BritWeek Celebrates 50 Years of Britain in Los Angeles

Clockwise from top left: David Beckham, William Mulholland, Charlie Chaplin, ‘The Big Sleep’ written by Raymond Chandler, Giffith Griffith

Brits and Los Angeles

The Brits have actually been prominent in Los Angeles for a lot longer than fifty years.
William Mulholland, the man who (to quote a recent Los Angeles Times article) “made
Los Angeles possible” by establishing the city’s water supply in the early 20th century, hailed
from Belfast. Griffith Griffith, whose bequest built the eponymous Griffith Park and Griffith
Observatory (two of the great treasures of the city), was a Welshman. Londoner Charlie Chaplin
was a pivotal figure in the early development of Hollywood. The quintessential Los Angeles
fiction writer Raymond Chandler was a Brit. So too is the artist whose paintings have become
icons of modern Los Angeles: David Hockney. The Brits have not been mere visitors.
They are part of the fabric of Los Angeles.