6.4 Decline
By the late 1940s, the Garden of Allah had entered a decline. Amy Porter, wrote in Colliers in 1947: “In its early days it was the very center of things social… the spot where all the major movie functions took place.” But as the movie colony expanded, the Garden’s party room – with its antlered deerskin rug sprouting ominously from the floor – could no longer accommodate the crowds. The glittery, star-studded functions migrated to larger hotels farther west.
After the war, a succession of owners tried to revive it. They oversaw renovations to the main house and villas, but every improvement seemed to make matters worse. The Garden maintained its place in Hollywood for a while. It remained a favorite retreat for actors in marital limbo. Humphrey Bogart had done it in 1945. And in 1948, Ronald Reagan followed suit. After his marriage to Jane Wyman collapsed, Reagan moved into the Garden and spent long hours in the bar, drowning his sorrows and chatting up young actresses. He was president of the Screen Actors Guild, which impressed the ingénues. “A series of women passed through Ronald Reagan’s bedroom in those years,” wrote Kitty Kelley, in her unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan. “So many, in fact, that he later told publicist Joe Santley, ‘I woke up one morning and I couldn’t remember the name of the gal I was in bed with. I said, Hey, I gotta get a grip here.’”
Reagan eventually moved down the Strip to an apartment at 1326B Londonderry View Drive. He continued to “play the field,” as he put it, dating a string of Nordic blondes, including Doris Day. It was there that he met Nancy Davis – Alla Nazimova’s goddaughter. They married in 1952 and moved to the Westside. Reagan’s film career faded. He starred in B films and then pivoted to television. But by the mid-1960s, he had abandoned acting for politics. He served two terms as California’s governor before becoming president in 1980.
