The McCormacks made many friends in Hollywood, among them Will Rogers, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, C. E. Toberman and the Dohenys.
Founded in 1903 in the name of two-term Mayor James R. Toberman, Toberman house is the oldest charity in the city of Los Angeles, and the oldest United Methodist mission project in the Western U.S. It was originally located in Echo Park, but moved to Boyle Heights in 1917, then San Pedro in 1937.
The primary location for "Sleeping Dogs" was C.E. Toberman Estate, a large Mediterranean-style, 22-room house built at the top of Camino Palmero in 1928 by C. E. Toberman.