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An irreplaceable piece of Sydney’s nightlife could be ripped out as the historic Hollywood Hotel goes up for sale after four decades as the heart of an inner-city neighbourhood.
Nestled on a quiet street corner in Surry Hills a stone’s throw from towering skyscrapers, the 80-year-old art deco building – one of only three of its kind left – is a bar like no other.
Inside the welcoming double doors was not only a retro interior and glittering disco ball, but its charismatic publican, former movie star Doris Goddard.
Comfortable both serving pints, serenading patrons, or regaling regulars with tales of Hollywood’s golden ages, she brought an unforgettable old-school atmosphere to a gentrifying suburb.
But her death in July 2019 aged 89 signalled the end of an era and an uncertain future for the once timeless drinking institution with bidders lining up to beat the $10 million estimated price.
An irreplaceable piece of Sydney’s nightlife could be ripped out as the historic Hollywood Hotel goes up for sale after four decades as the heart of an inner-city neighbourhood
Nestled on a quiet street corner in Surry Hills a stone’s throw from towering skyscrapers, the 80-year-old art deco building (pictured soon aftwer it was remodled from the 1878 original) is a bar like no other
Former movie star Doris Goddard ran the hotel for 42 years after returning from her acting stint in Hollywood in 1977 with her husband Charlie Bishop (left) and moving in upstairs
Selling agent HTL Property said the pub and nine-room hotel is generating more interest than the firm has seen in a decade, including potential buyers from Singapore and every capital city.
‘It’s fair to say say we have more on this we have on any other hotel sale over last 10 years,’ said HTL director Sam Handy.
‘We put that down to a lot of history and romance and its place in the fabric of Sydney.’
The Hollywood is a historic building, dating back to 1878, when it was first licensed. It was rebuilt in 1941 and run by Tooth and Co brewery.
But the romance came from Goddard and her second career act as a beloved publican after a decades-long Hollywood career, which she repeated in Australian film in the 1970s.
With her pub walking distance from the city it was a magnet for thirsty workers heading home.
It was equally an escape for people Sydney’s gay and lesbian scene who wanted to drink somewhere with a little less razzle dazzle than Oxford Street.
Goddard famously serenaded her customers from behind the bar of the Hollywood Hotel in between pouring pints and mixing cocktails
Even as Surry Hills changed around her, Goddard kept the doors of her bar open for regulars every day and swelling punters on the weekend
Inside the welcoming double doors was a retro interior, glittering disco ball, and well-worn carpet
The Hollywood’s eclectic mix of patrons became well-known and a big source of its appeal – you didn’t have to identify with any particular tribe to belong.
You didn’t even have to buy a drink.
Ms Goddard opened the doors to Sydney’s homeless – no questions asked – when the nearby shelters were full, Hollywood Hotel licensee and manager Mark Symons recalled.
‘Doris would open the stairwell to upstairs and let them sleep on the steps,’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald. ‘She was just reaching out to people, giving people some sort of lift up. That was Doris’ spirit.’
Whether it came directly from Doris or not, the Hollywood was also one of the few city pubs that didn’t hassle smokers who were forced outside after the smoking ban in 2007, from taking a half-empty schooner outside to wash down their dirty habit.
Although it was a non-scene pub, it was without doubt a longtime ally to the LGBTQ community, which was after all right on its doorstep.
The Hollywood defied wave after wave of gentrification around the city and in the end its stubbornly unpretentious vibe and decor became its best drawcard – next to its indefatigable publican.
The Hollywood defied wave after wave of gentrification around the city and in the end its stubbornly unpretentious vibe and decor became its best drawcard – next to its indefatigable publican
With her pub walking distance from the city it was a magnet for thirsty workers heading home
Hollywood includes a nine-room hotel upstairs along with a resident for the manager which Goddard inhabited for much for her time running the bar
Despite being surrounded by chic restaurants like Chin Chin and Poly & Butter, the old-school four-storey Hollywood doesn’t just fit in, it anchors the neighbourhood – one of the last remaining boozers of the old working class Surry Hills.
It could yet remain a pub – it is being sold with a 3am liquor licence and space for 10 pokies.
But how long it can stay that way is up for grabs – and down to buyers. HTL point out the four-storey building could become just about anything.
They say it has ‘scope to triple the size of the trading footprint and activate a rooftop top beer garden with CBD and district views’
It also has ‘mixed-use repositioning possibilities including residential, commercial and retail’.
It could also be redeveloped, ‘underlined by B4 Mixed-Use zoning, 18m height approval and floor-space ratio of 3:1.’
HTL Property is selling by expressions of interest until May 20.
Comfortable both serving pints, serenading patrons, or regaling regulars with tales of Hollywood’s golden ages, she brought an unforgettable old-school atmosphere to a gentrifying suburb
Goddard had dreams of stardom in her teens and in her early 20s, took a punt that she could make it in Hollywood, so she saved up and took a boat there
Hollywood Hotel’s last licensee and manager Mark Symons told her: ‘You don’t need to be behind the bar, Doris. You need to be out here, to look after the punters’
Who was Doris ‘Hollywood’ Goddard?
Bob Hope and Doris Goddard in The Iron Petticoat (1956)
Doris Goddard and the Hollywood Hotel went together like Bondi Beach and aviator shades.
You couldn’t imagine one without the other.
Ms Goddard was born in 1930 and grew up at Forest Lodge next to Glebe in Sydney.
She had dreams of stardom in her teens and in her early 20s, took a punt that she could make it in Hollywood, so she saved up and took a boat there.
Unfortunately at 175cm (5 feet 9 inches) she was seen as too tall to become a big star, so she tried to make it in cabaret.
Her fortunes changed when a call came in for a tall actress to play opposite 193cm lead Bill Travers in the 1955 film Wee Geordie.
She then scored a role as a Russian spy in The Iron Petticoat in 1956, which also starred Hollywood royalty Katharine Hepburn and Bob Hope.
After moving back to Sydney, Ms Goddard decided to invest in buying Sydney pubs, which she bought with her husband Charlie Bishop.
Ms Goddard and Mr Bishop bought the West End Hotel in Balmain and The Marlborough in Newtown and is reported to have said she took to running pubs ‘like a duck to alcohol’.
She scored a few roles in Australian film and TV – including alongside a young Jacki Weaver, Jack Thompson and Mel Gibson – all on their way to becoming Australian cinema royalty.
At age 47, in 1977 she bought another pub, The Hollywood Hotel, for $178,000, according to the ABC.
Ms Goddard publicly campaigned against the lockout laws, which were introduced in February 2014 and hit the venue hard
Ms Goddard owned and lived at the pub for 42 years, often playing guitar and singing for her punters. One photograph shows her standing on the bar singing.
She survived her husband, who died in 2004.
Into her 70s and 80s and despite suffering dementia, Doris Goddard continued to sit with punters and enjoy a glass of red wine.
Ms Goddard also publicly campaigned against the lockout laws, which were introduced in 2014.
‘She was a diva,’ said the Hollywood Hotel’s last licensee and manager Mark Symons.
He told her: ‘You don’t need to be behind the bar, Doris. You need to be out here, to look after the punters’.
She lived upstairs from the Hollywood until 18 months before her death.
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