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Stork Club, London
The Stork Club was a nightclub in Swallow Street in London's West End. In the late 1950s, it was run by "nightclub king" Al Burnett, and notable guests included Harold Macmillan, John Profumo, Peter Sellers, Frank Sinatra, Lana Turner, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, King Hussein of Jordan, and Jean Simmons. The resident band for seven years was the Denny Termer trio, with Bill Bramwell on bass and Monty Babson on drums It was later owned by Oscar Owide, eventually becoming a brothel, before closing its doors in 2001. Later that year, Marco Pierre White and Piers Adam attempted to revive it as a glamorous destination, but both lost money on the deal and by 2002 the project had run into legal subletting difficulties with the Crown Estates The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swallow Street
Swallow Street is a small street in the West End of London, running north from Piccadilly. It is about long. History The street was previously much longer and stretched as far north as Oxford Street. The first section of the street was built in 1671 as Swallow Close, and was named after the 16th-century tenant Thomas Swallow. On John Ogilby's map of London in 1681, it is shown as running as far as Beak Street, which continues to what is now Oxford Street. Beak Street was developed by the end of the 17th century, and the road became known as Little Swallow Street as far as Glasshouse Street, then Swallow Street to Oxford Street, ending opposite Princes Street. It was the main road between Piccadilly and Oxford Street by the 18th century, and is marked as such on John Rocque's Map of London, 1746. In 1815, the majority of the street was demolished to construct Regent Street, a modern thoroughfare designed by John Nash. The former line of Swallow Street is roughly now where pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world's highest paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh- greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema. Born in London to socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the Universal Pictures film ''There's One Born Every Minute'' (1942), but the studio ended her contract after a year. She was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became a popular teen star after appearing in ''National Velvet'' (1944). She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s, when she starred in the comedy ''Father of the Bride'' (195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piers Adam
Piers Benedict Adam (born March 1964) is a British businessman, the owner of London nightclubs ''Mahiki'', '' Whisky Mist'' and ''Tini,'' and the co-owner of Mayfair's '' The Punch Bowl'' with Guy Ritchie. Early life Piers Adam was born in March 1964, and grew up in north London, the son of David Adam, a lawyer, and Shirley, an art teacher. He was educated at Highgate School and then Oxford Polytechnic, where he studied estate management, but failed. Career In 2002, he went into partnership with restaurateur Marco Pierre White and fellow club owner Oscar Owide, and they combined Swallow Street's Stork Club and Crazy Horse into a new club called the Stork Rooms, but it closed six months later. In 2014, Adam purchased the Craigellachie Hotel in the Moray village of Craigellachie. In 2019, he launched his own Scotch whisky called Copper Dog. Personal life Adam was the best man at Guy Ritchie's wedding to Madonna at Skibo Castle Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marco Pierre White
Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the ''enfant terrible'' of the UK restaurant scene. In January 1995, aged 33, White became the first British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. He has trained notable chefs such as Mario Batali, Heston Blumenthal, Shannon Bennett, Gordon Ramsay and Curtis Stone. Early life Marco Pierre White was born in Leeds on 11 December 1961, the third of four sons born to Maria-Rosa Gallina, an Italian immigrant from Veneto, and Frank White, a chef. He left Allerton High School in Leeds without any qualifications and decided to train as a chef like his father. Career White first trained at Hotel St George in Harrogate and then at the Box Tree in Ilkley. In 1981, he went to London with "£7.36, a box of books, and a bag of clothes", and began his classical training as a '' commis'' with Albert and Michel Roux at Le Gavroche. He con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Owide
Oscar Manuel Owide (23 December 1931 – 3 December 2017) was a British businessman, who ran nightclubs, restaurants and sex industry businesses over a long career. He was the proprietor of Soho's Windmill Theatre, which he ran with his son Daniel Owide as the Windmill International, a "gentleman's club", offering adult cabaret, table and lap dancing. The ''Evening Standard'' in 2004 said Owide was once "Britain's biggest pimp". Early life Oscar Owide was born in Whitechapel, London, in December 1931, the son of Isidore and Mary Owide. He grew up in Finsbury Park, where his father was a "prosperous hairdresser". His father was born Izrael Hillel Owide in Poland, and became a naturalised British citizen on 30 September 1937 as Isidore Owide, living at 35 Fore Street, Edmonton, London N18. Career Owide began his career as a hairdresser in the family business. In the 1950s, he purchased his first nightclub, Ilford's ''Il Grotto''. From the 1960s onwards, he shifted focus to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denny Termer
Dennis William "Denny" Termer (1 October 1925 – 1 December 2011) was an English pianist and accompanist. Born in London, England, Termer began his musical career at the age of 15. Termer met Stanley Watson, who introduced him to Laurie Morgan while at Tottenham Technical College. Watson played guitar and Morgan drums. Termer was learning piano so they got together and later found Don Rendell, who had a battered old alto sax at the time. During the war it was normal practice to keep playing during an air raid, which had its own unique, character building lessons, for a young musician. A relative of Termer's, Hal Moss, violinist and impresario, had a show on the road called ''Scandals and Scanties'' and when his musicians got called up he asked Termer, Watson, Rendell and Morgan to help out. They quickly learnt how to play as they went along. Termer was eventually called up into the army which by this time he had been playing the theatres with Watson, Rendell and Morgan as ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and after World War II, followed mainly by Hollywood films from 1950 onwards. Simmons was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Hamlet'' (1948), and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for ''Guys and Dolls'' (1955). Her other film appearances include ''Young Bess'' (1953), ''The Robe'' (1953), ''The Big Country'' (1958), ''Elmer Gantry'' (1960), ''Spartacus'' (1960), and the 1969 film ''The Happy Ending'', for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won an Emmy Award for the miniseries ''The Thorn Birds'' (1983). Biography Early life Simmons was born on 31 January 1929, in Islington, London, to Charles Simmons, a bronze medalist in gymnastics at the 1912 Summer Olympics, and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Hussein Of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was a 40th-generation direct descendant of Muhammad. Hussein was born in Amman as the eldest child of Talal bin Abdullah and Zein al-Sharaf bint Jamil. Talal was then the heir to his own father, King Abdullah I. Hussein began his schooling in Amman, continuing his education abroad. After Talal became king in 1951, Hussein was named heir apparent. The Jordanian Parliament forced Talal to abdicate a year later due to his illness, and a regency council was appointed until Hussein came of age. He was enthroned at the age of 17 on 2 May 1953. Hussein was married four separate times and fathered eleven children including King Abdullah II of Jordan. Hussein, a constitutional monarch, started his rule with what was te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her performance in Robert Siodmak's film noir ''The Killers''. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in John Ford's ''Mogambo'' (1953), and for best actress for both a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for her performance in John Huston's ''The Night of the Iguana'' (1964). She was a part of the Golden Age of Hollywood. During the 1950s, Gardner established herself as a leading lady and one of the era's top stars with films like ''Show Boat'', ''Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' (both 1951), '' The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' (1952), ''The Barefoot Contessa'' (1954), ''Bhowani Junction'' (1956) and '' On the Beach'' (1959). She continued her film career for three more decades, appearing in the films '' 55 Days at Pek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Burnett
Al Burnett (1906–1973) was a British impresario, known as the "nightclub king". He ran the Stork Club in Swallow Street in London's West End. Early life He was born Aaron Isaacs in Mile End, London. Career Burnett was master of ceremonies (MC) at a nightclub in London's Regent Street called The Nut House, which was popular with jazz musicians during the war. In the late 1950s, notable guests at the Stork Club included Harold Macmillan, John Profumo, Peter Sellers, Frank Sinatra, Lana Turner, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, King Hussein of Jordan, and Jean Simmons. In about 1969, he banned Barbara Windsor, whose agent was Burnett's son, Barry Burnett, for refusing to sit with a customer, even though she was not working as a hostess at the time. It was later owned by Oscar Owide, eventually becoming a "sleazy hostess joint", before Marco Pierre White and Piers Adam tried (and failed) to revive it as a glamorous destination. Burnett owned The Astor, which was later a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical films, suspense horror, and occasional comedies, although her greater successes were in romantic dramas. A recipient of two Academy Awards, she was the first thespian to accrue ten nominations. Bette Davis appeared on Broadway in New York, then the 22-year-old Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930. After some unsuccessful films, she had her critical breakthrough playing a vulgar waitress in ''Of Human Bondage'' (1934) although, contentiously, she was not among the three nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. The next year, her performance as a down-and-out actress in ''Dangerous'' (1935) did land Davis her first Best Actress nomination, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lana Turner
Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid actresses in the United States, and one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's (MGM) biggest stars, with her films earning more than $50 million for the studio during her 18-year contract with them. Turner is frequently cited as a popular culture icon of Hollywood glamour and a screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema. Born to working-class parents in northern Idaho, Turner spent her childhood there before her family relocated to San Francisco. In 1936, when Turner was 15, she was discovered while purchasing a soda at the Top Hat Malt Shop in Hollywood. At 16, she was signed to a personal contract by Warner Bros. director Mervyn LeRoy, who took her with him when he transferred to MGM in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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