This Surry Hills art deco pub became a local landmark when Doris Goddard bought it with her husband Charlie Bishop for $178,000 in 1977. Their handful of pubs included the West End Hotel in Balmain and The Marlborough in Newtown.
Born in Sydney's Forest Lodge near Glebe in 1930, she was a cabaret singer and actress who travelled to Hollywood and scored bit parts opposite actors including Katharine Hepburn and Bob Hope, in films like Geordie and The Iron Petticoat in the 1950's. In the 1970's she returned to Australia and was in Australian films such as Caddie and Tim.
She lived on the top floor of the Hollywood for nearly four decades and would regale the locals with showbiz stories and play guitar behind the retro bar. In her 80's she had mild dementia and moved to assisted care in 2017, although she would get out and about to complain about Sydney's lockout laws.
The Hollywood was first licensed in 1878 and Tooth & Co brewery rebuilt it in 1941. It was purchased in 2021 by Brody Petersen for $10 million. There will be something else here in due course as expansion is planned.
Postscript March 2024: Foster Street has been named on Time Out's 'Coolest Streets in the World' 2024 list! Unbelievable for what was once a scary early-opener.