Come enjoy an evening at Ciro’s on the Sunset Strip! “The most attractive nightclub Hollywood has ever known” opened its doors at 8433 Sunset Boulevard in 1940, six years after its first short-lived iteration at the Christie Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.
Originally a celebrity-only hotspot, Ciro’s had a starring role in the Hollywood PR machine: “If a gal like Lana Turner or Betty Grable or Dorothy Lamour acquires a new romantic affiliation, she shows him off at Ciro’s,” reported Hubbard Kealy, Los Angeles Bureau Chief of the Associated Press, in 1941. “Everybody stares at everybody at Ciro’s. The hawk-like glances at the new arrivals would embarrass ordinary people. But if you go to see, you must expect to be seen.”
Ordinary people who couldn’t get into the exclusive club waited outside, hoping to score an autograph from their favorite stars. One night, singer-actress Alice Faye spotted a pretty brunette in the crowd and helped her get into Ciro’s—albeit working as a cigarette girl.
In 1942, new owner H. D. Hover (Earl Carroll Theatre co-founder) opened Ciro’s doors to the public and introduced an array of entertainment: comedy shows, fortune tellers, burlesque dancers, and musical acts.
Mickey Rooney was in the audience on Oct. 19, 1951 when police interrupted stripper Lili St. Cyr’s bubblebath routine. Charged with indecent exposure, she hired powerhouse attorney Jerry Giesler, who got the blonde acquitted—but not before the jury inspected her titillating stage “costume.”
Ciro’s glamorous interior also evolved over the years: Originally done in chartreuse and old rose silks, a 1943 fire forced a total remodel. In 1948, a second story was added for a private cocktail room: Ciro-ette.
By 1957, the bright lights of Ciro’s dimmed as the Strip trended toward “Beat Generation joints.” Hover filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and in a bid to boost the club’s finances, he turned it into a members-only establishment in December 1958. For a $9 quarterly fee (plus $36 initiation), members had exclusive access to six banquet rooms, a bridge room, barber shop, steam room, and television room “with a set at your table if you wish.”
According to an ad in the Los Angeles Times, members already included Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Nat King Cole, Walt Disney, Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante, and Vincente Minnelli.
Hover’s new Ciro’s venture was ultimately the beginning of the end. Months later, he was hit with a $154,000 tax bill and in November 1959 the Sunset Strip landmark was sold at auction for $352,000. That New Year’s Eve, Ciro’s reopened yet again, this time under the ownership of Frank Sennes—who had taken over the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in 1953 and renamed it Moulin Rouge.
Throughout the 1960s, the club went through endless incarnations in the 1960s: Ciro’s Le Disc, Ciro’s Jr., Bed-Room (“Hollywood’s most intimate lounge”), Le Crazy Horse, The Kaleidoscope, It’s Boss (for teens), and Spectrum 2000.
In 1972, The Comedy Store took over the club—but two years later it was restored to 1940s-era Ciro’s for one night only: Liza Minnelli and Jack Haley Jr.’s wedding reception (hosted by Sammy Davis Jr.), as the club held special memories of the bride’s mother, Judy Garland.
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