Following up our piece on theatre celebrity appearances, we have this unique memento from George Herman “Babe” Ruth’s 1924 promotional appearance at Grauman’s Million Dollar Theatre.
By 1924 Babe Ruth had moved beyond mere baseball superstar and in to the realm of pop culture icon. Drawing intense media coverage and large crowds wherever he went, Ruth’s celebrity had become a highly sought after marketing tool, even for those located some two thousand miles from his New York City base. Thus, in November of 1924 Mr. Ruth was contracted to make a week of appearances at Grauman’s Million Dollar Theatre, in Dowtown Los Angeles.
To promote the week of preshow stage appearances (oddly enough, he was booked with the Ben Turpin comedy short “Romeo & Juliet”), a “Babe Ruth’s Million Dollar Theatre Party” was held on November 10th. The highlight of this party coming with Babe hitting autographed baseballs in to a crowd gathered in front of the theatre (one can only imagine the chaos which ensued). Despite sounding very much like the sort of promotion Sid Grauman might have been behind, he likely wasn’t involved at all. While retaining his name, the downtown Grauman venues were sold to Famous Players-Lasky in late 1923, so that Sid could focus on his burgeoning Hollywood ventures.
Today, there is very little documentation of this significant promotion which remains. Aside from the, apparently, lone surviving autographed ball (which pops up semi annually at auctions) and a couple of passing mentions in biographical pieces, I have been unable to find so much as a picture of Mr. Ruth at the Million Dollar Theatre. It would seem this particular celebrity “In Person” theatre promotion, by the biggest of stars, has faded in to an obscure footnote.
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