During its peak in the mid 20th century, it was a legitimate theatre and experimental cinema venue, showing the work of people such as Kenneth Anger, Man Ray, Peter Berg, and Richard Vetere.

[1][2][3] Over the years its stage has hosted such stars as John Houseman, Charles Laughton, Charlton Heston, Buster Keaton, Ethel Waters, James Coburn, George C. Scott, Carol Burnett, Noah Wyle, and Glenn Close.

[4] Frieda and her daughter, Petrie Robie ran the building until 1996 when they sold it to Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker.

In 2008 it was sold to Hersel Saeidy [5] and rented to Mark Flanagan, the owner of Los Angeles's Club Largo.

[7] On July 6, 2020, the late night talk show Conan began filming from the Coronet Theatre with limited on-site staff and no audience, as part of a transition from at-home production necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic (and marking the first U.S. late-night show to transition from at-home episodes); the show's usual set at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank had already been dismantled.