The Memories on H Project began in 2021 as a way to connect with our community and create a book filled with the history of our beautiful theater – a book that will help preserve, entertain and educate the general public about this majestic theater for generations to come.
We need your help to bring the pages of this book together. If you have photos or records you would like to submit we’ve created an easy form you can fill out which is available here. You can also email us at history@thebakersfieldfox.com.
The Memories on H Library was created to store and display photographs, documents, and interviews submitted by our community. With help from the Kern County Museum, many of these items have been digitized for the first time and have never been seen by the public! For information on commercial use or reproduction of any images please Contact Us.
Edward W. Winslow
Click here to view the Edward W. Winslow Collection
William “Bill” Pierce
The Fox needed a lot of work, so he and his family spent much of their own money preparing and restoring the theater for events, spending approximately $500,000. Drapes, seats, scaffolding, stage equipment repairs, bat removal, and gold leaf painting are just some of the projects the Pierce family undertook to refurbish the newly named Fox Performing Arts Theater. He visited UCLA to view original blueprints and had the opportunity to speak with the legendary S. Charles Lee himself, the architect of the Fox Theater.
As a kid, he remembers seeing George Day and Zippy the Clown during matinee movies, and he continued a matinee movie tradition on the weekends. He developed Fox Follies, a live performance show for kids that was similar to Star Search. During his time running the theater, he brought acts like Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard, Howie Mandel, Pointer Sisters, Chaka Khan, David Chazelle, Stanley Turrentine, and more. Despite the popular artists coming in, operating the theater ended up being too costly to handle on his own and his company ended up in bankruptcy in 1984. The Martinez family closed the theater once again and it remained vacant until the Fox Theater Foundation formed to save it. But we recognize Pierce’s work as an important piece of the Fox Theater’s history.
Greg Bell
Danny Lipco was part owner of the store at the time and asked Greg to start working on the posters of the concerts he was promoting. Here’s how it works: Greg would get the advertising materials, known as an “admat”, from Danny, who got them from an artist’s agents and tour management. Some shows had a poster fully designed, and others needed Greg to create the poster out of a photo of the artist. Once the poster was designed, Greg would take them to Truck Imaging to get a proof. Once he signed off to approve the printing the company would produce 11×17 posters to be distributed around town.
Danny was bringing big acts to the Kern County Fair, Paso Robles, and the Bakersfield Fox Theater. Some memorable shows were Anne Murray, The Moody Blues, John Fogerty, Doobie Brothers, BB King, George Thurgood, Arlo Guthrie, and Justin Hayward.
70th Anniversary of “Skouras” Art Deco Remodel
In the late 1940s and 1950s Fox West Coast Theatres, headed by Charles P. Skouras, initiated a remodeling campaign of its theatres to attract audiences back to their big screens. On May 1, 1953, we opened our doors with a fresh new Art Deco design by architect Carl G. Moeller. The theatre went from an atmospheric Spanish Colonial design to an Art Deco one featuring gold scrollwork on the left and right sidewalls of the auditorium with fanciful drapes
Now 70 years later, the Historic Bakersfield Fox Theater is one of the last remaining and best-preserved examples of this unique “Skouras-ized” style!
Photos by Mike Hume of historictheatrephotos.com | Read more on our History page
Mary Durham
The Fox Theater had many community members volunteer as ushers, docents, and more after its reopening in 1994. In the early 2000s, Mary got in contact with Linda Dodson, a Fox Theater office employee. The theater needed ushers for their events, and Mary volunteered! Mary got to see many of the events while she was ushering. One event she remembers at the Fox was actress/comedian Bret Butler; she even bought her book Knee Deep in Paradise, which she still owns! While she volunteered she was also an employee at the Kern High School District, where she worked for 25 years. She has been living in Bakersfield for 44 years and enjoys breakfast at Molly J’s.
Bill & Norma Craig Johnson
Norma says she doesn’t remember much about the movie (other than paying less than a dollar to sit in the balcony), but the date ended with them falling in love and getting married in 1961💍Bill earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, and the family moved north. After he graduated the couple returned to Buttonwillow and expanded their family. Mr. & Mrs. Johnson were married for 60 years and raised 3 daughters together. Bill passed away in 2021, but we hope that by sharing this story his memory will live on.
John Stevenson
The scrapbook contained several photographs of Mr. Stevenson and his fellow Hart Players in costume, as well as photographs from the war. He is billed in the plays The Love of Su Shong, The Bird of Paradise, and more, most of which took place at the Hart Theatre in Long Beach in the 1920s. He appeared in plays locally, performing with the Warrenton Players at the Nile Theater. Mr. Stevenson was more than just a projectionist; he became one of the co-founders of the local chapter of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). The gold card is a Moving Picture Machine Operator’s Life Membership Card, issued to him for his work for the community and the union. He retired in 1956 after serving more than four decades as a projectionist.
Tom Downs
He also solved the mystery of the gray panel located above the storage closet. We hadn’t noticed it and didn’t know what it was used for, but he told us that it was used as a door sensor. Any time one of the four exit doors it was programmed to was opened, he ran from the lobby to the door’s location to check if any kids were sneaking in and out; it was quite a workout! Despite all that went into managing hundreds of kids during movies, he says this job was the most fun he ever had. According to Tom, Mr. Gunn had a signed portrait hanging in the office. He didn’t know it then, but he was working for a former movie star! Earlier this year we covered Herbert Gunn’s Hollywood career, read more about it by scrolling down.
Jeff Shelbourne
Herbert Gunn
Frank Heller and Milton Heller
Jackie Lee Bryan
Written and Submitted by Colby Ross
1952 Kern County Earthquake
“I found the little album while cleaning out my 97-year-old grandmother’s house after she passed away, she had so many cool things. I’m glad I was able to share the pictures and see that so many people enjoyed seeing them!” – Lupe Wilson
1956 Photos
Interviews
Jim Morgan was an usher in the 1960s. At the time, the big three theaters in downtown Bakersfield were the Nile Theater on 19th Street, the California Theatre on Chester Avenue, and the Fox Theater on 20th Street. The top film with a sold-out crowd in 1960 was the Western “North to Alaska” starring John Wayne. Watch the video to hear about his experience as an usher, changing the marquee, and working on Saturday mornings
William Frank Leslie was an employee of the Rex Theatre in the 1940s until a Fox Theater manager spotted him outside and offered him a job. He worked behind the concessions counter, on the marquee, and occasionally did ticket taking during his time at the Fox. The theater’s interior and exterior had the original Spanish Colonial Revival theme at that time. Watch the video to hear about the prank his coworkers played on him and his experience as a Fox employee.