Somen "Steve" Banerjee ( bn, সোমেন বন্দোপাধ্যায়; October 8, 1946 – October 23, 1994) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

entrepreneur, and the founder of

Chippendales Chippendales is a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances and for its dancers' distinctive upper body costume of a bow tie, collar, and shirt cuffs worn on an otherwise bare torso. Established in 1979, Chippenda ...

Biography

Somen Banerjee was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

(now Mumbai), India on October 8, 1946. After operating a

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

gas station and a failed

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

club, he moved to the United States. Banerjee bought a failed Los Angeles club named "Destiny II" and turned it into a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

that featured female mud wrestling and a "Female Exotic Dancing Night." The 1979 addition of a male stripper dance troupe performing to target female audiences was the first of its kind in the United States. Banerjee married an accountant, Irene, in the 1980s. They had two children — daughter Lindsay and son Christian. Banerjee was charged with enlisting the aid of Ray Colon, former Palm Springs police officer and lounge room entertainer, to commit the murder of show producer

Nick De Noia Nicholas John De Noia Jr. (May 14, 1941 – April 7, 1987) was an American director, screenwriter, and choreographer known for his work as choreographer of the Chippendales dance troupe and for his ''Unicorn Tales'' shorts for young audiences, for ...

in 1987, and in 1990 and 1991, a plot to kill Michael Fullington, a former Chippendales dancer and choreographer, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, who Banerjee felt were competition to the Chippendales franchise. He eventually pleaded guilty to attempted

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

, and

murder for hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

. He entered into a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

that would have led to 26 years in prison, and loss of his share of Chippendales. Irene had frantically managed to organize a group of character witnesses for him. She hoped it would sway the judge to reduce Steve’s penalty of 26 years. In the early morning of October 23, 1994, hours before he was due to be sentenced, Banerjee was found dead in his cell, having

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

himself. Reports stated that while he was depressed, it was not thought he would take his own life. When Banerjee died, Irene inherited the entirety of Chippendales, along with all the money, properties, and assets associated with it. She died from breast cancer on February 8, 2001.

In popular culture

Banerjee has appeared in the following fictionalized portrayals: * The 2000 television movie ''

The Chippendales Murder Chippendales is a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances and for its dancers' distinctive upper body costume of a bow tie, collar, and shirt cuffs worn on an otherwise bare torso. Established in 1979, Chippenda ...

'', portrayed by

Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime ...

* The 2002 direct-to-video movie ''Just Can't Get Enough'', portrayed by

Shelley Malil Shelley Mathew Malil (; born December 23, 1964) is an Indian-American actor. Malil emigrated to the United States in 1974. He appeared in a number of television shows and films, including ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' (2005). In 2010, Malil was co ...

* The 2022

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

miniseries ''

Welcome to Chippendales ''Welcome to Chippendales'' is an American biographical drama miniseries created by Robert Siegel inspired by the book ''Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders'' by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca. It stars Kumail Nanjiani as Somen "St ...

'', portrayed by

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wri ...

. Notable other attempts to film Banerjee's life story include by director

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...

in 2009, by

Trisha Ray Trisha Ray is an independent producer, screenwriter, filmmaker, actor, editor and charcoal artist. Trisha comes from a family of scholars, physicians and surgeons who followed art and music as a hobby. After retiring as an ObGyn, her grandfathe ...

and

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

in 2016, and by director

Craig Gillespie Craig Gillespie (born 1 September 1967) is an Australian-American film, television, music video, and commercial director. He is best known for directing the films ''Lars and the Real Girl'' (2007), ''Fright Night'' (2011), ''I, Tonya'' (2017), ...

and actor

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is a British actor. His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which Patel was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leadin ...

in 2020. Banerjee has also been the focus of several

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

and documentary series: * The 2001 episode "Backstage Murder" (Season 3, Episode 13) of ''

The FBI Files ''The FBI Files'' is an American television docudrama series that originally ran from 1998 to 2006 on the Discovery Channel and produced by New Dominion Pictures. The show was cancelled in 2006. However, Court TV Mystery, Discovery, and its siste ...

'' * "The Chippendales Murders", the season 43 (2021) premiere episode of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'' * The first episode of ''Welcome to Your Fantasy'', a 2021 serial podcast telling the Chippendales story.

References

External links

Biography of Somen Banerjee

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Somen American entertainment industry businesspeople American people of Indian descent 1946 births 1994 deaths American businesspeople convicted of crimes 20th-century American businesspeople Indian emigrants to the United States Suicides by hanging in California