Ciro’s Nightclub: An Icon Of Entertainment History
Today, the Comedy Story sits on the same spot and has for over twenty years. In it’s earlier incarnation it was Ciro’s, and it was for a time the center of the entertainment universe.
From the early 1940′s until it closed on the eve of the 1960′s, Ciro’s launched countless entertainment icons along the path to superstardom. It was one of the first major venues to host Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin before they took over the comedy world in 1950. A year later, an unheralded opening act called the Will Mastin Trio stole the show from the headliner. This was due in large part to a young entertainer that would before long outgrow his membership in the group–arguably the most talented entertainer in show biz history, Sammy Davis, Jr. After the car accident that cost Sammy his right eye, it was the site of his return to live performing. Countless other top entertainers performed there, from Sinatra sidekick comic Joe E. Louis to Nat King Cole.
The regulars at Ciro’s comprised a mind boggling array of the greatest entertainers in history–Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Judy Garland and countless others. It became the clubhouse for the Hollywood elite to drink, mingle and network.
During a more civilized time, a network of top nightclubs hosted entertainment, drinking, dining and other hijinx in the major cities of the US. Ciro’s was among this elite group of nightspots dating back to the early 1940′s when the icons of that era including Bogart, Jimmy Cagney, Lauren Bacall and George Raft would frequent the place. It started to ‘cool off’ and by 1942 was forced to close its doors for a time. It didn’t stay closed for long, as Herman Hoover implemented his plan to re-open and revitalize the nightspot.
Hoover, who had a background in running a nightclub”he was lured away from Columbia Universitys Law School by the potent mix of wiseguys and chorus girls at New Yorks Silver Slipper, which was a prohibition era joint owned by Arnold Rothstein and Charles Lucky Luciano among others. Hoover became a fixture at the club, along with Harlems Cotton Club before moving to Los Angeles in 1936.
Ciro’s reopened on the day after Christmas, 1942. The headliner that night was Sinatra crony Joe E. Lewis and the crowd included the aforementioned “Chairman of the Board” along with Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and Cary Grant. Xavier Cugat was next to headline (he’d later to on to marry 1970′s gameshow fixture “Charo”) and became a regular.
Hoover had hosted Dean Martins wedding in 1949 to second wife Jeanne, and Martin and Lewis debuted at Ciros in 1950. They remained loyal to Hoover and his club, and even when they were pulling down an astounding (for the 1950s) $100,000 a week to perform they insisted on holding their fee at Ciros to what they were originally paid–$7,000 a week. Sammy Davis, Jr. got his start at Ciro’s and returned to the stage after his mid 1950′s car accident in what may have been the biggest event ever at the club. Following an introduction by Frank Sinatra, Davis put on a scorching performance before an adoring and emotional crowd of the biggest stars on the planet.
Ironically, the growth of the desert gambling oasis to the east would eventually spell the end for Ciro’s and the nightclub circuit nationwide. Las Vegas simply had the money, connections and amenities to lure away the best talent to play in its showrooms. Headliners didn’t have to travel to earn a tidy sum as casino headliners, and they were able to live the showbiz life 24 hours a day in “Paris in the Desert.” Eventually Ciro’s closed its doors in 1957 and was sold at a public auction two years later.
It was also the end of an era for the city of Los Angeles. It remained a vital thoroughfare in the city, but the glamorous array of nightclubs, bars and restaurants gave way to a tacky mishmash of strip clubs, tattoo parlors and fast food restaurants. Although the street would experience yet other revolution in the 1980′s, when Wolfgang Puck’s Spago put Los Angeles at the center of the culinary universe it was never the same after the passing of Ciro’s. It’s tradition of launching young talent on the path to superstardom continues to this day, however–the Comedy Store has operated on the same site for nearly 30 years now. If you name any major comedy star, chances are they got their start at the club or at the very least performed there when they were ‘nobody’.
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