Cream soundstage exterior on a sunny studio lot street with palm trees and distant water tower.

Where Was My Fair Lady Filmed?

The 1964 musical recreated London entirely on Warner Bros. soundstages in Burbank. Here is where to see it today.

Check availabilitySee every location

The Short Answer

My Fair Lady was filmed entirely at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Though the story is set in London, no footage was shot in the UK. Principal photography ran from August 13 to December 18, 1963, across six soundstages and the backlot, including Stage 16, which hosted the Ascot and ballroom scenes.

George Cukor's 1964 adaptation of the Broadway hit looks convincingly English, from the flower stalls of Covent Garden to the black-and-white pageantry of the Ascot racecourse. None of it is real. Every frame was shot on soundstages and the backlot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, roughly a continent and an ocean away from London.

The production was enormous for its era. With a budget of $17 million, it ranked as the most expensive Warner Bros. production up to that time. The art department scouted London but concluded that a full studio recreation gave the control the filmmakers wanted, and the results won the film its Academy Award for Best Picture.

Every Location At A Glance

LocationWhereWhat was filmedAccess
Stage 16, Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankAscot horse race and Embassy Ballroom scenesTicketed
Stage 11, Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankVarious interior scenesTicketed
Backlot / Hennessy Street (Tenement Street), Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankWith a Little Bit of Luck street scenesTicketed
Stage 8, Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankVarious scenesTicketed
Stage 26, Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankVarious scenesTicketed
Stage 4, Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankVarious scenesTicketed
Stage 7, Warner Brothers Burbank StudiosBurbankHiggins house interiors, Wimpole Street exterior, Covent GardenTicketed
Warner Bros. Studios Burbank overall lotBurbankAll principal photography including Covent Garden market set and Higgins residenceTicketed

Filming Locations Map

8 locations. The map loads when it scrolls into view.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Location By Location

Stage 16, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 01

Stage 16, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: Ascot horse race and Embassy Ballroom scenes

One of the largest soundstages in the world at the time, complete with a 2-million-gallon tank, Stage 16 held two of the film's most famous sequences: the Embassy Ballroom and the Ascot horse race. For the race, real horses galloped through the soundstage set with doors opened on two sides to build speed. Individual stages are not separately accessible, but the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood includes soundstages and backlot areas when production schedules allow.

Stage 11, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 02

Stage 11, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: Various interior scenes

Stage 11 housed a variety of interior scenes during the 1963 shoot. Like the other stages used on the production, it sits on an active Warner Bros. lot, so access depends on what is shooting when you visit. The standard studio tour passes working soundstages and offers a sense of the scale of spaces like this one, which once held Cecil Beaton's elaborate sets.

Backlot / Hennessy Street (Tenement Street), Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 03

Backlot / Hennessy Street (Tenement Street), Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: With a Little Bit of Luck street scenes

The backlot's Hennessy Street, also called Tenement Street, stood in for the working-class London neighborhood where Alfred P. Doolittle sings With a Little Bit of Luck. It remains one of the most recognizable exterior sets on the lot and appears regularly on studio tours. Because the backlot is an active production area, sets may be dressed or altered for current projects, so the street can look quite different from film to film.

Stage 8, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 04

Stage 8, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: Various scenes

Stage 8 supported various scenes across the production's six-stage footprint. Visitors today see the stage from the outside or, when nothing is shooting, occasionally from within as part of the tour's soundstage portion. The Warner Bros. tour route changes with the production calendar, which adds an element of unpredictability but also means no two visits are quite alike.

Stage 26, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 05

Stage 26, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: Various scenes

Another of the six stages that carried principal photography between August and December 1963, Stage 26 handled various scenes alongside its neighbors. It is included within the general studio tour experience rather than offered as a standalone stop, and guides typically point out stages with notable film histories as the tram or walking route passes them.

Stage 4, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 06

Stage 4, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: Various scenes

Stage 4 rounded out the roster of soundstages used for the production's interiors. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood lists multiple stages, including Stage 4, among its possible stops, subject to the production schedule. Film fans often find that seeing the raw, cavernous interiors of working stages explains how a single California lot could pass for Edwardian London.

Stage 7, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, Burbank
Location 07

Stage 7, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: Higgins house interiors, Wimpole Street exterior, Covent Garden

Stage 7 carried some of the film's defining spaces: the Higgins house interiors, the Wimpole Street exterior, and the Covent Garden market set where Eliza Doolittle sells her flowers. That makes it arguably the most significant stage on this list for fans. It forms part of the broader studio tour, and while the original 1963 sets are long gone, standing inside the space gives a real sense of where movie history happened.

Warner Bros. Studios Burbank overall lot, Burbank
Location 08

Warner Bros. Studios Burbank overall lot

California, Burbank Ticketed

Filmed here: All principal photography including Covent Garden market set and Higgins residence

All principal photography, including the Covent Garden market set and the Higgins residence, took place somewhere on this lot in Burbank. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood runs roughly 3 hours and covers backlots and soundstages, subject to production activity. Beyond My Fair Lady, the lot's history spans decades of Warner filmmaking, so even casual visitors tend to find plenty beyond a single title.

Where It Is Set Versus Where It Was Filmed

The story is set in early 20th-century London, moving between Covent Garden, Wimpole Street, and the Ascot racecourse. The filming reality was very different: the entire picture was shot at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank in California. The art department did scout London in preparation, but the decision was made to recreate the city entirely on soundstages and the backlot rather than shoot a single frame in the UK.

The Studio Side

Warner Bros. Studios Burbank is a working production facility in California and the sole filming location for My Fair Lady. It is visitable through the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, a ticketed experience that runs about 3 hours and includes backlot areas and soundstages when production schedules permit. Six main stages plus the backlot hosted the shoot between August 13 and December 18, 1963.

Tours That Visit These Locations

No dedicated My Fair Lady tour exists, but the general Warner Bros. studio tour covers the stages and backlot streets where the film was made. Two booking options offer essentially the same on-the-ground experience.

High-Volume Studio Tour Option

Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood

Rated 4.6 from 8,721 reviews, this option includes multiple soundstages among them Stage 4, 7, 11 and 16, the very stages used for the film.

4.6 out of 5 · 8,721 reviewsLos Angeles

PriceLive on listingCheck availability

Standard Warner Bros. Tour Booking

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood

Rated 4.6 across 5,668 reviews, this ticket covers the same lot, with the backlot's Hennessy Street a regular feature of the route.

4.6 out of 5 · 5,668 reviewsLos Angeles

PriceLive on listingCheck availability

Frequently Asked Questions

Was any of My Fair Lady filmed in London?

No. Despite the London setting, no footage was shot in the UK. The art director scouted London, but the production chose to recreate the city entirely at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

Can you visit the soundstages where the film was shot?

Yes, with caveats. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood includes soundstages and backlot areas, but specific stages are not individually accessible, and access depends on what is in production during your visit.

Which stage hosted the Ascot and ballroom scenes?

Stage 16. It was one of the largest soundstages in the world at the time and included a 2-million-gallon tank. Real horses raced through the Ascot set with doors opened on two sides for speed.

How long is the Warner Bros. Studio Tour?

The tour runs approximately 3 hours and includes backlots and soundstage visits, subject to the production schedule on the day.

Is the Covent Garden set still standing?

No. The Covent Garden market set and the Higgins house interiors were built on Stage 7 for the 1963 shoot and have long since been struck, but the stage itself remains part of the working lot.

Where were the With a Little Bit of Luck scenes filmed?

On the backlot's Hennessy Street, also known as Tenement Street, which stood in for Alfred Doolittle's working-class London neighborhood. The street is featured on studio tours, though its dressing changes with active productions.

My Fair Lady offers an unusually tidy location story: one studio, one city, zero London. For travelers, that means a single visit to Burbank covers everything, and the Warner Bros. studio tour remains the only practical way to stand where Henry Higgins, Eliza, and a stampede of racehorses made cinematic history.

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