Email this page  Print this page  del.icio.us  digg

Seen Right: Judy Garland.

Coachella Valley and you’ll see an abundance of celebrities’ and street signs that pay homage to the rich and famous who’ve lived, loved, and laughed here. It’s a list almost as long as the credits of a Steven Spielberg epic.

Although filmmakers have been nosing around the desert since the days of Rudolph Valentino, it wasn’t until the 1950s that Palm Springs became a haven for Hollywood’s “in” crowd, who made it their favorite weekend getaway.

If today’s frenzy of Internet and supermarket tabloid gossip about Tom Cruise’s sexuality and Julia Roberts’ armpits seems a trifle extravagant, it’s nothing compared to what was happening in the desert 50 years ago.

Those were the glorious days of Lucille Ball dyeing her hair red, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh making a baby (Jamie Lee Curtis), and Liz Taylor sobbing over the tragic loss of husband Mike Todd — all of which occurred at various exclusive addresses in Palm Springs.

Then, as now, the desert was the perfect place to recuperate from practically anything — or to celebrate a special occasion.

Judy Garland rested here from the difficult birth of her third child. Mario Lanza dieted and lost 50 pounds here. Katharine Hepburn helped Spencer Tracy regain his sobriety here, and Doris Day recovered here from a nervous breakdown.

Many newlyweds toasted their matrimonial bliss in one of the desert’s plush health spas. Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman and her third husband, Ronald Reagan, honeymooned at El Mirador Hotel, where she took swimming lessons and played ping-pong.

Another talented Oscar winner, Ginger Rogers, married her fourth husband and future Revlon cosmetics executive, Jacques Bergerac, in a private ceremony at The Racquet Club.

In 1957, Howard Hughes and his second wife, actress Jean Peters, secretly honeymooned at Hughes’ house next to the Ranch Club in Palm Springs, where they played golf and picked grapefruit.

And, that same year, award-winning actor and singer Bing Crosby carried his second wife, Kathryn Grant, over the threshold of their new house at Silver Spur Ranch in Palm Desert.

In 1967, Elvis Presley and 21-year-old bride Priscilla Beaulieu married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas and then flew to Palm Springs in Frank Sinatra’s Learjet for their well-publicized honeymoon. The couple’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, was born exactly nine months later.

Two years after Presley’s wedding, producer Robert Evans and his third wife, Ali MacGraw, who had starred in Evans’ film Love Story, honeymooned at Donna Reed’s Las Palmas home after they were married at Palm Springs City Hall, where they uncorked bottles of Dom Perignon on the front lawn.

These love-struck couples weren’t the only celebrities who’ve tied the knot in the desert. A judge in Palm Springs officiated the marriage of esteemed movie producer Hall B. Wallis and actress Martha Hyer. And Oscar-winning actor George Sanders, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s third husband, subsequently married her older sister, Magda Gabor, in Indio.

Heartthrobs Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, who wed in 1957 and divorced five years later, remained friends and honeymooned at Wagner’s South Palm Canyon Mesa house after they were remarried in 1972.

One of the valley’s biggest social events occurred in 1976 when Sinatra married his fourth wife, Barbara Marx, at Walter Annenberg’s Sunnylands estate in Ranch Mirage. More than 125 guests — including Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Kirk Douglas, and Gregory Peck — attended the lavish reception at Sinatra’s home.

Television stars more recently seen exchanging wedding vows in the valley include Married with Children’s Christina Applegate and actor-model Jonathan Schaech, who said their “I dos” at the former Raymond Cree estate in Cathedral City.

In 2003, Alyson Hannigan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alexis Denis of TV’s Angel became husband and wife at Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs, where health-conscious stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, and Goldie Hawn have been spotted taking a refreshing dip in the resort’s black grotto pool.

All this extravagant frivolity can make a person forget that the desert is still a place of business. But even here, behind the counters of hotels, menswear stores, and jewelers, some actors could occasionally be found moonlighting as helpful sales clerks — to the joy of tourists and local customers.

Bandleader Horace Heidt owned Palm Springs’ Lone Palm Hotel, where he handed out keys and freshened rooms for famous guests such as Rock Hudson, Joan Crawford, and Liberace.

Innkeeper Heidt wasn’t alone in fluffing pillows; former child star Bonita Granville owned L’Horizon (now The Horizon Hotel), and actress Polly Bergen ran Apache Lodge (now part of Casa Cody).

Alan Ladd sold lumber at his own hardware store and even made the rounds each day behind the wheel of a delivery truck. Oscar-winning actress Claudette Colbert ran an art gallery, and Oscar nominee Andrea Leeds, owned an exclusive gift boutique.

Easter Parade film director Charles Walters sold trendy resort wear, and acclaimed songwriter Hoagy Carmichael doubled as an interior decorator.

Today’s crop of overly rich, pampered stars like Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow are less likely to be found wrapping purchases and giving change, but a few actors still like to press the flesh with their adoring public.

That’s how several celebrity-owned valley restaurants, such as Jilly’s, Bono’s, Chaplin’s, and Hamilton’s came into being when Jilly Rizzo, Sonny Bono, Sydney Chaplin, and George Hamilton opted for writing menus instead of reading film scripts.

In 1997, husband-and-wife actors Tony Shalhoub, from TV’s Monk and Brooke Adams purchased Villa Royale and Europa Restaurant in Palm Springs. More recently, singer Buddy Greco opened a nightclub in Cathedral City. William Devane and his family still operate Devane’s Italian Restaurant in Indio, and Arnold Palmer has an eponymous restaurant in La Quinta.