About

Potential City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Question turrets.

Home of Mischa Auer in 1940.

Mischa Auer was the American screen’s supreme exponent of the “mad Russian” before and after World War II. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1905, the grandson of famed violinist Leopold Auer. He fled to Europe and subsequently to the United States after the Soviet revolution in 1917, and joined his grandfather Leopold in New York.

Initially, Auer became an accomplished musician on multiple instruments, however he turned to professional acting in the 1920s, first on Broadway and then in film in the late 1920s. He broke into the realm of featured character actors with his Academy Award-nominated turn as the fake nobleman/freeloader/gigolo Carlo in the classic screwball comedy, “My Man Godfrey” in 1936. He was featured in many top films like “You Can’t Take It With You” (1938), and “Destry Rides Again” (1939).. He turned to European productions during the 1950s where he was typecast as the elderly eccentric, and then returned to the New York stage in the 1960s.

Auer passed away in Rome in 1967, remembered as one of the inimitable character actors who graced film in the Golden Age of Hollywood. (Internet Movie Data Base).

J. Ross Castendyck, owner, architect & contractor.

1930 census:
2559 N. Catalina Street: (Rents for $225 per month): 1) James K. McGuiness, renter and head of household; 37 year old white married male; married at age 29; born in New York; parents born in the US; a writer of scenarios. 2) Betty McGuiness, wife; 41 year old white married female; married at age 33; born in England; parents born in England; to US in 1890, a naturalized citizen; not working. 3) Leola A. Langley, servant; 40 year old divorced Negro female; married at age 25; born in Texas; parents born in Texas; a servant in a private family. (19th ED, page 14A, lines 24-26).

1940 Census:
2559 Catalina Street (rents for $175): 1) Mischa Auer, head of household; white married male 34 years of age; born in Russia; an actor in motion pictures; earns over $5,000. 2) Norma M. Auer, wife; white married female 34 years of age; born in Canada; not working. 3) Anthony O. Auer, son; white male 6 years of age; in school; born in California. 4) Zoe Auer, daughter; white female 9 months of age; born in California. 5) Julie C. Pajari, servant; white single female 37 years of age; born in Minnesota; a nurse in a private home; earns $600. 6) Anatole Demmers, servant; white married male 36 years of age; born in Russia; a butler in a private home; earns $900 7) Erma Demmers, servant; white married female 36 years of age; born in Wisconsin; a cook in a private home; earns $900. (ED 60-81; Page 5A; Lines 13-19).