Peter Howard (City Original)

Peter the Hermit (1922)

When the Five O'Clock Whistle Blows in Hollywood , 1921 - front left Peter Howard

Peter Howard (born June 26, 1878 in Knocklong , County Limerick , † March 14, 1969 in Los Angeles ), known as Peter the Hermit , was a city ​​original and eccentric in Hollywood .

Howard, a native Irishman , had initially lived in Chicago . In 1918 he came to Hollywood after he said he had previously gone to sea. However, his life story can no longer be inferred with certainty, as he always refused to talk in detail about his time before arriving there and also made deliberate misleading statements about his age that made it difficult to research his origin for a long time. As early as 1921, he was a well-known figure in the film city: In the September issue of Vanity Fair , Ralph Barton's cartoon When the Five O'Clock Whistle Blows in Hollywood appeared , in which Peter Howard is shown alongside famous actors and directors and in is explicitly named in the accompanying description as Peter the Hermit, who lives in the hills above Hollywood and goes on crusades to the studios every day .

He has been known as Peter the Hermit since at least the early 1920s, because at that time he actually led a life that was reminiscent of the existence of a hermit : He lived in a hut in the then undeveloped and largely undeveloped Hollywood Hills , surrounded by a herd of goats and a few other domestic animals, first in the vicinity of Beachwood Canyon and later, when development began there, in Laurel Canyon . He earned his living as a film statistic , and his long beard, which turned gray at an early age, gave him an appearance that he found constantly occupied in numerous Bible adaptations and period films . Even if no shooting queuing, he went every day from his hut in the hills to the nearby Hollywood, grazed in a monk-like robe with sandals and walking stick on the Hollywood Boulevard and exhorted people talking, among other things, to eat healthy and vegetarian.

Because of his striking appearance, the eccentric Howard became one of the popular figures in Hollywood until the 1950s. His reputation was so great beyond the city that tourists postcards could not acquire with his portrait only, but also souvenirs such as busts of bronze and bookends that showed his portrait. He was widely reported in the press across the country.

In later years, as the number of Bible and period films decreased, the number of extras for Howard decreased. After he had to leave his last accommodation there in Laurel Canyon in the course of the ongoing development of the Hollywood Hills at the end of the 1950s, he lived in various locations in Hollywood for rent. Although he continued to be present in the city streets, his notoriety declined. After being in contact with esotericists as early as 1920, he tried his hand at becoming a spiritualist , dealt increasingly with the Bible , spoke mainly about religious topics and prayed frequently. In his last years he lived on a state pension. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage on March 14, 1969 at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center.

swell

• Los Angeles Times , March 15, 1969: Hollywood's Pete the Hermit Dies at 90
• Tucson Daily Citizen, March 22, 1969: Peter the Hermit leaves Follywood
• Photplay, July 1925 issue: Hollywood's Hermit , p. 88
• Oakland Tribune, March 22, 1931: Canyon Forms Queer Adjunct to Hollywood
• Alan K. Rode: Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy . McFarland, 2007. ISBN 0786471727

Web links

• Peter H. Green: Peter the Hermit, My Great Uncle
• Under the Hollywood Sign
• Los Angeles Times Blog : Police Raid Cult Headquarters