By Wendy Lemlin

    Like every fascinating lady, she has a past.  In her youth, she was loved by some of the hottest movie stars of the time. Such legends as Buster Keaton, Clark Gable, Ronald Regan, and even Joan Crawford, Judy Garland and Greta Garbo all sought her out. Many slept in her embrace, or even lived with her for a time. She was Charlie Chaplin’s for a while, who, legend has it, lost her to John Wayne for $1 in a poker game. Her iconic shape, her fun, yet sophisticated personality, her reputation as a gracious hostess, all kept her in high demand. But time marched on and, as so often happens to once-lovely ladies “of a certain age”, fresher faces took her place, until she found herself old, neglected and abandoned. In the 1990s, she briefly rallied, but ultimately failed to completely regain her faded glory.
That is, until 2007, when hotelier and fashion industry insider Maya Mallick took a liking to her, recognizing her beautiful “bones” and stately potential, and set about to make the Culver Hotel once again the popular beauty she had been. Continue reading →