John gabriel beckman biography of william hill

Born in Astoria, Oregon where his father practiced medicine, Mr. Beckman was raised in San Francisco until his parents sent him to Russia at the age of twelve to study.

Of Russian descent, he sometimes claimed to be related to the last czar and czarina, Nicholas and Alexandra, whom he met while living there. He was forced to return to the United States in 1912 when his mother became ill. His father had booked him passage out of England on the Titanic, but at the urging of friends who told him the new luxury liner was unsafe, Mr.

Beckman switched to its sister ship, the Olympic. He briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley (he later told an interviewer that he was expelled for "asking too many embarrassing questions"), and then worked for a Sacramento architect before moving to Los Angeles in 1920.

For the architectural firm Meyer & Holler he created color schemes, furnishings, wall hangings, and murals, including decorations for Grauman's