Alameda’s former homes of Hanks, Morrison, Diller just a search away
Tom Hanks: Despite no one asking for it, a tour of arguably Alameda’s biggest trio of bonafide celebs starts with its numero uno, Tom Hanks.
The star of such blockbuster flicks as “Toy Story,” “Forrest Gump” and “Saving Private Ryan” lived from 1973 to 1976 as a teenager on a “floating home” (not a houseboat that has a rudder and steering wheel) at Alameda’s Barnhill Marina & Boatyard, just east of the Posey Tube.
Hanks has acknowledged on Instagram that he did indeed live on floating home number C1 when it went up for sale a few years ago. C1 is directly across from the Bay Trail that runs alongside the marina in the Oakland Estuary. During his time there, Hanks lived with father Amos, an artist and culinary instructor at various colleges, and his father’s second wife (who was not Tom Hanks’ mother).
Founded in 1966 by A.V. “Barney” Barnhill, the marina has always had a bohemian flair to it and, with its cheap-to-own floating homes, has attracted its fair share of artists and nonconformists over the years. Amos Hanks and his wife were famous for holding dinner parties at which others in the tight-knit community would come around to their berth to eat.
Young Tom liked to see classic movies such as “The Maltese Falcon” at the Alameda Theater during this period. He did not go to high school in Alameda, opting for Skyline High in Oakland, and also took acting classes at Chabot College in Hayward. Despite his fame, today Hanks’ legacy at Barnhill is lost on some.
“I like Tom Hanks, but it’s no big deal,” says Eric Southmayd, who lives aboard a houseboat at the marina. “I never talk to my neighbors about it. Is he dead?”
Hanks is still very much alive. Alamedan Dave Spragg, who regularly walks past C1 on his treks of up to 10 miles a day through the Island, had no idea he was strolling past the star’s former home.
“Cool. I wonder what it was like back then?” asks Spragg, who says he likes Barnhill’s funky charm. “It’s as nice as Sausalito, but it isn’t as crowded.
Jim Morrison: The Victorian behemoth built in 1887 that Doors front man Jim Morrison lived in from 1957 to 1959 for his freshman year and part of his sophomore year at Alameda High School gleams today under current owner Jacque Devore, who bought the home 20 years ago.
The Morrison family moved to Alameda when its father, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. George Stephen Morrison, was stationed at the former Naval Air Station Alameda.
While not as popular as the Paris gravesite of the rock star who died tragically there at age 27 in 1971, Devore says people regularly stop by the home at 1717 Alameda Ave. to ask about Morrison and that she’s more than happy to oblige. She says Morrison’s room was the one under the roof’s turret dome.
Devore has become good friends with Morrison’s cousin, Elaine Edwards, who once stopped by. Both are in the merchant banking business and stay in touch. She was also interviewed for a recent documentary on the Doors.
“People like you stop by and ask questions. It’s not overwhelming; it’s fun,” says Devore, who rents out one of the home’s 10 bedrooms on Airbnb.
An artifact that she keeps handy and likes to share with visitors is a framed picture of Morrison with his younger brother and sister, Andrew and Anne, in front of the house from their time there.
“I loved the Doors,” says Devore.
Phyllis Diller: Phyllis Diller’s time in Alameda is important because it’s where she was “discovered” by her local Parent-Teacher Association. Diller would put her fellow PTA moms in stitches with tales about her five kids. They encouraged her to take her act on the road and, starting in San Francisco at night clubs like the Hungry I, she became a comedy icon.
The comedienne first lived in the upstairs unit of a San Jose Avenue house and in the Encinal public housing project off of Alameda’s Webster Street, but thanks to an inheritance was able to purchase a duplex in 1949 for $17,500 at 1842 and 1844 Fremont Drive on the Island’s East End. She owned both units but lived in the one at 1844.
Diller drew inspiration from the home and portrayed it as a dilapidated “shack” in her act, endearing her to audiences. Diller moved to Missouri in 1962 and to Los Angeles in 1965, when she bought her pride and joy, a 22-room mansion in the city’s Brentwood enclave. She died in 2012 at age 95.
Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at pkilduff350@gmail.com.