Star struck in the promised land.

Hollywood Glamour Has Snared Plenty of Millionaires

Paris is chic. London has royalty. Rome has the Pope and New York is well, New York. But for decades many of the world s wealthiest have shunned all those places to settle in Los Angeles.

Why? It's simple - Hollywood.

Since the days when actress Gloria Swanson was asking Mr. DeMille for those famous close-ups, the rich and powerful have been flocking here. Oil barons, industrialists and bootleggers alike have all wanted to be a part of Tinseltown.

"The idea of buying glamour is very attractive," said Judith Krantz, author of popular Hollywood-based novels. "They come because it is a glamorous industry. It is a toy for some very, very rich men. And there is no question that money talks in Los Angeles."

L.A. has a long history of established rich who were attracted to the lure of the silver screen.

Joseph P. Kennedy, who made a fortune peddling booze during the Prohibition, took his loot and headed West. He proceeded to have an affair with actress Gloria Swanson, among many others, and produced a number of films.

Howard Hughes invested his father's drill-bit fortune in Hollywood in the 1920s. He throw the spoils from his lucrative aircraft enterprise into the "business" - making "Two Arabian Knights," "Hells Angels," and "The Outlaw" and using his engineering skills to design a bra to showcase the physique of actress Jane Russell.

Media baron William Randolph Hearst could not stay away either. Hearst and his actress girlfriend Marion Davies found easy acceptance among the elite - with a little cash, of course. The couple was famous for throwing big bashes at Hearst's castle in San Simeon.

Paul Ethington, a history professor at the University of Southern California, said Hollywood was initially built by men like Samuel Goldwyn, who took the riches they had made in other businesses (gloves, in Goldwyn's case) and made even greater fortunes.

"The wealthy were attracted to the lure and lifestyles of Hollywood," said Etington. "It established a cultural basis to idealize Los Angeles."

Indeed, lots of places have sunny climates and fair beaches. But few places have movie stars.

"The whole urban identity in Los Angeles has been so mythologized by Hollywood over the years - people are drawn to that," said Kevin Starr, California state librarian and author of "The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s," the fifth installment of his multi-volume history of the state, "It is a city of glamour and reputation, and there is something in the air.

And the millionaires, even billionaires, are still being drawn to the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. On the Business Journal's list of the 50 wealthiest Angelenos, 10 of those listed made fortunes in show business.

Following in a long tradition, Rupert Murdoch, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Marvin Davis and Paul Allen are among those who have come to L.A. after making their fortunes elsewhere.

"There is a tremendous power in (show business), much more so than if you were managing widgets," explained Al Ruddy, a Hollywood producer whose credits include "The Godfather" and "Walker Texas Ranger." "It is immensely powerful around the world. Basically, if you are rich, it's politics or the movie business."

For many years, New York was considered the center of the entertainment industry because its bankers and corporations controlled the purse strings. But that's changing.

Burbank-based Wall Disney Co. now owns ABC. And Murdoch, the News Corp. chief executive, abandoned New York for a home in Beverly Hills.

Davis made a fortune in oil, then brought it to Hollywood to run Twentieth Century Fox (until he was bought out by Murdoch). Allen took $500 million of his Microsoft Corp. profits to become an investor in the DreamWorks SKG film studio.

"It is easy to insert yourself because all you need is money," said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University "And movies make you important to the world."

Moreover, the town is notoriously easy to break into - if your wallet is big enough.

"There is an acceptance here like no other place," said George Christy, a columnist who writes "The Great Life," for the Hollywood Reporter. "The 'alternative lifestyle is accepted here. It is very appealing and everything is within arms reach if you are rich."

The other attractive element for the very rich who come to Los Angeles is that there is no caste system between old and new money, as in many East Coast cities.

"Old fortunes are irrelevant," said Ruddy, the producer. "If you come to Hollywood with a lot of money you can easily get into the swing of things."

"California society is relatively new," agreed Krantz. "The people who throw the big charity events in town are not the old money. It's the new people. You can move up much faster in Los Angeles."

Krantz added that although there is old money here, as with the Chandler family, they are intertwined in the community with the nouveau riche. Old and new money go to many of the same charity functions.

"You can come into the establishment very fast in Los Angeles," said Starr. "You can find yourself instantaneously into the various societies. There is an old WASP elite, but they are very Democratic."