Pantages Theatre

The Pantages Theatre was designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca and was the first American movie theatre built entirely in the Art Deco style. The last great movie palace built in Hollywood, the Pantages opened in 1930 with the premiere of The Florodora Girl. In 1949, Howard Hughes acquired it for his own theatre circuit and renamed it RKO Pantages; it is said that his ghost still haunts his old office on the second floor. The theatre hosted the Academy Awards from 1950 to 1960 and the Emmy Awards in the 1970s. In 1977, it was purchased by the Nederlander Organization, who remodeled it into a Broadway touring theatre.