Cockatoo Inn
Hawthorne CA
Location & Vibe:Â
Located at Hawthorne Blvd and Imperial Hwy near Hollywood Park Racetrack, it was a premier hotspot for celebrities, horse racing jockeys, and Los Angeles political figures.
Key Visitors:
Notable guests reported included John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Mickey Rooney.
Pop Culture:
The hotel was famously featured in the filmJackie Brown, where the bar served as a meeting spot for characters played by Pam Grier and Samuel L. Jackson.
The Cockatoo Inn was a renowned mid-century hotel and restaurant in Hawthorne, California, founded in 1946 (expanded 1958) by Andrew J. Lococo. Known for its celebrity clientele—including Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and Hollywood elite, the luxury venue featured European decor, popular banquet halls and a lively bar scene.
The hotel business continued to prosper, but by the late 1980s, the hotel began to suffer and became bankrupt in 1991. The next corporation to buy the bankrupt hotel was also unable to make the Cockatoo Inn profitable and sold the property to investors from China. The Cockatoo inn soon fell into disarray and shut down, prompting Chinese investors to sell the property to a property developer.
