It has long been a parish with celebrity members and was the site of funerals for Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, and Robert Urich, among other notables.

[1][2] Before the parish was established, Catholics in the central San Fernando Valley shared a priest with St. Robert Bellarmine (then known as Holy Trinity).

Modern parishes that were carved out of St. Charles Borromeo include Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Sun Valley (1937), St. Francis de Sales in Sherman Oaks (1938), St. Finbar in Burbank (1938) and St. Patrick in North Hollywood (1948).

[1][6] Volunteer singers from Santa Barbara to San Pedro drove to North Hollywood to sing for Salamunovich as part of the St. Charles Choir.

Later that year, they also formed the Disneyland Boys Choir, with which Salamunovich recorded the It's a Small World album of folk songs still sold at Disney theme parks.

[6] Former members of the St. Charles Boys Choir include former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen and former UCLA head football coach Terry Donahue.

The St. Charles Choir has performed on the soundtracks of the motion pictures, Air Force One, My Best Friend's Wedding, First Knight, Waterworld, The Devil's Advocate, xXx, Flatliners, Grand Canyon and True Confessions, on which he also coached Robert De Niro on the sung responses of the Latin Mass.

[9] Among other things, the protesters sought to return the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacle behind the altar and to preserve the private confessionals, the interior's "dark beauty," kneelers, the large, dramatic wooden crucifix and the baldacchino hanging above the cross.

[10] The protests drew widespread media attention, including two feature articles in the Los Angeles Times in April 2002 and June 2003.

His funeral at St. Charles was a small, private affair, followed later by a public memorial attended by numerous celebrities, including President Gerald R. Ford, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, former California governor Pete Wilson, retired Gen. William Westmoreland, Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lee Iacocca, Mickey Rooney, Phyllis Diller, Raquel Welch, Sid Caesar, Kelsey Grammer, Tom Selleck, Ed McMahon, Barbara Eden, Loni Anderson, Shecky Greene, Jack Carter, Connie Stevens, Joey Heatherton, and fellow golfers Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

Celebrities in attendance at the service included Tom Selleck, Tony Danza, Love Boat captain Gavin MacLeod and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce).

[a][8][17] Other celebrities who have been members at St. Charles include Ann Blyth ("Mildred Pierce") actor Eric Estrada (Ponch on TV's CHiPS), Jeopardy!

quizmaster Alex Trebek, Wheel of Fortune announcer Charlie O'Donnell, Frankie Avalon, Bob Gunton (Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption), Los Angeles district attorney Steve Cooley, actresses Angela Cartwright and Veronica Cartwright and KABC news anchors Laura Diaz and Harold Greene.

[8] Also a member was Austrian-American producer and singer Elfi von Dassanowsky, whose memorial service was held at the church on October 9, 2007, with many representatives of the Austrian community in Los Angeles attending.