- Mocambo
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For the Toronto tavern, see El Mocambo. For the runaway slave community, see mocambos.
The Mocambo was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8588 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It was owned by Charlie Morrison and Felix Young.[1]
History
The Mocambo opened on January 3, 1941, and became an immediate success. The club's Latin American-themed decor designed by Tony Duquette cost $100,000. Along the walls were glass cages holding live cockatoos, macaws, seagulls, Josh Liebman[citation needed], pigeons, and parrots. With big band music, the club became one of the most popular dance-till-dawn spots in town. On any given night, one might find the room filled with the leading men and women of the motion picture industry.
In 1943, when Frank Sinatra became a solo act, he made his Los Angeles debut at the Mocambo.
In the mid 1950s, Ella Fitzgerald became the first black performer at the Mocambo, after Marilyn Monroe lobbied the owner for the booking.[2] The booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. The incident was turned into a play by Bonnie Greer in 2005.
Among the many celebrities who frequented the Mocambo were Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall,[3] Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Henry Fonda, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Bob Hope, James Cagney, Sophia Loren, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, Grace Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Howard Hughes, Kay Francis, Marlene Dietrich, Theda Bara, Tyrone Power, Jayne Mansfield, John Wayne, Ann Sothern, and Louis B. Mayer. Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow celebrated their divorce there.
The club's main stage was replicated on the TV series I Love Lucy as the "Tropicana" Club. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were frequent guests at the Mocambo and were close friends of Charlie Morrison.The Mocambo was also parodied mercilessly in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Slick Hare". According to a commentary track on the DVD with this cartoon, the animators managed to get into the kitchen and drew the kitchen exactly as they saw it, complete with dripping grease on the refrigerator and vegetables lying around the ground.
The Mocambo closed in 1959. The site is now a parking lot for a Burger King restaurant that features artwork from the interior of the original building.
Noted performers
- Edie Adams
- Desi Arnaz
- Pearl Bailey
- Marge and Gower Champion
- Rosemary Clooney
- Nat King Cole
- Perry Como
- Vic Damone
- Dorothy Dandridge
- Billy Daniels
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Billy Eckstine
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Firehouse Five Plus Two
- Lena Horne
- Allan Jones
- Will Jordan
- Peggy King
- Eartha Kitt
- Peggy Lee
- Joe E. Lewis
- Liberace
- Martin and Lewis
- Mae Murray
- Mike Nichols and Elaine May
- Andre Previn
- Louis Prima and Keely Smith
- Hazel Scott
- Dinah Shore
- Frank Sinatra
- Yma Sumac
- Danny Thomas
- Kay Thompson and The Williams Brothers
- Dinah Washington
- Joe Williams
- Julie Wilson
References
- ^ Weller, Sheila (2003). Dancing at Ciro's, p. 118. Macmillan. ISBN 0312241763.
- ^ Nicholson, Stuart (1993). Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz, p. 149. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306806428.
- ^ Wallace, David (2001). Lost Hollywood, p. 166. Macmillan. ISBN 0312261950.
Categories:- Hollywood history and culture
- Nightclubs in California
- Former music venues
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