The information regarding this, so far unconnected,
Hollywood centered branch was found as a result of our search for missing Uncle
Hermann (1861 ~ ???). West Bend's Pete Ciriacks
(1907 ~ 1973), one of the primary sponsors and motivators of our
Family History Project, had clipped a 1927 newspaper
article about a man named Fred Cyriacks having
shot a Hollywood 'movie star' dog back then. Decades later, Ben Ciriacks (1943 ~ ), one of the early researchers
into our Family History, found a Los Angeles County records
reference to Fred's death. Ben had also visited and stood over
the grave sites for Fred and his brother Herman H. in Forest
Lawn cemetery. During that same 1973 USA-wide bus trip, Ben
also found some legal documents related to the dog
shooting and others regarding an "alleged" lemon
sold by Fred's auto dealership around 1920 - both of which are,
apparently, cited as precedent to this day in the State of
California. Later, both Harold
Cyriacks (1922 ~ 1989), a retired Los Angeles police detective, and
his fellow Nebraska branch cousin,
Don Cyriacks (1928 ~ ), discovered more
about this unconnected Hollywood branch.
All we know of this very interesting branch of the family comes from what
few records exist around the Los Angeles area. The relatives come
from the records associated with the
disposition of Fred's estate. His nice house, some pictures of
which will eventually be available, was on Lankershim Boulevard
across from Universal Studios. Although there when I went past
it in 1973, it was subsequently torn down. It was the site where, in 1847, "a
local peace treaty was signed at an adobe on the site of what is today
Lankershim Boulevard and directly across from the entrance to Universal
City Tours and Amusement Park." Subsequent to that, the treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed between Mexico and the United States
ceding California and other states to the United States.
Fred was apparently associated with the
Cyriacks & Co., Bremen
Maƒchinen- und Motoren-Fabrik
Waller-Chausse 46. - - - - Ferniprecher Nr. 4460
all of which came from the letterhead for
same. He apparently made his fortune in automobiles and land by the
1920's but may have lost much of it during the depression. There
had been a rumor that much of his estate was left to the Bank of America,
but that seems coincidental. Fellow Californian Amadeo
Peter Giannini bought the then New York Bank of America to consolidate
into his newly created TransAmerica Corp. holding company in 1928.
That natural progression of his financial genius eventually evolved into
the largest bank in the country - thereby also becoming the most logical
fount for rumors about absconded wealth, ill gotten fortunes, and so
on.
But, we have found the records of the
disposition of Fred's estate and all appears to have been pretty
routine and mundane. The great unaccounted for wealth that was
supposed to have been laying out there for lack of known family members
was a handy myth to help motivate some digging, but like most searches
for 'buried treasure', the search itself was more rewarding than the end
result.
Both Fred and Herman Henry Cyriacks are referenced
at a web
site regarding information published in the Lankershim Laconic and
Lankershim Press between 1911 and 1925. An email exchange garnered
the following additional information:
- Fred's father, Herman Henry died around August 7th, 1925.
- Fred married Audrey CALLOWAY around July 1st, 1929.
- Fred's body was exhumed around January 31st, 1940 in order to look for
evidence of poisoning.
[ According to his death
certificate, Fred began his deathbed sickness on 1/17/40 - exactly
3 years prior to this
webmaster's birth! He'd had heart problems since December of
1935. ]
A contribution on behalf of the Cyriac Family History Project has been
sent to:
San Fernando Valley Genealogical Society
PO Box 3486
Winnetka, CA 19396
It also contained a request for copies of the relevant newspaper articles
when they are found in their as yet unorganized archives. When
received, they will be reproduced here.
April 2001: The newly opened Ellis Island records
web site reflects 10 CYRIACKS surname hits - half
of them for Fred and Hermann. They
are: Name of Passenger Residence Arrived Age on Arrival
----------------- ---------- ------- --------------
Friedrich Cyriacks Bremen, Germany 1909 26 [? 1st trip?]
Herrmann Cyriacks Dayton, OH 1910 32 [? 2nd+ trip; brother?]
Fred Cyriacks Los Angeles, Cal. 1920 35 [? 2nd trip?]
Hermann Cyriacks Bremen, Germany 1922 68 [? Fred's father?]
Fred Cyriacks Los Angelos, Cal 1924 37 [? 3rd trip?]
The 32 year old Herrmann CYRIACKS arriving in 1910
indicated he was from Dayton, Ohio. In other words, that wasn't his
first trip to America but a return. His birth year, 1878, is the
same as Fred's brother, Hermann, and, being 5 years older than Fred, it
may indicate that Hermann came to America, first, stayed in Dayton, Ohio,
and motivated his younger brother Fred to come over for the first time in
1909. Notice that Fred makes himself younger on each trip - a
vanity in line with what else we know of him. That he made those
?presumed? 2nd and 3rd trips gives an idea of his connections to the old
country. We'd have to discover what kind of accommodations he
purchased on those trips to discover whether he displayed his ?presumed?
wealth ostentatiously.
It's likely that he was traveling back and forth
between his own and his father's automobile related businesses. He
may also have eased the way for his father to sell his business and
retire to America. A reference, below, shows that
Fred already had an automobile dealership in America by 1921.
His father probably had a similar one in Bremen long before that.
Fred's reputation in the roaring twenties was that
of a lady's man. It being Hollywood, after all, with the
introduction of the talkies and the budding starlet phenomenon.
And, Fred having both looks and money ... Wellll, you can figure
the rest out. But, some facts are known.
[ There is an unconnected branch of our family
descending from an orphan named Frederick CYRIACKS -
who was born in New York on December 21st, 1909. It's unlikely that
our Fred, here, arriving 25 Nov 1909 on the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm from
Bremen, Germany was the actual father of a child born less than 30 days
later. But, it's a very interesting coincidence that a child born
within a month of this immigration to America receives his exact same
name. 8/12/03: Could this orphan be a child of Fred's older
brother Hermann who, as indicated above, could have been ?returning? to
Dayton, Ohio in 1910?! ]
Family
Newsletter articles - 1977 & 1981
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California. In the tradition of a good detective
story, Don and Ruth have uncovered a wealth of information about the Fred Cyriacks who shot the movie dog, "Peter the
Great", in 1927.
Don stopped to buy a book last winter at a book store in the San
Fernando Valley. When the little old lady in the store had to
order the book for him and saw the Cyriacks name, she
asked if he knew about Fred. She had grown up six blocks from
Fred's mansion and told of its reputation for 'wine, women, and song'
with the emphasis on the former two items. (Click here
to read the various letters regarding "Hollywood" Fred.)
After Fred died in 1940 at age 57, his older brother Herman (1878-1954)
ran or leased the home for a restaurant. Then in 1946, the home
and surrounding cottages were sold to the S. family. The son Haig
S. and his wife Margarite still own the place and were gracious enough to
show their home to Don and Ruth in March and to me in May when I had a
business appointment that turned out to be only several miles away.
The Ss. have done a beautiful job of restoring the home with its
Germanic emphasis on interior woodwork. The large solarium-indoor
garden to the rear of the great hall type living room leads to a fine
"beer hall" in the basement. Some of the insignia originally on
the wall tile in this hall indicated old Fred's support for Adolph's
regime that was later defeated in World War II.
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Many of Fred's papers were in the house when it was sold in 1946.
There are notes about his trip across the United States about 1911 to
California. He apparently started from Dayton, Ohio, where
relatives lived, and sold tires as he traveled. A stop in Denver
is recorded. In addition to his Automobile House and Buick Service
Station in Hollywood about 1918, Fred traveled the world with yearly
trips to Germany. Many of his imports from the orient remained
with the home.
(December 1981 Newsletter.) Don C.
and daughter Julie report the end of an era. In November 1980, they
stopped on Lankershim Boulevard at Whipple Street and found that the Fred Cyriacks' "mansion" had just been torn down to make
way for apartment buildings. All that beautiful woodwork and
Germanic style home design along with many of Fred's records, some dating
to his 1910 arrival in the U.S.A. from Germany, "bit the dust".
Fred's estate after his death in 1940, mainly the $60,500 from the sale
of the house, was split four ways: brothers Herman in California
and Heinz and George and sister Meta in the Bremen area of Germany.
[ Johnny Carson drove by Fred's
Lankershim Blvd mansion
each day on his way to his infamous "Burbank
Studios". ]
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The following is from an article in the New York Times of that era.
Los Angeles, Dec. 9, 1927. "Peter the
Great", one time dog screen star, was valued at $100,000 by a jury in
Superior Court here today.
Judgment for that sum and an additional $25,000 for
damages caused by his death were awarded to the dogs owners, Edward Faust
and Charles Dryer, in a suit against Fred Cyriacks,
wealthy North Hollywood land owner, who shot and killed "Peter the
Great" last year.
The trial lasted for weeks. Scores of witnesses
were heard, including several film directors and producers.
The plaintiffs contended that "Peter" was killed as he sat in the rear
of Fausts' car in front of Cyriacks' house when Cyriacks fired three shots at Faust and the dog.
Cyriacks' story was that Faust and
a companion came to his house in a drunken condition and, fearing
violence, he fired the shots into the pavement and struck the dog.
Cyriacks said he thought the dog
was worth about $250.
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(Click the picture to go to the web site containing the much
larger 'Movie Poster' originals.)
That site is devoted to German Shepherd movie dogs and contains posters
for many of them. In the case of Peter the Great, the site
references the following narrative in the book "Peter"
written by Clara Foglesong in 1946:
On June 6, 1926, Peter, Edward and a couple of friends were driving to a
dinner party. On the way Edward decided to stop by a friends
house. (Fred Cyriacks) A friend who had played with Peter and
whom Peter loved.
Edward went to the door and rung the bell. His friend
answered. Suddenly loud words from Edward and his friend filled the
air. Edwards friend turned, ran into the house and returned with a
rifle. Edward ran to the car and started to drive away.
Suddenly a shot rang out cutting through the back of the car.
Another shot, this one straight in line with Edwards head. Peter
knew that something was wrong and jumped toward Edward. He was
struck in the neck. Peter was rushed to the hospital where for 3
days and 2 nights specialists tried to save him. Peter died with
his paws in the hands of Edward.
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Another New York Times article of November 25th, 1924 (p 26:1), reviews
"The Silent Accuser", (photography by Chs. Dryer), one of Peter the
Great's movies. The dog star's other credits were: ("Peter
the Great" movie dogs site link)
- 1922 - Little Red Riding Hood
- 1924 - The Silent Accuser
- 1925 - Wild Justice
- 1926 - King of the Pack & The Sign of the Claw
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LEGAL: Civ. No. 7654. District Court of Appeal,
First District, Division 1, California. Feb. 28, 1931. [112
Cal. App. pp 279~285 and 297 Pacific Reporter pp. 35~38, an appeal of the
above case, has:
While the plaintiff Faust, accompanied by two companions, named
Richardson and Kempin, were leaving the home of the defendant Cyriacks in an automobile following a quarrel which had
taken place there, Cyriacks fired three shots from a
rifle at the automobile. One of the bullets embedded itself in the
spare tire, another hit Kempin's hat and the other penetrated the rear of
the automobile and struck and killed a dog belonging to plaintiffs,
which, unknown to Cyriacks, was riding on the rear
seat with Kempin. Thereafter plaintiffs brought this action for
damages for the killing of the dog and upon trial in the Superior Court
of Los Angeles County a jury awarded them $100,000 actual and $25,000
punitive damages. The trial court set aside the verdict and granted
a new trial, one of the grounds therefore being that the verdict was excessive.
The dog was of the breed known as German police dog, and
the scene of the shooting was in or near Hollywood, the dog being worked
in the moving picture industry and known as "Peter the
Great". All of the interested parties to this controversy are
connected with the same industry. The circumstances leading up to
the shooting are sharply conflicting, and it would be unnecessary to
inquire into them except that under section 3340 of the Civil Code
exemplary damages may be awarded "for wrongful injuries to animals being
subjects of property, committed willfully or by gross negligence, in
disregard of humanity"; and the jury awarded plaintiffs an extra $25,000
to cover such element. It appears from the evidence that on the
night of the shooting all of the parties had been drinking, and that Cyriacks which arose over the fact that several days
previously Faust had called at Cyriacks' home while
he was away and as he claims insulted his housekeeper.
(Click the picture to go to the web site containing the much
larger 'Movie Poster' originals.)
The shooting took place shortly after dark. Late
that afternoon Richardson and his wife were making a call at Faust's
house and a quarrel took place between Richardson and his wife, because
she persisted in petting Peter the
Great after he had shown a dislike for her by snapping at her; and
Mrs. Richardson left. Thereupon Richardson and Faust started out
to find her in Richardson's automobile, taking Kempin and Peter the
Great along with them in the back seat. After searching the
streets in the immediate vicinity they went to Cyriacks' house, where he was entertaining some friends,
to see if she was there. Faust testified that he went to the door
and inquired for Mrs. Richardson and that after a few words Cyriacks struck at him; that Richardson then came up and
asked for his wife; whereupon Cyriacks sicked his
police dog on Richardson; that Cyriacks then turned
to go into the house for his gun, and that as he did so Faust and
Richardson returned to the automobile and started to drive away; that
they had proceeded about halfway down the driveway when Cyriacks began shooting, with the result already
stated. Faust's testimony was supported generally by the testimony
of Richardson. Cyriacks gave conflicting
accounts of the shooting, but the substance of the testimony he gave in
court was as follows: He stated that Faust appeared at his door and
asked for a drink; that observing that Faust had already been drinking,
he told him that he had had enough; whereupon Faust told Cyriacks to bring out his, Cyriacks', dog and he would throw him in the fish pond;
that he then took Faust by the arm, and as they proceeded toward the fish
pond Cyriacks' dog ran out toward the automobile;
that he called the dog back and Faust struck the dog over the nose; that
Cyriacks then struck Faust and knocked him down; that
Faust then dashed into Cyriacks' house, grabbed a
revolver from a holster hanging near the door and called to Richardson to
bring his gun; that Cyriacks then went into the
house, brought out his rifle and fired down the driveway; that Faust and
Richardson then got in the automobile and drove away. The guests at
Cyriacks' house corroborated his statements. Cyriacks denied knowing that Kempin or Peter the
Great were in the automobile, and there is no testimony in the record
to show that he had any reason to believe they were there.
This case is referenced at Dog Bite Law under
Cost or Market Value of Dog.
Automobile Dealership
Another case, 185 Cal. 70, MOONEY v. CYRIACKS. (L. A.
6041.) (Supreme Court of California. Feb. 14, 1921.) 195 Pacific Reporter
pp 922~929, involves a Fred R. Cyriacks.
Probably one and the same, this earlier incident regards an "alleged"
lemon sold to Ms. Mooney.
Click here to read
more about Fred's automobile dealership.
This case is referenced at another legal references
site.
Another case of December 17, 1934. ETTA M. McCONNELL, an
Incompetent Person, etc., Respondent, v. F. W. HERBERT et al.,
Defendants; F. R. CYRIACKS, Appellant, is no longer
found on the web.
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http://Hollywood.Fred.
.com 
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