Author: Lee Wallender

Never let a name fool you: Yvette Mimieux.

The ooo-la-la French seductress thing was all the rage in the early 1960s cinema and TV. After WWII, French culture spilled across the Atlantic and wormed into American culture.

French plus female, along with even a minimal degree of attractiveness, propelled a woman into the hearts, minds, and below-the-belt-areas of most U.S. men. Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, and Catherine Deneuve were authentic French actresses with talent.

And then we have Yvette Mimieux, who I’ve always assumed to be part of that wave.

The woman behind this ultra-swanky French seductress name was born and raised in none other than Los Angeles. Yvette made the usual local beauty queen circuit rounds (Miss Harbor Day, 1957) before being noticed by talent agent Jim Byron.

Much like another criminally unused actress, the lovely and talented Nancy Kovack–patron saint of this blog–Mimieux got out of the business by marrying well.

Mimieux had a curious marriage history.

Mimieux’s first marriage was to director Stanley Donen, director of Singin’ in the Rain, On the Town, Charade, The Pajama Game. Mimieux and Donen were married for 13 years.

Second, Mimieux married Howard Ruby, the marriage that would last until her death. Ruby is the owner of Oakwood Worldwide, “the largest global provider of temporary furnished apartments,” per Ruby’s personal website. Ruby is routinely called “the man who invented corporate housing.”

Clearly, Mimieux’s life changed. After 1986, her IMDb dries up to almost nothing: the classic sign of a well-married actress in those days.

But wait. Wasn’t there an earlier marriage before her marriage to Donen? Yes. Mimieux’s first marriage was to Evan Engber, and this marriage would last just a couple of years.

Far from fading into obscurity, Enger is a name in his own right.

Engber was the cool, ultra-connected guy to know throughout the Sixties. Engber is one of those Zelig-like figures whose name pops up in the strangest of places. His name comes up frequently in relation to the Merry Pranksters.

Engber even appears in the personal history of Rue McClanahan–yes, Rue McClanahan of Golden Girls–since Engber was a friend of Norman Hartweg, McClanahan’s husband at the time, another Prankster affiliate.

Evan Engber has led BioEngineering Associates, Inc. for over three decades. Bioengineering is the practice of building ”stabilizing structures whose primary components are living plants,” according to the company site.

It’s interesting to speculate on an alternate history where Evan Engber and Yvette Mimieux remained married. Yvette Mimieux might have peeled off in a Jaharana Romney (Bonnie Beecher) direction.

We might have pictures of Mimieux kayaking the South Fork Coquille River in Oregon with Enger instead of attending swanky charity balls with Howard Ruby.

Or maybe not.

Engber is definitely still around. His son, Eamon Engber, is a Research Associate at Humboldt State University.

You might even run into Engber in Laytonville, near Ft. Bragg, California, for one of the annual Hog Farm and Friends gatherings of “community and connections.”

Perched at the top of the Hollywood Hills, off of Mulholland Drive, is a property that commands what might be the highest and most expansive view of any home in the area: 7430 Pyramid Pl.

7430 was the long-time home of one of the most famous crooners of the early 20th century, Rudy Vallee, who clocked an impressive four decades at 7430. It also has a tangent with a semi-high-profile L.A. rape case in 1937.

Ann Harding at 7430

In January 1930, a M.C. Pasker filed a permit to build a house at 7430 Pyramid: for $15,000.

From 1930 to 1940, 7430 Pyramid was owned by actress Ann Harding and her husband Harry Bannister. That is, until 1932, when the two divorced.

Miss Harding may have been the nervous type or maybe the divorce put her on edge. On May 25, 1932, she placed a frantic call to the police about “mysterious sounds, like someone being murdered.” Four police cars raced to the Pyramid property and finally found the cause of the murderous sounds: a dog locked in the private theater.

Bonnie Wrankle Rape Attempt

Strangely enough, there would be a repeat performance five years later, and this would be the real thing. Thirteen-year-old Bonnie Wrankle, who lived at 903 North Edgemont Drive, south of Santa Monica Blvd., found herself at 7430 Pyramid Place.

A 58-year-old family friend named Raleigh Fremont told Bonnie’s mother that he was going to take her to a movie. Instead, Fremont drove Bonnie up into the Hollywood Hills “and attempted to attack her.”

“He grabbed me and choked me,” she said. “I fought with him, but he told me to shut up or he’d kill me.” Bonnie was a fighter. He kicked him and managed to hit him over the head with a rock at some point.

Bonnie Wrankle escaped from Fremont’s car and hid at 7430 Pyramid, where staff member George Seaton later found her hiding in a chimney.

Raleigh Fremont was sentenced to one-to-fifty at Folsom State Prison. Bonnie Wrankle and her mother would also sue Fremont for $200,000.

Fremont must have done more one than fifty, because in 1940 we hear from him again. He’s living in the Yankee Hill Feather River, California area, and he’s arrested on statutory rape charges for making advances on a 17-year-old girl.

Rudy Vallee Redevelops 7430

Around the same time, Ann Harding sold 7430.

Singer and bandleader Rudy Vallee would eventually live there for 45 years. All we know of Vallee’s 1941 purchase of 7430 Pyramid is that the previous owner was a woman who received it as a wedding gift from her father but the newlyweds “didn’t know how to enjoy it,” according to Vallee. Possibly this was Los Angeles contractor P.F. Martter, who in 1940 successfully argued down the original land and house assessment from $19,320 to $11,500.

Vallee developed 7430 Pyramid into a 5-bedroom, 6-bathroom 6,000 square foot house with a resurfaced tennis court, game room, theater, and heated pool.

In 1960, Vallee tried to build a pair of 54-foot shortwave radio towers at 7430 Pyramid, a move that met fierce opposition from neighbors. The application was denied. RCA would have paid Vallee $75 per month for allowing them to erect the towers.

In 1971, Vallee tried to have “Pyramid Drive” changed to “Rue de Vallee.” Six neighbors supported him, but Vallee’s move was blocked by 13th District Councilman Robert J. Stevenson. Vallee claimed that as his reason for trying to unseat the incumbent councilman in 1973.

Rudy Dies, Ellie Takes Over

Rudy Vallee died in 1986. The house, a pink and garish relic of another time, went to Eleanor Valle, who had lived there for 40 years with husband Rudy.

Ellie eventually moved to Brentwood with her new husband, attorney Edward F. Hustedt. But before doing so, she put on a few commercial live theater performances in the movie theater, calling it Rudy Vallee Theater.

On April 3, 1987, for example, anyone from the public could buy a ticket and see the play “Tribute” by Bernard Slade, starring Bo Sabato and Ellie Vallee.

By 1990, Elllie was ready to put the estate behind her. Anyone scouring the tiny print of the classified ads on July 28, 1990, could have snagged Rudy Vallee memorabilia for garage sale prices:

Memorabilia, Burl coffee table, furniture, clothing, pictures, & antiques–all good stuff! (213) 876-5423, 7430 Pyramid Place

7430 Pyramid Today

In 1990, comedian and late-night talk show host Arsenio Hall bought 7430 Pyramid practically sight-unseen for $3.5 million (he flew over it in a helicopter).

The property had first been listed by Ellie Vallee for $10 million in 1986, then was dropped to just about half that ($5.5 million) barely nine months later.

Now, 7430 Pyramid is owned by a doctor who cleared the hilltop and built

a new, 10,320 square-foot, two-story, single-family residence (including an attached, 2,178 square-foot, six-car garage, a 2,237 square-foot basement, and 3,726 square feet of covered porch or patio or balcony area), on an 87,270 square-foot lot.

And on and on, according to the permit documents from 2015 to 2018.