narrator: hollywood s aritect the ul r. wiiams sto habeen mad ssible ipart by the chard h.riehau undation vs, the dependen levisionervice with fding proded by e corporion for publicroadcasting the waington dcommission o the ts and humanies thamericannstitute ofrchitect anariel instments ♪ nnie: paul willms was o of the st giftearchitects ofhe 20th ntury. linda: his legacy of buildingis so stng anso compeing and soide rangg. karen:e had a teachewho ry clear told m,

"you cnot be aarchitec" wesl: he washe first afcan ameran archict to have major crsover appe to a whe cliente, movie stars,ovie mogs, affluenteople ofll kinds peter: h mo was,ell me whayou' about and leme make beyond yo wildestreams. roberthe w buildin homes in neiborhoods at did aow blackto move into those neighborhoods. stev he buil the cresce wing, wherit saythe verly hills. tha's acally hisandwriti. karen:e was no allowed stay there. he wasn't evenllowed toat by thpool whe he wasorking tre. paulettait'one thinto be a great artist, but it's another to be a leader. toead inpite of althe adveities thatou come on. quin: that's why he w a great chitect, a trail azer, ga changer ♪

rrator: ul revere lliams had life story and career that could have been dreamed up by a hollywood screenwriter. orphaned at the age of four, he grew up to design mansions for movie stars and millionaires in southern california. a fivdecadeareer, he re to theop of his pfession. and rough itll, ged a cotant, ifuiet, battle agast the raci of the mes. ♪ narror: willms was born los anges in 18 to pents w had mov fromemphis, tennese. ren: hisarents h come he cause th had tubculosis d they ce here for eir heal. ♪ narrator: it was the hope of finding a cure in the bright sunshine and warm weather ofouthern lifornia th brought la and cster wilams and thr older n chestejr.

acss the cntry. they we among e thsands whresponde to direct effort ba city hopi to takedvantage of itslimate. lonnie: en losngeles i trying to ma this transion om mexic pueblo tomerican ty, it'trying tfind wayto enurage thrailroado come, courage ople to me. one of t ways th theyegan to was a naonal cpaign cebrating w wonderfuthe weatr is, how is a ple of heah, i's a place where oranges grow. narrator: the willia mily seted not f fromhe city' owing dotown are ere theisecond son,aul, wasorn. chter sr. s one of t many veors who so their wes at the o town pla. he suprted theamily with fruit snd. nnie: thdrynesreal d an impt on those who had tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses.

so in some ways even though la was selling a myth there was enough truth to that myth that it would justify people coming to california for its health. ♪ naator: hover, e sunshinend warmt dinot savehester and la williams. by 189both parts had dd, leaving ur-year-d paul and 13-yr-old chter alon hos were fnd for t ys withithe commity. karen:hey wereaid by separa foster milies. thbrother was d enough toort of keep in touch, but got pneonia and di in his rly 20 narrat: paul w taken i by crles andmily crkson. kare she gavhim such gif that shmade himelieve th he coulbe anythingnd do anything. ♪ narrator: the small community of african americans livingn s angeleat that timenjoyed eedoms and portunities willms'arents

could nohave dream of back in mphis. lonnie: one, it wasn't the south. sohereforet didn't have thexplicitacial discrimition. anit didn't havehe threats ofiolence at were ally theey tonderstanng black li in the uth. ♪ thatoesn't mean tt it'free of racism. there were places african americans couldn't go, there were jobs they couldn't get. because la is a small city, you have a little more fluidity of relationships. you ha african americs being le acquireand, to art bunesses. la, as i le to calit, place of possibity. narrat: makinghe most oevery poibility, young ul exceld in the cy's prominantlwhite scols. and he got a part -time job as aewsboy selling pers in dotown losngeles. karen: hwas a ha rker, ani believ for a loof reaso. he wand to plee his fost mother

d i'sure, yo ow, in those days all the kids had to bring some money in. narrator: in 1908 williams entered the highly selective los angel lytechnihigh schl. wh he exprsed an ierest in ahitecturas a carr came upgainst wt he wouldater cal the blk wall o discougement. ul: he lked at me as if had sugsted a rock trip toars, d exclaid "who er heard of negro ahitect!" karen: he had a teacher who very clearly told him, "you cannot be an architect beuse your peoe ill nobe able afforyou, "andhite pple will n hire yo" "ba doctorr a lawy "becse your ople ll alwayneed tho." narrator: willms ignored is advic after gradtion i1912 he setbout acqring thskills hneeded pursue s dream. ul: therwas nobo at he cod ok to d model himselafter. ere was ally no mplate.

wesley: that time in california, there were about five ways to become an architect. one uld wo for an aritect as aapprentice, one coulget a university degree, one could get a correspondence school degree, one could work for a contractor, one could do interiors by doing furniture. i never found a white architect who used morthan oner two. willms is using all five paths. and i ink he's tryi each patin sequee cause h's ruing to obstaes, h's ruing into discrination, and in tt sense i's se-directe cause no one has toldim what do. 's guring i oufor himsf. ♪ narrator chitectul competions were vital pt of willms'arly carr. wesley: e judgeson' knowho you a whether u'relack, whit young, d, whater and so heryou n't haveacial prudice as a factor his career. narrator: williams won several of his first competitions, inging h work to t attenti of se of theost proment chitectsn the ci, likeohn aust who bui iffith observatory los anges city hal and shrine auditorium.

and residential architect reginald johnson, who beme an imrtant mentor wesleyhe was a whi, sociallyrominentrchitect who kn the ricanfamous anintroduced paul williams to eir grou narratorin 1916 wiiams ban takinclasses at the uversity uthern calorni there s no schl ofrchitecte so hstudie archittural enneering. karen: hwas verylear on the were ctain this heeedeto learnso he we one schl for drting. went to another sool for blprints a renderis. t heot the biness see and the neral stctural things fm usc. ♪ rrator: a church yth group willms met dla mae gens, who woullater beme his we. karen: iaid to m granother on, "howid you hpen to pick him? because parentlyhe dated his olr brothefirst. d she oked me raight in t eye andaid,

"i thinke had poteial." (lghs) she beeved in m. thatas it, s belied in m. narrator: ter eir marrge in 19, th would he two ughters aneventual grandchdren. paul: grandfaer da an my gndmotherama dee had th great ptnership he w allowedhe eedom toork d expreshimself cause she s at hommanaging not on the chiren but thfamily aets. he treated her like she was a queen and i think the whole relationship was conducive toim achieng the greaess thate did. ♪ narrat: la wasast becomi a boom wn in 19 wh paul wiiams bece a licens archite. nnie: laevery 10 yrs, from880 ally thoh wwii almost dbles in ze.

as result that,here is great dl of buiing, there's a great deal of urban planning that has to go on and someone like paul williams who develops those skills, the were oortuniti for him becae the cityeeded hi rrator: 1922 ul willms openehis own rm inhe stock exchangbuildi inowntn s anles. h's 28ears-oldnd it is extly 10 years after the high school teacher brhed aside his eam of boming an archict. ul: so hgets thivision of wt he wan to do with s life. everybody tells him he can't do it. noonly doehe do it t he doeit at a vel thatuts him in the sttospheremong arctects. ♪ rrator: e of willia' fst big baks came with the development of a new suburb rth of l angeles caed flintdge.

itas builty former setor franflint, a stomer fm paul's days aa news b. karen: 's su a testant to my grdfather that yea later sator fli membed this ttle boy who ld him pers ery day the corr. narrat: senator flint hired williams to design his home, and williams went on to design dozens oothers in th area. ♪ the intridgeroject introduc paul willms to theorld of xury hom and e peopleho could afrd them. people likhorse breer jack ain. karen: mr. atkin gave him the ideas of what he wanted. and this was a beautiful brick, blue slate roof looking over pasadena. it was $350,000 in 1929. we're talking depression and we're talking $350,000. and mr. kin said "i li erything but the pce.

"i told my budes at the race trk "it was nna be hf a milliodollars, "so cod you add 50,000?" it was just majestic. you walked in and you just felt like you were walking into english history. lots of stone, incredibly carved wood that came from europe and the craftsmen to do it also came from england. the house, often used in movies, early bk as 193 e origin "topper bumr. atkiused to re it oufor movies as charity to give to the food banks and the homeless people in southern california. and it continued to be used in many "murder she wrote," "three men and a little lady," one of the rocky movies. any time they needed sort of an english-looking castle. narror: by the lat1920s, paulilliams s designg homes in some of the most luxurious neighborhoods

in southern california, and he was working with some of the area's wealthiest and most influential people. concerned that white clients might be uncomfortable sitting next to him while he illustrated his ideas, williams developed a unique skill th would bome his ademark. pa: i spenhours learng to dr upside wn. en, with prospecve client sted acro from me i uld begito sketch the living rm of hisouse. invariab, his inrest wou excitedy this trick, became full parer in the bth of th room as filled the detailof the dwing. incy: itas roughack then 'cause ul had tlearn ho torite upse down 'cause heas not aowed toit with s whitclients. karen:here's a point at which you say, no matter how good i a is is 1920s america. i y not be accepted so lete do thehings that make sure that people accept me. and as a result he developed a little barnum & bailey.

♪ narrat: this flaifor the amatic madeilliams perfect fifor hoywood. sley: thimpact othe movie instry owillms'areer is maj in thatere's a ally lar group oclientel o have npreconceions onho they ll or willot work th. loie: jewshooved frothe east cst to thwest coa, as they vented hlywood, th reinvend themsees. they takangliciz names, they ted to ow they were just le the ele americs. wesleythey arelso ffering scrination fr the waspower stcture. and they are sf-made pple, and ey just nt to use wever ishe most talented, be person ailable. lonnie: is straiof non confmity alswas a bule at allow paul willms to get in. d once hgot in hbegan to sw how go he was. naator: wiiams' first impoant hollood clie

s silentilm staron chay. skled withoing s own ma up, chaneyarned the niname, the n of a tusand ce he hired williams to design and build a house in beverly hills. however, chaney contracted pneumonia and di before heould movin. e currenowners hava special coection tthe hous jolie: i lived here from the age of 10 to 22 with my family. my parts were very proud of the fact thatt was a ul wiiams house myom was aantique aler d she hato do a t of restong of thhouse. was alws maintence, intenance,aintenan. ♪ we always knew the basics about paul williams and who he was buwe didn't know lot of detls aboutis life. jon: ther's a power withinhe house the's anriginali, an autheicity. d paul wliams, a rt of thbrillian ofis visioand why s vision has rained sourable

and why ople seek to tap intohat sion is becse he to the tim take a listicpproach those tngs that hdesigned for us, we love old hollywood, so check that box. paul williams designed this house for lon chaney sr. it doesn't get any better than that. announcer: the academy award ceremonies athe pantas theate narrator: on hollyod discoved paul lliams, he acquirea nickna, aritect to the stars. kan: tyronpower, lucie ball, de arn, cary grant, barbara stanwyck. quincy: all the movie stars had paul williams houses. they're theost uniq mes in t city. narrat: the unue style of pl willms home made such an iression at so clientsecall th even aft they have mod on to her hous. paetta: wead a wonrful fe therend we lar leard

willm holdenived the, l of the wh's who llywd at thatime, had equentedhat hous ward: night frk iseeing his fished twoedroom paneseodern hoe fothe first time. ank: howre you, ? ed: good narrat: one coission brought lliams e natial expose most archects can only drm of. ank: welthis ithe combation essingoom, ed, d bedroo with my uniqueooking feplace th the cnese red i'm sorryou can't e the cors. wesl: frank sinatrhas, in sense, come twilliamso find o, how do youive li a mie star. linda: he understood the val of havinyour dam home. d i thinthat's why so ma people nt to hi particully movietars and pele in thmovie instry ich is smuch abo fanta d sets and bng able toave whater you wt.

karen:nlike a frank lloywright who designed something brilliant and you bought into it or not, he believed it was important to lisn to hislient. and hivalue asn architt was dermined bhis abily tolease at client. ristopr: as an africaamerican architecin the 2h centur he did n have the luxury otelling ients my w or the ghway. karen: hwould as themuestions out how they ved. are u the ty of peon who enteains freently, who nes a room foyour houkeeper well asour mothern-law? ter: peoe who mod om los aeles from all sorts of other places and i think they wanted to import a little bit of wherthey werfrom and what they asciated wh, and was so ept at smany different styles of architecture. great tudor houses, great spanish houses, great monterrey colonials, great georgians. i mean he did them all. narrator: in mastering several styles to plee his clnts, willia develop unue desigfeatur that his homes e still own for.

eve: therere signatu paul williams elements in this house, and in most of his houses. the spiral staircase, the use round fures, winds, very ll windo. the enancewaysre alway and, b not ovetated. llow: inhis hous certnly the aircase, the unue shapend thtwists oit. there arlittle quirk ke roundindows that are dotd througho the hou. john: this is a spanish colonial revival sle which was very popular in the 1920s and '30s. when y walk inthrough e front do and theestibule theris spanish le on thfloor, and yolook to yo right anyou lookp and u see th stairca at is brthtaking d your eyecan' lp but flow it u

and thvery hig int of t staircase the ceing which is golleed. roberti love h has intrated e exteri and thenterior. that when u'ren a room you feel le you've got a foot oside awell. chyl: the ews are defitely, ey' breathting. and at's one e first ings everody commts about usuallhas to d th just anding o anlooking out e window and you st see t whole cy. steve: i lk arou this hoe d even tugh a loof work has been de on isince 19, the ingrity an e designtyle anthe honey to me ys this is a man o had a sion and his visi w early suorted and enuraged bhis clies. rrator: lliams' suess wi his wealt

and inflntial clnts s due, ilarge rt, tois own psona esence a style. was comrtable among e elite beuse he lked like one ofhem himsf. wes: hhad a see about mself th, i am gon try to esent mylf in as assy of mes as posble. paul: en as a kid, without really having mywn sensef style, heas alwaypressed. he w very exacting in his work in termsf the deils, terms othe beau, in termsf the ste. anthat's the y he dreed. he was wearing suits on the job site. loie: for neration afrin americanamilies ressed ecation, ressed how you car yoursel your deptment, yr style. paulilliams alized that allf that was the y to hisuccess. ul: the's a cture, i ve it, where hend his we are these wte lin outfits,ounging. and ey look so cary grant, cla gable-ish. but thatas him. he wn't dressing up for the photo shoot.

that was just the y he was rrator: ul willis' talent, education, and rsonal pish, hower, coul't prect him anhis fami from th cism of e time he w well awe of thehadow it ct over tir lives. paul: day i skched thpreliminy plans foa large untry hoe which wi be erecd in o of the st beautul residentl distris the wor, a distct with roo estates entrancingistas anstately nsions. sotimes i ve dreameof livinthere. could afrd such a home. buthis eveng, leavinmy offic i rerned to smal ineensive he in aunrestried, comparately undesible sectn of losngeles. becae i am a nro. ren: hwould nobring unpleasa things me. i not thi that my mher and aunt

er were ivy to hring him mplain aut anythg. pa: never lked about ing bier, never lked abo frustraon, never taed about discrination. karen: think wt itid was justurther his inn resolve, beuse you ve to rember, continu to keep hieyes on e prize. naator: afr establhing hiseputatio as auilder of xury homes williamset hisights on the me lucrate commerci buildg maet. kare architects, historically in this country are moreevered f eir commcial wor th their ridential work. itially,e didn't get a t of comrcial wo. at was aold boysetwork. heas notart of that netwk. rrator: t williams' reputation for fine home design finally brought an opening into this network. itame fromwo clients o want

thr business toook like homes. jeh: one example of that would be the mca building, which was one of his real breakthroughs intoarger stctures. he we had signifant fice buiing being designed in a new england coloal style nobody had tried to do that, at least not to my knowledge, and e ownersere very, very happy with it, and the building became a landmark. narrator: in the 1930s paul williams was able to expand into commercial work and his firm prospered. the rest of the country was going through the depression, but southern california was spared much of the economic impact. christopher: hollywood really helped insulate the larg los anges and southernalifornieconomy. ople ft that they coun't afford to invest in major appliances or vacations. one ing thathey coul ve theelves as present

was movie tiet becau was relivy affordle. narrator: with more work, williams moved into an office on wilshire boulevard and red more staff, chitectsdraftsmen, en some t degners from hlywood. je everybo wanted rk for h for a wle, ack and ite, and they worked haoniouslyogether. we were quite a diligent crew. there was ry littljoshin ound or ything le that. weere workg. i never heard him scold anybody. never hed him raishis voic as a mter ofact, not upstai in the afting rm. i think was theind of m who said should't ev ha to do thaanyway. i'm t goa hi abody thatequires that kind of prodding. rrator: his carr grew, williamsevelopedn impressi versatity. hehowed skl in desning every nceivabl pe of buding. ♪

nouncer: man whoas combinedrt and biness. narratorby the 10s, wiiams beg to attracattentio outsidof southn california announr: from s drawg boarhave complans for ny famoubuilding and ne homesor llywood ars. quincymy fathewoultell us abt this gat broth th was doin' a is fantaic stuff 'cause wanted to be an aritect to heas a mter carpente my ddy was, u know. d he'd come dn and gehis little h evy year fm seattle the '40s, and co down he to meet th him, ha with hiand be ipired by h and learn from him. narrat: willia began to aract comssions om otherarts of e west, the eastoast, d evenouth ameca. announce this wais one gantic enterprise, inhich theork of eh one of uplays anssentialart, whetr he be ldier or dk-woer,

employ or workn. naator: dung world , williamsorked on gornment pjects. the rgest wathe naval r statn in lonbeach, cifornia. thpost waropulatiogrowth brought severe using shtage, espeally in southern califnia. announce fundinghat eal ttle he unr the su waeven mordifficul an securg the fure. ile waitg for hoes, thousas found possibl to livthe yearound in traer cities. th at let some of the comfts of ho. narratorwilliamsddress the sue withwo books owing afrdable hsing plans r new hoowners. the era also broug williams onof hisost famo projects, thbeverly lls hote eve: pauwilliamsave it the lookhat it inow. built wt we cal e cresce wing,

where says thbeverly lls, tha's acally hisandwriti. qucy: lookt the hol. that's whereverybod want to stay. frominatra t marin monroeplease, thatas the nber one. eve:e also blt our founin cofferoom. cept forhe compurs that wuse now, torite up e peopl' ords. you we to walin 1948 d walk itoday itould almost bexactly e same. it's got th curved unter, it's got thbanana leaf walaper. it's a ti little ace that wld have been a row awaypace until came alg and saidhis is pfect for a unter at coffee op. naator: th iginal cscent wi included several apartment residences which williams designed for various owners. the one that remains is now a suite and named after him. steve: it's amazing how many people are drawn to that paicular rm.

russelrowe, i's his vorite rm because playshe piano jimmy fall loves i cause itooks lik the di van dykset. he jt feels that he's connted to950s wring on tv and itoes lookike that narratorbut duri e time wn willia was desiing thes spes at thhotel, was notelcome as auest the. ren: hwas not lowed totay ther he wasn'even alled to eat by the pl while was working there. if he went meet with people and they said, we're gonna meet out by the pool, he would not sit down before they came beuse he wld not bserved paulyou'veot to remember, the blacworld and the white world were totally sepate. mean totly separe. if you we in the bck world you opped in the black world, you got your hair done, you worked, everything was in the black world. he spent 70% of his time in the white world. narror: in walkg the titrope beeen thestwo worl, williamsould occionally turn t tables d us raci to his vantage.

s: i thi in a pervse way he liked to plaagainst ereotype and enyed surpsing peopleith whate could . ornowing tir expectatns were e thg anhe'do sometng totally fferent. narror: williams recald onof theseechnique in magazinessay oking ba on his care. karen:e often ld the story at if clnts cameo his fi and got the found t he was black, they would start to back up and he would catch them wi a couple questions. one would be, w much dyou plan spending on your home? and if they said $8,000, he'd say, "i'm sorry i make it a practice "not to takeny commissis under 0,000. 'm rry. "'m tobusy. "i d't ink i cado it." enll of a dden they we intereed. ul: theaical taccs? of crse but had to win hearing chance tpresent res and ow my ility. and i kn that nothg so impsses the avere americ than th lusion ofinanciasuccess, espeally if that suess is eountered