the grounds after each shoot. The mansion had been previously used by Jerry Lewis in the 1960 film Cinderfella.

Kirkeby died aboard American Airlines Flight 1 when it crashed shortly after takeoff from New York City.

Hotels

The Kirkeby Hotel organization included:

California

  • Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, California
  • The Town House, Los Angeles, California
  • Sunset Tower, West Hollywood, California

    • Florida

  • The Kenilworth, Miami Beach, Florida
  • Belleview-Biltmore Hotel, Clearwater, Florida

    • Illinois

  • The Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
  • The Drake, Chicago, Illinois

    • New York

  • The Gotham, New York, New York
  • Hampshire House, New York, New York
  • The Sherry-Netherland, New York, New York
  • The Warwick, New York, New York
  • Saranac Inn, Saranac Lake, New York

    • New Jersey

  • Hotel Ambassador, Atlantic City, New Jersey: Rebuilt as the Tropicana Casino

    • Pennsylvania

  • The Warwick, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    • Cuba

  • Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Havana, Cuba

    • Panama

  • El Panama Hotel, Panama City, Panama

    • References

    Arnold Kirkeby Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA