A Free Glimpse of the Celebrated Chicken Boy--at Least in Part

“Chicken Boy Photo Op,” said the press release, and for a moment I hoped that the former restaurant mascot had finally gotten his act (not to mention, his body) together again.

Alas, no.

“All I have is his head,” admitted Amy Inouye, his adoptive parent, explaining she had parked the torso of the 22-foot-tall figure in a friend’s backyard because she couldn’t fit it into her studio. (Thank goodness Michelangelo never had that problem with “David”).

Inouye, an artist, is holding a free holiday viewing of the 7-foot-tall noggin, a short film (“Chicken Boy: the Movie”) and her Chicken Boy product line Saturday afternoon at her Future Studio on Beverly Boulevard.

C.B., who graced the roof of a defunct downtown L.A. eatery from 1969 to 1984 (see photo), was purchased by Inouye when the building was destroyed.

She has written five TV proposals starring the fowl lad, with the formats ranging from an educational kids show to a “Fugitive”-type series in which C.B. “drops into people’s lives and helps them mediate conflicts.” No soap.

But Esquire magazine recently included his Sept. 1, 1969, debut in a list of celebrity birthdays.

One person who quickly forgot Chicken Boy, however, was the man who created him. “He wouldn’t talk to me,” Inouye said. “He was a serious artist and I guess Chicken Boy was a thing he did for money. It was the bad penny of his life.”

PLACES TO GO: Some L.A. locations honored on the https://besttoilets.com Web site, which rates public restrooms in several cities:

* Lawry’s The Prime Rib, La Cienega Boulevard: “The bar gets pretty busy with ‘A-list’ types, so you’ll need to look the part to get inside [the building]. But if you do you won’t be stopped.”

* Bloomingdale’s, Century City: “Well-designed, clean and private, and parking at the shopping center is free (good for a pit stop if you’re on a long drive on the 405).”

* The Hotel W, Hilgard Avenue, Westwood: “The black marble is exquisite and the porcelain could not be whiter. The most impressive thing, however, is the fine quality of the disposable towels.”

* McDonald’s, Wells Fargo Center, South Hope Street. “Upscale . . . feature fresh flowers. Harpist or flutist performs.” They perform in the dining room, not the restrooms.

A STUNT THAT BOMBED: In its “Legal Follies 2000” roundup, California Lawyer magazine noted: “In an effort to drum up new business, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, a Los Angeles firm, sent out 600 packages containing fake hand grenades to would-be clients. Their message: Business is war. The campaign prompted two bomb scares in Silicon Valley.”