Ciro's

Ciro's was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, opened in January 1940 by entrepreneur William Wilkerson.^[1]

Ciro's combined an overdone baroque interior and an unadorned exterior and became a famous hangout for movie people of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. It was one of "the" places to be seen and guaranteed being written about in the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons,

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, Mickey Rooney, Cary Grant, George Raft, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Dick Powell, Mamie Van Doren, Jimmy Stewart, Sammy Davis Jr., 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 1960s, Ciro's became a Sunset Strip rock and roll club. 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 other nightclubs on the Sunset Strip such as Cafe Trocadero and later The Flamingo in Las Vegas. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel took over The Flamingo which was misrepresented in the biopic Bugsy with no mention of Wilkerson.^{[citation needed]}

The site of Ciro's became The Comedy Store in 1972.^[1]

References