Ciro's
Ciro's neon sign, 1955 | |
Location |
8433 Sunset Boulevard West Hollywood, California United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°05′42″N 118°22′26″W / 34.094990°N 118.373806°WCoordinates: 34°05′42″N 118°22′26″W / 34.094990°N 118.373806°W |
Type | Nightclub |
Opened | 1940 |
Closed | 1957; transformed into rock & roll club in early 1960s called It's Boss; became The Comedy Store in 1972 |
Ciro's (later known as Ciro's Le Disc) was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip, opened in January 1940 by entrepreneur William Wilkerson.[1] Herman Hover took over management of Ciro's in 1942 until it closed its doors in 1957. Hover filed for bankruptcy in 1959, and Ciro's was sold at public auction for $350,000.
Ciro's combined a luxe baroque interior and an unadorned exterior and became a famous hangout for movie people of the 1940s and 1950s. It was one of "the" places to be seen and guaranteed being written about in the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper, Louella Parsons and Florabel Muir.
Among the galaxy of celebrities who frequented Ciro's were Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Sidney Poitier, Anita Ekberg, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Joan Crawford, Betty Grable, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Dean Martin, Mickey Rooney, Cary Grant, George Raft, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Dick Powell, Mamie Van Doren, Jimmy Stewart, Jack Benny, Peter Lawford, and Lana Turner (who often said Ciro's was her favorite nightspot) among many others. During his first visit to Hollywood in the late 1940s, future President John F. Kennedy dined at Ciro's.
In the late 1960s, Ciro's became a Sunset Strip rock and roll club which was called "It's Boss." The Byrds got their start there in 1964. Accounts of the period (reproduced in the sleeve notes to The Preflyte Sessions box set) describe a "church-like" atmosphere, with interpretive dancing. The club also served as the host during the recording of the 1965 Dick Dale album "Rock Out With Dick Dale: Live At Ciro's"
Co-founder Wilkerson also opened Cafe Trocadero, in 1934, and the restaurant La Rue, both on the Strip, and later originated The Flamingo in Las Vegas, only to have control of the resort wrested from his control by mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.
The site of Ciro's became The Comedy Store in 1972.[1]
Notable performers
- The Andrews Sisters
- Ray Anthony
- Desi Arnaz
- Pearl Bailey
- Louie Bellson
- The Byrds
- Eddie LeBaron
- George Burns
- Cab Calloway
- Carmen Cavallaro
- Checkmates, Ltd.
- Nat King Cole
- Dick Contino
- Xavier Cugat
- Dick Dale and the Del-Tones
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Carmen de Lavallade
- The Doors
- Katherine Dunham
- Jimmy Durante
- Bob Dylan
- Barbara Eden
- Duke Ellington
- Eddie Fisher
- Benny Goodman
- Judy Garland
- Mitzi Green
- Merv Griffin
- Phil Harris
- Hildegarde
- Geoffrey Holder
- Joni James
- Herb Jeffries
- Al Jolson
- Spike Jones
- Lisa Kirk
- Abbe Lane
- Gypsy Rose Lee
- Peggy Lee
- Joe E. Lewis
- Liberace
- Martin and Lewis
- Don Loper
- The Lovin' Spoonful
- Rose Marie
- Freddy Martin
- Tony Martin and Cyd Charisse
- Al Martino
- Carmen Miranda
- Janis Paige
- Dorothy Provine
- Tito Puente
- Carlos Ramírez
- Johnnie Ray
- Harry Richman
- Lili St. Cyr
- Olga San Juan
- Hazel Scott
- Roberta Sherwood
- Frank Sinatra
- Sonny & Cher
- Kay Thompson and The Williams Brothers
- Charles Trenet
- Sarah Vaughan
- Dinah Washington
- Mae West
References
- 1 2 Lord, Rosemary (2003). Hollywood Then and Now. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-1592231041.