Blog Post: Movie Stars Made Mark in Conejo Valley

Many recall the day when the peaceful life in Conejo was disrupted by the coming of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in that late 1950s. They were shooting a scene for their movie Artists and Models at an old gas station on what was called then Ventura Blvd (today's Thousand Oaks Blvd.). 

The event was well known so myself and other students ditched school to see this "historic" event. I recall it was hot but scattered ancient oak trees provided some shade. One friend of my sister had brought her small Brownie Camera to snap a picture of the famed comedic pair. There was a rope we could not cross and she waited their to get her shot.  

Dean Martin came out from his trailer (an Airsteam, as I recall) but Jerry, the more popular of the two, was late. He sort of worked the line, and when the wild entertainer saw the girl with her camera, he took it away and took her picture with it! 

They made the shot for the film, did it several times, with Lewis making many mistakes. When I saw the film, I was disappointed that most of the footage was cut out and only a few seconds of Thousand Oaks were left in. Sadly, this was the last film Martin and Lewis would make together before the team broke up for good. 

Another time I recalled seeing Clint Eastwood walking down the street heading into Dixons Restaurant. They were shooting a segment of the popular TV show Rawhide (best known for its opening song today).  

Eastwood played the popular character Rosco Yates and he always wore the same hat–even when it was worn and battered though the seasons (the hat is now on display at the Hog's Breath Saloon in Carmel). He was wearing it when I saw him that day.  

But perhaps the most impressive star I ever encountered in my early years was none other than Spike Jones, the comic band leader. He was doing a TV show on Channel Five in the early fifties, and part of the act used a boxing kangaroo. He rented the animal at Louie Gooble's Animal Farm. It was raining hard, I recall, when Jones and two men came to take the animal away in a panel truck. The band leader was wearing a yellow slicker. But the man's smile impressed me then. 

Other celebrities who visited the Conejo Valley: Gary Cooper, Ronald Reagan, Tom Mix, Clark Gable (shot part of the classic film It happened One Night here) and Eve Arden (a local resident).  I never actually met them, but such notables helped to make my childhood a bit more exciting.  

What famous stars have you seen in this corner of California? Let us know your memories of when Hollywood came to Conejo.

Richard Senate is a local historian and renowned area ghost hunter.