Bovard Auditorium - Where Film School Began

A stop on USC Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

The red-brick building with the tall tower just north of Tommy Trojan is the Bovard Administration Building, and Bovard Auditorium is part of the same complex. Both opened in 1921, among the first buildings of architect John Parkinson's master plan, which set the Italian Romanesque look you will see all over campus: round arches, warm brick and carved stone trim.

The auditorium is named for George Finley Bovard, USC's fourth president, and it is one of the oldest stage venues still operating in Los Angeles. A careful 2003 renovation tripled the lobby and rebuilt the stage, and today it seats about 1,235 people.

This room has heard a remarkable lineup. On February 6, 1929, silent film star Douglas Fairbanks stepped onto this stage to give the opening lecture of the nation's first university course in film, the seed of today's School of Cinematic Arts. In October 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke here to a packed house.

Step back onto Trousdale and look up at the tower, the visual anchor of the old campus.

Getting here: Walk about 50 meters north from Tommy Trojan along Trousdale Parkway. The auditorium entrance is on your left beneath the brick tower.

Did you know?: USC's very first film class, Introduction to Photoplay, was launched in this auditorium in 1929, with guest lecturers that included D. W. Griffith and Irving Thalberg.

Photo op: From the east side of Trousdale Parkway, frame the full Bovard facade and its tower with the palm trees along the walkway.

More on Wikipedia: George F. Bovard · Douglas Fairbanks · Martin Luther King Jr. · John and Donald Parkinson

Bovard Auditorium - Where Film School Began

Stops on this tour