Birmingham-born licensee Phil Elwell counts hundreds of celebrities as regulars at his Hollywood pub. But after 31 years, he's calling it a day. Kevin Smith meets him at the Los Angeles hang-out
It's last orders for Hollywood licensee, Birmingham-born Phil Elwell, who has served pints to some of the world's biggest names since opening the King's Head pub in Santa Monica back in 1974.
He has downed Guinness with Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Jones and served fish and chips to the likes of Tom Cruise and Rod Stewart. Ian Bothman has played for the pub cricket team, rocker Billy Idol comes for his Sunday roast and Naomi Campbell frequently pulls up for home-cooked British food in a sleek black limo.
'Aye, they all come here, says Elwell, who recently sold the pub and restaurant after 31 years behind the bar. 'This may not look like some flashy bar where you'd expect to see the big names, but they all love it, the 60-year-old adds. 'There is only so much 'Gucci-food' and posh cocktails you can take. Eventually you'll crave some good old-fashioned English grub and a pint.
For years the Californian pub, complete with a dart board and jukebox and overlooking the Pacific ocean, has been an oasis for the Tinseltown elite, searching for a bar where they can forget their status for an hour or two.
What's-his-name
'The beauty for them is they can come in here and they won't get hassled. Everyone in here is treated the same. It doesn't matter if you are a builder or a rock star, you still get the same treatment, says Elwell. That's partly because blase Elwell doesn't recognise half of them. To him, the A-list, the B-list they all become 'what's-his-name. Elwell admits: 'I've got a terrible memory for names.
'Once, these film people hired out our back room for a party. It was for that film Saving Private Ryan. I recognised Tom Hanks and asked if he would have his picture taken with me, but I didn't recognise this little fellow with the grey beard and glasses who was kind of getting in the way. It was only later somebody told me that was Steven Spielberg.
And when a television camera crew politely asked in the mid-'90s if they could interview Britain's hottest new star, using the bar as a back drop, Elwell didn't recognise the foppish-looking young man. He adds: 'I said it was OK as long as they didn't disturb the customers too much. Imagine my surprise when the lad turned out to be Hugh Grant.
The King's Head has been the nucleus for California's estimated 400,000 expatriate community since its doors first opened. And the easy-going atmosphere inside soon became a magnet to stars of every nationality.
'Tom Cruise used to come in all the time with his then wife, Nicole, says bar manager Nicola Coleman. 'She liked her bangers and mash, he liked the fish and chips, and of course his pint of Bass. They both seem really nice, she adds.
But Sean Penn's brother Chris star of True Romance isn't quite so sweet. 'He comes in here with his headphones on, dribbles his fish and chips as he eats and slams back five or six shots and five or six beers, and doesn't talk to a soul, says Coleman. 'But last week he came in and was really chatty and nice, so I guess I had him all wrong.
Naomi Campbell is also a regular, though she never shows her famous face inside the pub. 'You can't miss that she is here, though, says Coleman. 'She pulls up outside in a great big stretch limo. She sits in the back chatting on her cellphone while the driver comes in to get her some takeaway food. And it is not health food she gets, I can tell you.
Pierce Brosnan can often be seen propping up the bar on a Friday night, supping a Guinness, Hugh Grant took to the oche for a game of darts, Richard Branson was so impressed by one of the waitresses that he hired her to work for his airline, and actor Sean Bean also sometimes pops in for a pint when he is in town filming a movie. If he's feeling a bit homesick, he comes in for some English food, Coleman recalls.
Wildman of rock Ozzie Osborne is still a regular but since drying out he never has anything stronger than an orange juice Colin Farrell became pals with the staff when he first hit Los Angeles and lived around the corner the wild Irishman found himself filming a scene in his favourite pub for the hit blockbuster Daredevil and British indie rockers Oasis always stop by for a drink and a chat when they are in town for once happily posing for pictures with staff and fans.
Where the stars relax
Ironically, it is the British attitude towards drinking which attracts many of the stars. 'It is not politically correct to have a good drink in this town, says Elwell. 'Walk out of a Hollywood bar after a few drinks and people look at you like you are a murderer. But in here, the stars can relax. No-one looks down their noses at anyone.
But not everyone is well behaved. Keith Moon was once thrown out after he tried to have sex with a woman on the floor of the main bar as everyone looked on. He trashed the toilets before exiting. 'We forgave him and welcomed him back; it look-ed like it was actually his friends more than him. They thought they could do the rock star thing. He died shortly after, Elwell says.
And Mickey Rourke was apparently the first person to ignore the smoking ban when it became law in Los Angeles. Rourke lit a cigarette just after the stroke of midnight, even after everyone had been warned it was illegal in Los Angeles from then. But he put out his cigarette to stay in the pub.
Speed 2 star Jason Patrick was also put in his place by Elwell's wife, Ruth, when he entered the bar with then girlfriend Christy Turlington and put on the prima donna routine. 'He walked straight past her without saying hello, says Elwell. 'She followed him and said, 'Hey, I have known you since you were small and you have always been such a nice lad, so don't come in here pretending you are something special all of a sudden.' I think he was suitably scolded and won't do that again. There is no room for arrogance in here. I mean, we have had President Reagan using the same toilet as everybody else, so who is he to put on this 'I'm a big star, don't bother me,' look.
People can be themselves
That apart, this is certainly a bar where people can be themselves. On Sundays Billy Idol can often be seen tucking into roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with his son. 'That guy from the Sex Pistols, the one who died, Sid Vicious, he used to come in here all the time. He used to catch the bus down from Hollywood. He would sit there at the bar with all his chains and safety pins and stuff. But that was just his look really, he was a lovely lad, says Elwell.
Supertramp used to drink in the pub as a warm-up for their concerts at the nearby Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. 'This guy would burst through the doors and shout, 'you're on in five minutes' and they would have to sup up quick and get out the door to get on stage, he says. Black Sabbath, ELO and Led Zeppelin all use the pub as a base when they are in town. 'The drummer for Zeppelin died too. I have seen quite a few come and go, says Elwell as he studies a picture of the late actor John Candy drinking which sits on the wall in the restaurant of the bar.
Elwell landed in California in 1962, taking two years off from his job as a rep for Bassett's Liquor-ice Allsorts to travel the world. 'I got stuck here because I ran out of money, he says. He got a job at the prestigious Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood, where he received his first taste of waiting on celebrities. A faded black and white picture of him serving Princess Margaret at the hotel is the oldest that now hangs on the wall of the King's Head.
'It was while working there that I realised there was a lot of money to be had in catering, so I started off on my own. It was a gamble that paid off handsomely. In 1974 he opened the doors of his first bar and restaurant, Ye Old Kings Head. Today the son of a tractor assembly-line worker lives in a £1m mansion in Malibu, and counts Sylvester Stallone and Dustin Hoffman among his neighbours.
But he