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Celebrity Streets of Rancho Mirage

The desert has attracted Hollywood celebrities since the time before talking motion pictures. Today, some of Rancho Mirage’s main thoroughfares and streets prestigiously bear some famous names.

Bob Hope Drive – The popular funnyman never actually lived in Rancho Mirage. The main north/south thoroughfare in Rancho Mirage was named for Hope after he and his wife Dolores donated land for the building of Eisenhower Medical Center’s campus. Bob Hope Drive was formerly known as Rio del Sol Road.

Frank Sinatra Drive – Old Blue Eyes loved Rancho Mirage and made his home at Tamarisk Country Club from the early 1950s to the time shortly before his death in 1998. Sinatra, along with Jack Benny and the Marx Brothers, was one of the leading forces in the formation of Tamarisk Country Club. Frank Sinatra Drive was formerly known as Wonder Palms Road.

Dinah Shore Drive – The singer/actress/ television hostess was an early resident of Mission Hills Country Club. Shore hit it big on television and was the first woman to have her own variety show, “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show,” for more than 10 years. In 1971, the Colgate Company approached her about hosting a golf tournament for lady golfers. Dinah accepted with enthusiasm and took up the game of golf in earnest. The tournament, now known as the Kraft-Nabisco LPGA Championship, is still played at Mission Hills Country Club on the Dinah Shore Course. Dinah Shore Drive was formerly known as 34th Avenue.

George Montgomery Way – Actor George Montgomery, Dinah Shore’s husband and father of their two children, appeared in 87 films, most of them Westerns and action/adventure productions. Besides architecture and furniture crafting, Montgomery was also well-known as a self-taught sculptor. George Montgomery Way is a newer street, at Monterey Marketplace off of Dinah Shore Drive, that leads to the movie theaters.

Ginger Rogers Road – The actress and dance partner of Fred Astaire resided at Thunderbird Country Club. Ginger Rogers won an Academy Award for best actress in the dramatic film “Kitty Foyle” in 1940. She had been a star on Broadway before moving on to Hollywood and returned to the stage in 1965 to replace Carol Channing in “Hello Dolly!” Rogers was no stranger to television and had her own network specials. Ginger Rogers Road was formerly Avenue 35.

Dean Martin Drive – Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor and comedian. Nicknamed the "King of Cool," he was one of the members of the "Rat Pack" and a major star in four areas of show business: concert stage/night clubs, recordings, motion pictures and television. Martin spent a decade as half of the Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin comedy team and then went out on his own as a solo performer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he hosted his own variety show on the NBC network that was wildly popular. Dean Martin Drive was also formerly Avenue 35.

Gerald Ford Drive – Although never elected, Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States, led the country through some turbulent waters, healing the nation and restoring dignity to the presidency. When impeachment of the president became imminent, Richard Nixon resigned. Ford took the oath of office as President of the United States on August 9, 1974. After Jimmy Carter narrowly won the Presidential Election of 1976, the Fords moved to Rancho Mirage and built a house at Thunderbird Country Club. Gerald Ford Drive was formerly known as Avenue 36.

Kaye Ballard Lane – The singer/actress/ comedienne has lived in Rancho Mirage since 1971. Probably best-known for starring on TV’s “The Mothers-In-Law,” opposite Eve Arden, and “The Doris Day Show,” Ballard is a well-known star from Broadway’s “Golden Age” and still treads the boards in 2005’s “Palm Springs Follies.” The Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce selected Kaye Ballard as their Distinguished Citizen of 2004 and the street where she lives was named in her honor in 2003. Kaye Ballard Lane was formerly Mashie Drive.

Andrews Circle – The Andrews Sisters—Patty, Maxine and LaVerne—each had a house constructed on this cul-de-sac off of Tamarisk Lane.

Marx Road – The interior road in Tamarisk Country Club is named in honor of Harpo, Gummo, Zeppo and Groucho Marx, all founding members of Tamarisk. The Marx Brothers, well known for their comic antics in films “The Cocoanuts,” “Duck Soup,” “Horse Feathers” and “A Night At The Opera,” found their refuge at Tamarisk.

Bing Crosby Drive – The crooner spent lots of time in the desert. He lived at Thunderbird for a while, building a two-bedroom house in Thunderbird Heights after his first wife, Dixie Lee, died of cancer. Crosby was also a member of Tamarisk where he hosted the annual Crosby Tournament. Among Bing’s real estate investments in 1954 was a new mobile home development near Thunderbird that he named “Blue Skies” after his famous song. The main thoroughfare in Blue Skies bears his name.

Burns & Allen Road – George Burns and Gracie Allen were one of entertainment’s most successful comedy teams, having conquered vaudeville, films and television. They co-starred with Bing Crosby in “The Big Broadcast of 1932,” “College Humor” (1933) and “We’re Not Dressing” (1934). George Burns was one of Tamarisk Country Club’s founding members in 1952. Burns and Allen had a wildly successful television program from 1950 until Gracie’s retirement from show business in 1958. (Allen died in 1964.) Burns, ever with cigar in hand, lived to see his 100th birthday.

Jack Benny Road – Also a founding member of Tamarisk Country Club, “Forever 39-year-old” Jack Benny had a very successful radio program starring his wife, Mary Livingstone, and bandleader, Phil Harris. Jack Benny’s radio program was often broadcast from the Plaza Theater in Palm Springs.

Barbara Stanwyck Road – Bing Crosby starred in the 1947 movie, “Variety Girl,” with Stanwyck and golfing buddy Bob Hope.

Greer Garson Road – The Academy Award-winning English actress, best known for the 1942 film, “Mrs. Miniver,” was a friend of Bing Crosby’s.

Claudette Colbert Road – Colbert was an Academy Award-winning actress and dear friend of Bing Crosby’s. He was her vocal coach when she landed the lead in the movie “The Torch Singer” in 1936.

Danny Kaye Road – Bing’s co-star in the classic holiday film “White Christmas.” An accomplished singer, actor and dancer in his own right, Danny Kaye was also a founding member of Tamarisk Country Club and owned a lot on the 15th fairway, though he never built a house there.

Halper Lake Drive (Tamarisk Country Club) – Named for Louis Halper, a pioneer in the Savings and Loan industry and one of the 65 founders of Tamarisk.

Clancy Lane – Les and Helen Clancy came to the desert from Santa Monica in 1932 and built an adobe house made with mud from the Whitewater River wash and then dried in the sun. They set the pace for other "gentlemen farmers" by planting grapefruit, dates and grapes on their 10-acre parcel and adopting a Spartan lifestyle devoid of electricity, telephones and air conditioning. The first luxury the Clancys added to their Rancho Mirage estate was a huge, above-ground swimming pool that soon became a community attraction, drawing the likes of Jean Harlow and other notables to the cooling waters.

Via Florencio – The cross street closest to Las Casuelas Nuevas Restaurant on Highway 111 is named for Florencio “Del” Delgado, founder of Las Casuelas Restaurants. He and his wife Mary opened the Original Las Casuelas in Palm Springs on North Palm Canyon in 1958 and expanded to a second Palm Springs location, and soon to Rancho Mirage and other valley cities.

Von Dehn Road – Developer Hyatt R. von Dehn built a hotel near Los Angeles Airport in 1953 and called it “The Hyatt House.” The story goes that in 1957 businessman Jay Pritzker was in the hotel coffee shop waiting for a flight. Pritzker learned that the hotel was for sale, scribbled his successful $2.2 million bid on a napkin and the Hyatt Hotel Corporation was born. Hyatt von Dehn had a house in Thunderbird Cove and built a home on von Dehn Road. The von Dehn street sign is kept as it was, with the original lettering and colors intact.

Peterson Road – Named for Samuel Peterson, who homesteaded 10 acres into a date ranch on Peterson Road, north of Highway 111. The main ranch house, built in 1930, still stands.

DaVall Drive – In 1912, Everett DaVall purchased a half-section of land from the railroad in what is now Rancho Mirage for $7.50 per acre, took 250 date seeds of unknown varieties from the government and put them in the ground. Of the 250 seeds and innumerable varieties they produced at his Wonder Palms Date Ranch, Everett sampled and culled the dates until he settled on just three types that he liked – “Honey,” named for its texture and taste; “Empress,” named for its many outstanding qualities; and “TR,” for “Third Row.” Everett and his brothers sold the last of their original property in 1972. To this day, the DaValls are the only producers of Everett’s three favorite date varieties.

Fincher Way – This street, inside Morningside Country Club, was named for Rancho Mirage builder John Fincher. It was his construction company that built most of the homes in the Springs Country Club, Sunrise Country Club and Morningside Country Club.

John L. Sinn Road – The street leading to Eisenhower Medical Center was named for philanthropist and Board of Director John L. Sinn. Sinn was the CEO of Ziv Television, a syndication company that sold non-network television programs to local TV stations.

DESERVING OF THE HONOR
Not all of those who left their mark on Rancho Mirage had streets named in their honor. In keeping with the traditions on the names above, a case could be made for the following names adorning city streets.

Frank Morgan
The character film actor Frank Morgan was one of the earliest celebrities to call Rancho Mirage home. Generations of children everywhere hold a fondness for Morgan for his role as the Wizard in the 1939 classic “Wizard of Oz.” Morgan had a ranch on Sahara Drive near Magnesia Falls and could be seen riding his horse from ranch to ranch when he wasn’t making movies.

Phil Harris and Alice Faye
Those old enough to have experienced the golden age of radio remember Phil Harris as Jack Benny’s bandleader. Harris was married to the actress Alice Faye, a leading musical film star of the 1930s and early 1940s who introduced her signature song, “You’ll Never Know,” in the 1943 film, “Hello Frisco Hello.”

Baby Boomers and children everywhere probably know Phil Harris best as the loveable and philosophical swinger Baloo the Bear from Disney’s animated feature “The Jungle Book.” Harris also voiced characters in Disney’s animated features “The Aristocats” and “Robin Hood.”

Harris and Faye were tireless promoters of the good life in Rancho Mirage. Harris had the title of Honorary Mayor bestowed upon him by the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce several times before the city’s incorporation in 1973. In 1966, the Chamber named both Harris and Alice Faye as Honorary Mayor & Mayoress.


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