When André Balazs purchased the Chateau Marmont in 1990, one of the first things he did was take the elevator and knock on Helmut Newton’s door. The famed photographer had been living in the hotel with his wife, June, for ages, and Balazs, now 68, wanted to introduce himself. “Helmut was sitting on the sofa,” Balazs recalls of the meeting. “And he said to me, ‘André, this place is really special, so whatever you do, don’t fuck it up.’ Then he leaned back, and I heard the fabric on the sofa tearing.”
A lot has happened over the past 35 years, not all of it good — Newton died of a heart attack in the hotel’s garage in 2004, and, more recently (during the pandemic, when the property was dealing with bad press and labor unrest), there were rumors the hotel’s beleaguered owner was considering selling the place or turning it into a private club (both untrue, Balazs insists). But in many ways, the Chateau remains the same shabby chic center of Hollywood creativity and excess it’s always been, as is evident when you open the pages of the Chateau Marmont Hollywood Handbook, a Rizzoli reissue of the tome Balazs put together in 1996 to celebrate his hotel’s history. The book’s photographs (by everyone from Bruce Weber to Dennis Hopper) and text (with words from Dominick Dunne, Francis Ford Coppola and more) are nearly 30 years old, yet they somehow seem as fresh as if they’d been shot and written yesterday (though Griffin Dunne may have aged a tiny bit).
Balazs hit on the idea of reprinting the book last year while researching a follow-up project, a collection of personal recollections from famous guests he hopes to publish on the hotel’s 100th birthday in 2027. “I hadn’t read the original book in a while, and when I picked it up, I felt everything about it was still relevant,” he says. “Everything about it just seemed current. I took it to Rizzoli, and they also felt it could be republished without changing a thing. So the book you’re holding — it’s literally the same book I put together in 1996.” — Benjamin Svetkey
Bag Lady
That’s supermodel Naomi Campbell, photographed in 1992 by Ellen von Unwerth, lugging groceries to the hotel. “They still had the Marlboro Man billboard,” Balazs recalls wistfully. “Later, they made them put up a sign that said something like, ‘Smoking Can Impair Your Sex Life.’ ”
Sometimes a Cigar …
20th Century Fox co-founder Darryl F. Zanuck, photographed by Jean Howard in the 1950s, played croquet on the hotel’s courtyard lawn.
Flying High
Bruce Weber, a frequent guest at the hotel during the 1990s, photographed one of his models levitating in Room 34. (Pictured in main image)
The Song Remains the Same
Led Zeppelin in 1968, checking out the hotel’s views after drummer John Bonham (top left) rode his Harley-Davidson motorcycle through the lobby.
Bosom Buddies
Annie Leibovitz shot Dennis Hopper (left) and Christopher Walken sharing a moment at the Chateau in 1995.
Rub-A-Dub
Hotel regular Hopper photographed Teri Garr (in the sunglasses) along with artist Bruce Conner, singer-dancer Toni Basil and actress Ann Marshall (far right) in a hotel bathroom in 1965. Says Balazs, “To me, Dennis Hopper very much embodied the culture of the Chateau.”
Double Exposure
Helmut Newton, a 30-year Chateau resident, took this photo of fellow photographer George Hurrell in 1994. Hurrell happened to be shooting up-and-coming actress Michelle Pfeiffer in Room 29.
Post No Bill
Early in his career — long before his ignominious fall — Bill Cosby was a regular at the Chateau. In 1966, Hopper snapped a photo of the comedian hiding behind some hotel ivy.
Tongue Twister
Robert Rauschenberg, the painter and illustrator who helped invent pop art in the 1950s, was another perennial guest. He used his mouth as a canvas at a Chateau soiree in 1996.
Dunne and Dunnes
Longtime resident Dominick Dunne in the Chateau penthouse in 1969 with his children (from left) Alex, Dominique and Griffin.
Nothing to Wear
One of Newton’s nudes — shot in 1995 in the Chateau’s little-seen laundry room.
Paper Trail
Dominick Dunne, shot by Art Streiber in 1995 in Room 48, where he was headquartered while covering the O.J. Simpson and Menendez brothers trials.
Table Manners
Weber, who was renowned for his photos of handsome young men, found plenty to choose from at the Chateau. He snapped this shot of an unidentified guest in the hotel’s dining room in 1995.
Newton’s Gravity
Newton and his wife, June. “I happened to be there the morning he had his heart attack and crashed his car at the foot of the drive,” says Balazs. “I ended up in the emergency room with him. He’d been a guiding light for me from the start. My mantra was to keep making the hotel better, but not in any way Helmut would notice. If he didn’t notice a change, we were on the right track.”
This story appeared in the Feb. 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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