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In 2002, Forrest Ackermen moved
out of his longtime "Ackermansion" home and into a smaller place
a couple of miles away, a one level bungalow that's easier for him to manage
at his age.
Word is that the original house
has been sold and that the new owners are restoring the original home and
will be adding a plaque in memory of Forry.
For a while, it looked like
the end of the Ackerman tours. Some of his items
were up for auction on eBay,
and the original Ackermansion is closed for good.
In March 2003: I learned that
Forry had been gravely ill last year, but that he has now recovered,
and is doing well at his new home (nicknamed "Son of Ackermansion")
on Russell Ave. Although he sold off some of his sci-fi collection, he
still has key items such as the Dracula cape and ring from Bela Lugosi.
Here is a report from Eric,
a friend of Seeing-Stars:
"Tours"
are still conducted, every Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. His address
is 4511 Russell Avenue, in Hollywood, CA 90027. The phone is still
the same, 323-Moon-Fan, or (323) 666-6326.
I came with an
L.A. friend and his daughter... It was the humungously rainy Saturday (March
15th), BUT it was GREAT.
Mr Ackerman --
he likes to be called by his nickname, "Forry" -- is 86 years
old. He greeted us warmly (dripping though we were!) He uses a cane, and
is a bit hard of hearing, but alert and willing to share old Hollywood
stories at the drop of a Frankenstein's bolt!
He now lives
in 1911 Craftsman-style bungalow that is small -- a living room, kitchen,
dining nook, and small bedroom - that's it. He didn't move from a "lazy-boy"
style chair -- that is, we were free to go into his bedroom, etc, without
supervision. Every room is stuffed with pictures, memorabilia , props,
and the like.
Obviously, it's
a pale reflection of the old house, BUT STILL WORTH SEEING... There's (frankly)
some junk.. stuff fans sent him -- BUT also lots of real gems. I can personally
attest to that.
In one corner
there's Bella Lugosi's dracula cape, right next to a real coffin. There's
a "manta ray" spaceship model from WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953),
and a shattered capitol dome from the Ray Harryhausen film EARTH VS FLYING
SCAUCERS. There's a top hat from one of Lon Chaney Sr.'s movie's... One
of my favorites, was on a top shelf -- the ORIGINAL BRONTOSAURUS from KING
KONG (1933) -- the one who ate all the sailors... a little ragged, but
still awesome after 70 years...
Forry himself
told funny stories of Lugosi, Karloff, and others... on the non-movie front,
he even had a chair that Lincoln once sat in...!!!
Well worth a
visit.
Thanks Eric!
(I'll leave the old
page up below for those who want to read about the original museum,
but bear in mind that the article below was written in 2001, when the original
Ackermansion was still open.)
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Seeing Stars: Hollywood Museums..
2495 Glendower Avenue,
Los Angeles (Hollywood Hills), CA. / (323) MOON-FAN
 Forrest
J. Ackerman is the world's greatest private collector of memorabilia from
horror films, science fiction epics, and monster movies. Mr. Ackerman,
a pleasantly eccentric fellow, began his collection back in the late 1920's;
after 60+ years he has amassed a staggering hoard of over 400,000 items.
His collection fills his 18-room house in Griffith Park, which Forrest
has transformed into a virtual museum of horror and sci-fi movies. Fans
call it "The Ackermansion."
 Mr.
Ackerman claims to have personally coined the expression "sci-fi";
he won the first Hugo Award, and he was the publisher of the well-known
horror magazine "Famous Monsters" back in the 1950's.
He has also made cameo appearances in dozens of sci-fi films and in Michael Jackson's
"Thriller" video (he can be seen in the movie theatre,
munching popcorn).
 His
world-class collection of movie lore includes actual life-masks taken from
all three of the leading "monster" actors: Lon
Chaney Jr. ("The Wolfman"),
Boris Karloff
("Frankenstein") and Bela
Lugosi ("Dracula"); 
the original female robotrix
(Maria) from the 1926 silent epic "Metropolis," the "Star
Child" (from "2001: A Space Odyssey"), King
Kong's paw, the arm from "The
Thing" and the golden idol Indiana Jones snatched from the temple
in "Raiders of the Lost Ark..." to name just a few. 
Forrest has the original black
cape and ring worn by Bela Lugosi
in "Dracula," tribbles from "Star Trek,"
the model of the White House destroyed during ''Earth Versus the Flying
Saucers," one of the creatures from the Cantina scene in "Star
Wars,"  as
well as the alien head in the crystal jar that was featured in the original,
nightmarish "Invaders from Mars." His vast collection
includes 125,000 movie-stills, 50,000 books, old movie posters, Gold pulp
magazines, comic books, movies on video, horrifying monster masks and mannequins,
old movie sets,  movie
props, shrunken heads... in total, it's worth well over $5 million.
Forrest Ackerman's extraordinary
collection is open to the public, and admission is free. But the
hours are irregular. Since this is a private collection, it is only shown
when Mr. Ackerman has an Open House. Fortunately, he usually has an Open
House every Saturday that he is at home, usually from 10 AM to 12 noon
(and he's home about 40 weeks out of the year). So phone ahead, for a recorded
message that will tell you if he's planning an Open House that Saturday,
or phone on Saturday morning to reach him live. Arrive early, since the
"Ackermansion" is located on a narrow hillside road with very
little parking.
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In fact, over the years quite
a number of Hollywood stars have actually visited the Ackermansion in person
(and signed his guestbook), including: Bela
Lugosi, Vincent
Price, John
Carradine, Jane Seymour,
Anthony Perkins
("Psycho"), Vampira,
Mark Hamill
& Carrie Fisher
("Star Wars"), George
Takei ('Sulu'
on "Star Trek"), John
Payne, Eleanor
Parker, John
Agar, .JPG) special
effects greats Ray Harryhausen
and George Pal,
Mayor Tom Bradley,
Caroline Kennedy,
authors Stephen King,
Ray Bradbury,
Isaac Asimov, Harlan
Ellison, and Robert
Heinlein, producers/directors Gene Roddenberry
("Star Trek"), Steven Spielberg
("E.T."), John
Landis ("An
American Werewolf in London"), Joe Dante
("Gremlins"), Fritz Lang
("Metropolis," "M"), Clive
Barker (Hellraiser"), and
Tobe Hooper
("Texas Chainsaw Massacre"). So you never know whom you
might bump into during a visit...
Rumor has it that the 80+-year-old
Forrest may soon relocate his collection to a museum in Europe, so you'd
better hurry!
.gif) Getting
there:
Forrest Ackerman's house is located in the east Hollywood Hills (in the
lower southern section of Griffith Park) on Glendower Avenue. / From
the Hollywood (101) Freeway, take the Western Avenue exit, and
go north on Western (one mile) to where it rounds the bend and becomes
Los Feliz. Take Los Feliz east, past Ferndell (about 3/4 of a mile), to
Catalina Street. Turn left (north) on Catalina Street and take it up, bearing
left at the fork (with Glencairn Road), up to a hairpin turn, after which
the street becomes Glendower Avenue. The big white house on the right is
number 2495.
[To learn
more about the Ackermansion, you can access Forrest's own website at: http://www.best.com/~4forry.]
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