ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601080014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
Leon Schwab, who helped make his family's fabled drugstore on Sunset Boulevard a haven for movie stars and the preferred site of an apocryphal anecdote about the discovery of actress Lana Turner, has died. He was 88.
Schwab, who often phoned Hollywood executives to tout would-be actors, died Thursday at Harbor South Medical Center following surgery for a broken hip.
Born May 5, 1907, Schwab moved to Los Angeles with his family. To support her four sons and two daughters, the widowed Lena Schwab started a pharmacy in the early 1920s. Her six children, including Leon, worked at Schwab's, which eventually expanded to seven stores in the Hollywood and Beverly Hills area.
A copy of the legendary lunch counter at 8024 Sunset Blvd. recently has been seen on both coasts as a set in the musical ``Sunset Boulevard.'' The original Sunset Schwab's closed in 1983 after more than 50 years.
Many future stars got their break by frequenting the drug store, thanks to Schwab.
Schwab joined his brothers and sisters in the family business after earning his pharmaceutical degree from the University of Southern California. After brother Jack's death, he concentrated on the Sunset store.
Realizing it was nestled among studios - Republic, RKO, Columbia - he catered to the show business community. ``We started charge accounts,'' he said in 1983, ``and cashing checks.''
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB