THE JOURNAL
Louis was keenly aware of new faces emerging on the post-World War II entertainment scene, most of them in the US. “It’s our job to provide the very best of entertainment for our patrons,” he told a Theatre Royal board meeting in January 1950.
Three months later, In April 1950, he, his wife Ettie and their good friend Solly White (whose daughter Zara had married Louis’s brother Geoff seven years earlier) left Dublin on a three-month journey that took them around the world. Louis kept notes, and after returning to Dublin, put together a journal of their trip.
“We were away 16 weeks” he concludes the diary, “were royally entertained, saw half the world, met some wonderful people, made marvellous friends, and made memories of what was assuredly the time of our lives.”
The photos that illustrate the Journal and these introductory pages are culled from Internet sources, with grateful thanks...
In his diary, Louis names 441 people whom he met during the trip — friends, family, landsmen, shipboard acquaintances, studio executives, stars of stage and screen and more. They are:
He traveled by sea, road, rail and air, beginning and ending in Dublin, Ireland, and going to:
- UK: London and Southampton
- FRANCE: Cherbourg
- USA: New York City, New York State, West Virginia, Washington, DC, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco
- HONOLULU: Oahu
- PHOENIX ISLANDS: Canton Island
- FIJI: Suva
- NEW CALEDONIA: Tontoutu
- AUSTRALIA: Sydney
- NEW CALEDONIA: Tontoutu FIJI: Suva PHOENIX ISLANDS: Canton Island
- HONOLULU: Oahu
- USA: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Detroit, New York City
- FRANCE: Cherbourg
- UK: Southampton and London
Use the drop down menu under Journal at the top of the page to read about each of Louis’s stops. Click here to start reading the Journal from the beginning.
Ben Aaronsohn; Mary Aaronsohn; Paul Ackerman; Stanley Albright; Mr. Alden; Mrs. Alden; Gracie Allen; June Allyson; Richard Altscheler; Don Ameche; (United Artists) Armour; General Frank A. Armstrong; Sylvia Ashley; Joan Averbuck; Lauren Bacall; Joe Baer; Juliet Baer; Barney Balaban; Erna Bangsund; George Barnes; AI Barr; Sy Bartlett; Gus Baum; Nate Baum; Ann Baxter; Belita; Bob Benjamin; Joan Bennett; Maurice Bergman; Peter Berneis; Edgar Betts; Sam Bischoff; Mrs. Bischoff; Babe Blum; Dave Blum; Lewis Blumberg; Nate Blumberg; Vera Blumberg; Ann Blythe; Humphrey Bogart; Harry Brand; Sybil Brand; Fred Brand; Pat Brand; Joe Breen; Fred Brisson; Miss Brown; Jules Buck; George Burns; Bruce Cabot; James Cagney; Callaghan (Hoyts); Helena Carter; Dan Casey; Garfield Cass; Rose Cass; Maria Cavell; Walter Cavell; Teresa Celli; Jeff Chandler; Marguerite Chapman; Dave Chasen; Bob Cobb; Sally Cobb; Charles Coburn ; Bob Cohen; Wolfe Cohen; Claudette Colbert; Buster Coller; Mrs. Coller; Binks Colp; Mary Nell Colp; Ralph Colp; Bob Considine; Millie Considine; Richard Conte; Gary Cooper; Henry Coster; Mr. Cottell; Bing Crosby; Jack Cummings; Peggy Cummins; Margaret Cummins; Al Daff; Joan Daff; Arlene Dahl; Clarice Daiss; Jerry Dale; Jack Davies; Mrs. Davies; Marion Davies; Fred De Cordova; Cecil De Mille; Roy Del Ruth; Msgr John Joseph Devlin; Katherine Dietrich; Ralph Dietrich; Lillian Disney; Walt Disney; Faith Domergue; Earl Donovan; Ann Dons; Jack Dougherty; Kirk Douglas; Paul Douglas; Robert Douglas; Peggy Dow; Ralph Doyle; Ellen Drew; Derek Dunnett ; Jimmy Durante; Sam Eckman Jr.; Eddie Elkort; Lilian Elkort; Kitty Ellenberg; Lou Ellenberg; Abe Elliman; Bertie Elliman; Geoff Elliman; Louis Meyer Elliman; Minna Elliman; Charlie Enfield; Charles Engel; Fra Tom English; Margaret (Maggie) Ettinger; John Farrow; Alice Ferrall; Joan Fontaine; Victor Frankl; Mrs. Frankl; Alan Freedman; Frank Y. Freeman; Geoffrey Freeman; Marge Freeman; Pamela Freeman; Sonny Freeman; Hugo Fregonese; Arthur Freud; Bert Friedlob; Clark Gable; Mrs. Garber; Phil Gersdorf; Walter Giblen; Buddy Gillespie; Henry Ginsberg; John Glass; Ruth Goddard; Bill Goetz; Edie Goetz; Anna Goldberg; Sol Goldberg; Bill Golden; Harry Golding; Mrs. Golding; Ann Goldman; Manning Goldman; Charles Goldsmith; Lee Goldsmith; Leonard Goldsmith; Bob Goldstein; John Goldstone; Bill Gordon; Leon Gordon; Mecca Graham; Helen Grayco; Kathryn Grayson; Lou Hagen; Alan Hale Jnr; Francis Harley; Miss Harvey; Johnny Haskell; Garth Hay; Wanda Hendrix; Ben Henry; Chet Heywood; Stan Higginson; Kurt Hirsch; John Hodiak; Peggy Holden; Arthur Hornblow; Leonora Hornblow; Bill Horne; Al Horowitz; Marjorie Hoshelle; Countess Howard; Howard Hughes; Harry Hunter; Ruth Hussey; Betty Hutton; Arthur Jackson; Mrs. Jackson; George Jessel; Eric Johnson; Van Johnson; Spike Jones; Fay Kanin; Garson Kanin; Michael Kanin; Sam Katz; Mrs. Katz; Danny Kaye; Sylvia Kaye; Howard Keel; Jack Kennedy; Herbie Keotz; Bob Kerridge; Evelyn Keyes; Dave King; Dora King; Francis King; Leonid Kinskey; Hildegard Knef (also Neff); Fred Kohlmar; Jack Komaler (Kriendler?); Harry Koster; Norman Krasna; Sam Kress; Greta Kukkonen; Arthur Lake; Florence Lake; Patricia Lake; Hedy Lamarr; Dr. Lamen; Mickey Lamen; Beatrice Lane; Lane (G.U.T.); Piper Laurie; Peter Lawford; Barbara Lawrence; Jack K. Lawrence; Jock Lawrence; Mary Lawrence; Charles Le Maire; Rufus Le Maire; Packy Lee; Robert Leonard; Ann Levy; David Lipton; Gloria Lister; Littman ; Gladys Lloyd; Guy Lombardo; Douglas Longbridge; Anita Louise; Luigi Luraschi; Diana Lynn; Leonard Lyons; Sylvia Lyons; Neil MacCarthy; Carl MacDonald; J.L. MacEvoy; Jimmy MacHugh; Gordon MacRae; Maharajadhiraj Raj Rajeshwar Sawai Shri Sir Yeshwant Rao II Holkar XIV Bahadur; Boots Mallory; Sydney Mann; Dorothy Manners; Sol Many; Herbert Marshall; Doc Martin; Neil Maver; Dorothy May; Morton D. May; Cecile Mayer; Edgar Mayer; Lorena Mayer; Louis B. Mayer; Virginia Mayo; Fra Leo McCann; Leo McCarey; Dorothy McGuire; Jimmy McHugh; Herc McIntyre; Doris (Dodo) Meyer; Fred Meyer; Stanley Meyer; Dan Mich; Lewis Milestone; Ray Milland; Ann Miller; Ricardo Montalban; Mr. (Canberra) Moore; Mrs. Moore; Peggy Moran; Leo Morrison; Audie Murphy; George Murphy; Mae Murray; Morris Myron; H Nagel; Gene Nelson; Nielson; Patricia Noonan; Peggy O’Dea; Dan O’Herlihy; Elsie O’Herlihy; Mr. Olsen; Mrs. Olsen; Mike O’Shea; Maureen O’Sullivan; Eleanor Parker; Harriet Parsons; Louella Parsons; Joe Pasternak; Gregory Peck; William Perlberg; Mary Pickford; Bill Piper; Jane Powell; Joel Pressman; Don Prince; Martin Quigley; Paula Raymond; Joe Reade; Joe Reddy; Max Reinhardt; Anne Revere; Phil Richmond; Ted Richmond; Edward G. Robinson; Pat Rocamorra; Buddy Rogers; Ginger Rogers; Prince Michael Romanoff; Rosdale; AI Rose; Billy Rose; Dottie Rose; Harry Rosenthal; Patricia Ross; Rose Ross; Frances Ross; Hymie Ross; Bennie Rubin; Lion Rubin; Phil Rusman; Rosalind Russell; Ann Rutherford; Norman Rydge; Carl Schaefer; Dore Schary; Eddie Schellhorn; Joe Schenk; Mervyn Schenk; Bettie Schlesinger; M.A. Schlesinger; Mabel Schlesinger; Bill Scully; Mamie Scully; Joe Segal; Sara Segal; Joe Seidelman; Rose Seidelman; Norman Seigal; David O. Selznick; Irene Selznick; Arthur Sevitt; Lou Sevitt; Reginald Sharland; Margaret Sheridan; Frank Sherlock; Loretta Sherlock; George Sidney; Sol C. Siegel; Joe Sigal; Yvonne Sigal; Dorothy Silverstone; Murray Silverstone; Red Silverstone; Doris Simons; Jerry Simons; Babs Siodmak; Curt Siodmak; Robert Siodmak; Edna Stillwell Skelton; Georgia Davis Skelton; Red Skelton; Audrey Skirball; Jack Skirball; Joe Skirball; Andy Smith; Ethel Smith; Edward Solomons; Frankie Spitz; Leo Spitz; Al Spreckels; Morty Spring; Seymour Spring; Art Stebbins; Doris Babette Stein; Jules Stein; Mrs. Stemberg; Jan Sterling; George Stevens; Gloria Hatrick McLean Stewart; James Stewart; George Stone; Harvey Stone; Howard Strickling; Nellie Strook; Irving Sussman; Constance Talmadge; Joe Taylor; Shirley Temple; Robert Thoren; Marta Toren; Tommy Trinder; Milo Turner; Bill Twomey; Mrs. Twomey; Benay Venuta; Jack Vizzard; Bob Vogel; Joe Vogel; Marion Vogel; Susie Vogel; Jerry Wald; Hal Wallis; Lou Walters; Walter Wanger; Jack Warner; Ruth Warrick; Ruth Waterbury; Clifton Webb; Mabel Webb; Mama Francesca Weiss; William Wellman; George Weltner; Solly White; Billy Wilder; Kay Williams; Dave Winslow; Bob Woolf; Cliff Work; Cobina Wright; Teresa Wright; Jane Wyman; Keenan Wynn; Dr. Zamos; Darryl F. Zanuck; Adolph Zukor