Charles Starrett Bldg. on the Sony Lot

Many of the buildings on the historic Columbia Studios lot (now owned by Sony Entertainment) are named after actors, directors and other illuminaries of the storied Columbia history.

There is no Charles Starrett Building!

Let’s do some math. According to IMDB, Columbia Pictures has made 2,947 films in its 93 year history.

Charles Starrett was the star of 134 of those films. That’s 4.5 percent!

Let’s compare this number with some of the people who do have buildings named after them.

Harry Cohn was the head of the studio for over 30 years. He deserves The Harry Cohn Building.

But what about the Capra Building? Frank Capra made 29 films for Columbia. That’s a mere 0.9 percent.

The Cary Grant Theater? 12 films! 0.4 percent!

And the hallowed halls of the Thalberg Building, where the modern lions of the industry stroll in the shadow of the late great Irving Thalberg? Thalberg ran MGM (which once had its home here.) He never made a single film for Columbia. That zero percent!

Tear off the plaques. Take a sandblaster to the inscription over the door. Call the printers to start reprinting maps of the lot.

Sony Lot needs a Charles Starrett Building. The man is responsible for nearly 5 percent of the entire Columbia catalog.

It’s a no-brainer. Just do the math.

— image courtesy of xurble’s flickr photostream