In 1960, developer Barry Taper named various streets in this neighborhood for friends, loved ones, and himself (see Barrywood Avenue). Bolker Place honors real estate developer Joseph Robert Bolker (1924-1986), who married Taper’s sister Janice (1931-) in 1951. The couple, who had four daughters, split in 1967. Janice went on to wed Bulgarian composer Henri Lazarof and the two became major art collectors. Joe’s next wife was the doomed Greek heiress Christina Onassis (1950-1988). So yes, he was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s stepson-in-law – but only for a year: the marriage went belly-up in 1972. His third union, with Victoria Leonova, was a success. Joe Bolker is better remembered as a pioneer in low-cost housing and a philanthropist who raised millions for LACMA and the Music Center.
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