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Below, the Ricardo Montalbán Theater, formerly the Doolittle Theatre – built in 1926-1927 – the premier performance was "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. In the Depression it was renamed the Lux Radio Playhouse and then became a cinema. Then it was purchased by the Columbia Broadcasting (CBS) for its local affiliate KNX radio, but, in 1954, Huntington Hartford bought the building from Columbia Broadcasting and turned it back into a live theater. Ten years later he sold the theater to James Doolittle, the owner of the Greek Theater up in the Hollywood Hills. Cary Grant had tried to buy the building, but lost to Doolittle. But as a theater it was a bust and the place was boarded up for years, until the UCLA performing arts group Nosotros ("Us") bought the building in 2000 – that organization was founded in 1970 by Ricardo Montalbán "to help fulfill the goals of persons of Spanish-speaking origin in the motion picture and television industry." And this was their venue. And it limped along for years.
But all that history has been stripped away. Nike Sportswear just extended its marketing deal with the Ricardo Montalbán Theater – Nike acts as a tenant of the Montalbán, paying for the right to use the space for promotional events like Cinema Tuesdays and screenings of Nike-produced sports documentaries. And this was where you went to watch all the World Cup games. And Nike is footing the bill for structural improvements to the building, which still needs work. But they stripped it bare.
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