The History Of Ciro’s Nightclub On Sunset Boulevard
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 names that frequented Ciros were a whos who of the American entertainment pantheon, starting at the very top with Frank Sinatra and including other A list stars like Anita Ekberg, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner, George Burns, Jack Benny, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford and too many others to mention. They came to drink, to see and be seen among a collection of other Hollywood illuminati, served by leggy cigarette girls in short skirts and heels.
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 had an interesting background–while attending law school at Columbia University he was lured away by the mix of wiseguys and chorus girls at New York’s famed “Silver Slipper”. “The Slipper” was a prohibition era nightspot owned by a group of organized crime luminaries, and Hoover quickly became a valued management asset. He would later work at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club before relocating to the west coast in 1936.
Ciros reopened on December 26, 1942 with longtime Sinatra pal Joe E. Lewis on stage and such stars as Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Joan Crawford and Cary Grant in the audience. Xavier Cugat (whod later marry a Latin dancer named Charo) became a regular headliner at the club, preceding the arrival of Martin, Lewis and Sammy Davis, Jr.
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.
It was the growth of “The Radiant City” in the Nevada desert–Las Vegas–that would eventually seal the fate of Ciro’s and nightclubs like it nationwide. With huge revenues afforded by legal gambling, Nevada casinos were in a position to lure away the best talent for its showrooms. Entertainers liked the fact that they didn’t have to travel, and Las Vegas afforded them a 24/7 playground. By the late 50’s, Ciro’s was forced to close its doors and was sold at a public auction in 1959 for a mere $350,000.
It also represented the end of an era in Los Angeles. Sunset Boulevard remained a vital commercial artery, but the glamorous strip of adult entertainment that became part of American mythology gave way to a tacky mishmash of restaurants, strip clubs, and tattoo parlors intermingled with more upscale businesses. Although another revolution would emerge from Sunset Boulevard”a culinary superstar named Wolfgang Puck, and his restaurant Spago”the world became a little less civilized with the passing of Ciros. The building has been the Comedy Store for the past 26 years, and has started its own crop of stars along the path to fame.
