- For the origins of the word Trocadero, and other places where it has been used, see Trocadero (disambiguation).
In West Hollywood, California, the Cafe Trocadero was the center of jitterbug in the 1930s. Today, a " new" Trocadero stands as a nightclub at 8610 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. A black tie French-inspired supper club, the original Trocadero, now demolished, was considered the jewel of the Strip in the 1930s and became synonymous with stars, starlets, movie producers, and fun. Founded by William R. Wilkerson in 1934. Wilkerson was the successful publisher of The Hollywood Reporter who also owned other nightclubs nearby on the Sunset Strip like Ciro's and LaRue[1]. It was also the scene of many famous movie premiere parties. There was a mid 1940's low-budget film about the Trocadero and its history starring Ralph Morgan which bore little with reality.
Among the celebrities who frequented the Trocadero were Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Jackie Gleason, Henry Fonda, Judy Garland, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Jean Harlow, and Norma Shearer. The Trocadero was featured in the 1937 movie A Star is Born starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. That same year, vaudevillian and Three Stooges manager Ted Healy died here in a barroom brawl, allegedly at the hands of fellow contractee Wallace Beery and MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix.
The dance club was parodied in the 1938 Warner Bros. cartoon, Porky at the Crocadero.[1]
External links
References
- ^ Wilkerson III, W.R. (2000). The Man Who Invented Las Vegas. Ciro's Books. p. 9. ISBN 0-9676643-0-6. http://cirosbooks.com/man_who_invented_las_vegas.html.
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