A couple years ago while in New York City, I took a self-guided tour of famous locations of television shows. Recently, I took advantage of a beautiful day to check out TV or movie locations in my hometown of Chicago.
Built in 1915, the Biograph Theater, now the Victory Gardens Theater, is on the National Register of Historic Places. FBI agents shot and killed John Dillinger outside the Biograph. Naturally, it was used in Public Enemies, the biographical crime drama, but it also appeared in High Fidelity, About Last Night and other films.
Chris’s Billiards is one of my favorite places to shoot pool. More famously, it was used in The Color of Money.
Dr. Richard Kimble’s home in The Fugitive features an indoor pool, a rooftop deck, an elevator and other luxuries added in a renovation prior to filming. It was recently on the market for $3.6 million.
In High Fidelity, John Cusack’s character owns Championship Vinyl, a failing record store. It is now a bicycle shop. Also in High Fidelity, Cusack takes a date to Strega Nona, now Grassroots Grill. Lisa Bonet’s character performs at Lounge Ax, which is now Soiree Bar Lounge.
Championship Vinyl
Strega Nona (Grassroots)
Lounge Ax (Soiree)
John Candy as Buck takes his girlfriend to O’Sullivan’s in Uncle Buck. It is now Emmitt’s Irish Pub. Buck lives in an apartment across the street from Wrigley Field.
In About Last Night, Rob Lowe’s character bumps into Demi Moore’s character in front of Kelly’s Pub. Opened in 1933 under the El tracks, Kelly’s remains a Chicago favorite.
The opening for The Bob Newhart Show featured Marina Towers in downtown Chicago, but the exterior shots of his character’s apartment building belongs to a condo building several miles north.
One last location I did not visit on this day was the 95th Street Bridge, as seen in the opening sequence in The Blues Brothers. I crossed this bridge hundreds of times in my youth and was actually there for one day of filming.
Photo courtesy of Karen Oaks
I had fun visiting these memorable locations. There are many more in and around Chicago, and I will visit more in the future. I am also checking out other cities for similarly famous locations as we all #ComeBacktoTravel.
— John Wroblewski, online writer
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