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Cafe Trocadero was an upscale nightclub that opened on the
Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...
in 1934 and immediately became the place where Hollywood stars went to be seen. Photographs of the stars out on the town at the Troc one night might appear in ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' the next day, as both Cafe Trocadero and THR were owned by William R. Wilkerson. A
black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...
French-inspired supper club, at 8610
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
in the posh Sunset Plaza section of the Strip, it was one of the most famous nightclubs in the world.


Post-Wilkerson Management

In May 1938, Wilkerson announced that he had sold Cafe Trocadero to Nola Hahn, the owner of Club Continental, formerly the Airport Gardens, an illegal casino on Sonora Avenue in
Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
. Within a year, however, Cafe Trocadero was under the management of Felix Young, a gambler with ties to producer
B.P. Schulberg B. P. Schulberg (born Percival Schulberg, January 19, 1892 – February 25, 1957) was an American pioneer film producer and film studio executive. Biography Born Percival Schulberg in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from t ...
. Young got into a dispute over the lease with the landlord, Chateau Sunset Corp. and abruptly closed the nightclub in October 1939. Before the month was over, Cafe Trocadero was thrown into involuntary bankruptcy. The club briefly reopened later that year as The Trocadero, in time to host the Hollywood premiere party for ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Win ...
'' in December 1939. But by May 1940, the new owners were out of business and the club's furnishings were auctioned off. Wilkerson later launched
Ciro's Ciro's (later known as Ciro's Le Disc) was a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California owned by William Wilkerson. Opened in 1940, Ciro's became a popular nightspot for celebrities. The nightclub closed in 1957 and was reopened ...
nightclub and LaRue Restaurant, both also on the Strip. He was also the original developer of the
Flamingo Las Vegas Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property includes a casino along with 3,46 ...
, but lost control of it to mobster
Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood frie ...
before construction was complete in 1946. The cafe operated under a series of managers, including composer and businessman Turk Prujan. Many ads for the Trocadero in the California Eagle contained the headline "Turk Prujan Presents..." followed by a musical artist that was to perform at the club.


Little Troc

In January 1942, just a few weeks after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, Felix Young opened a small night club six blocks west of the Cafe Trocadero site, at 9236 Sunset Blvd. on the Strip. His premiere act was an unknown singer,
Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...
. Her sell-out performances there made her an overnight sensation in Hollywood and led to an engagement at Mocambo, another Strip nightclub, and a contract with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
.


Eddie LeBaron's Trocadero

In August 1943, bandleader Eddie LeBaron and his brother Albert Gastine opened a new club at 8610 Sunset called Eddie LeBaron's Trocadero. The club would become famous for featuring jitterbugging contests.


Final days

After World War II, the Trocadero went through a series of owners and managers. It closed for good in 1947. In its place stands a strip mall today.


Celebrity patronage

Among the
celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
who frequented the Trocadero were
Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
,
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
,
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
,
Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
,
Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
,
Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...
,
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
,
Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
,
Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...
,
Ted Healy Ted Healy (born Charles Ernest Lee Nash; October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy th ...
,
Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...
, and
Norma Shearer Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
. Actress/comedian
Thelma Todd Thelma Alice Todd (July 29, 1906 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she ...
, who died mysteriously in December 1935, spent an evening at the Trocadero at a party thrown by
Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...
and her father Stanley. Todd had formerly been married to
Pat DiCicco Pasquale "Pat" DiCicco (; February 14, 1909 – October 24, 1978) was an American agent, movie producer, and occasional actor, as well as an alleged mobster working for Lucky Luciano. He was married three times, including to Thelma Todd and ...
, and was angry that he had shown up there with another actress,
Margaret Lindsay Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for her supporting work in successf ...
. The party was one of the last times that she was seen alive. The Trocadero was the last place that
Ted Healy Ted Healy (born Charles Ernest Lee Nash; October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy th ...
was seen shortly before his death. He claimed he had been assaulted by three "college kids" and was found severely beaten. He died hours later from kidney failure.


In popular culture

Cafe Trocadero was featured in the
1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...
movie '' A Star is Born'' starring
Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...
and
Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary ''Variety'', April 16, 1975, p ...
. It was also parodied in the 1938
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
cartoon, ''Porky at the Crocadero'

The club also received a brief mention, via actual film footage, in 1944's ''
What's Cookin' Doc? ''What's Cookin' Doc?'' is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Bob Clampett, and stars Bugs Bunny. The short was also written by Michael Sasanoff, and was animated by Robert McKimson, along with uncredited work b ...
''. There was a mid-1940s low-budget film about the Trocadero and its history starring
Ralph Morgan Raphael Kuhner Wuppermann (July 6, 1883 – June 11, 1956), known professionally as Ralph Morgan, was a Hollywood stage and film character actor, and the older brother of Frank Morgan. Early life Morgan was born in New York City, the eig ...
which bore little relation to reality. The Trocadero is mentioned in
James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, sta ...
's ''
Perfidia "Perfidia" (Spanish for " perfidy", meaning ''faithlessness'', ''treachery'' or ''betrayal'') is a 1939 Spanish-language song written by Mexican composer and arranger Alberto Domínguez (1906–1975). The song is sung from the perspectiv ...
'', the night before the Japanese bombed
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
. In
David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...
's 2020 film, ''
Mank ''Mank'' is a 2020 American black-and-white Biographical film, biographical Drama (film and television), drama film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his Screenplay for Citizen Kane, development of the screenplay for ''Citizen Kane' ...
'', the Trocadero is featured in a scene where
Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...
throws an election party for
Frank Merriam Frank Finley Merriam (December 22, 1865 – April 25, 1955) was an American Republican politician who served as the 28th governor of California from June 2, 1934 until January 2, 1939. Assuming the governorship at the height of the Great Depress ...
. In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the Trocadero is mentioned on page 67, “Maybe you do a picture with Don. After all, they can’t print pictures of the two of you dancing at Ciro’s or the Trocadero fast enough.”


Sunset Trocadero

The building that housed Cafe Trocadero was demolished long ago and the property stood vacant until 2013 when it was replaced by an upscale storefront building. Today, 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 ...
called Sunset Trocadero operates at 8280
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
, about four blocks east of the former site of Cafe Trocadero. It was purchased by former NFL star Domata Peko of the Cincinnati Bengals and is run by his wife Anna Peko. Domata advertised a Super Bowl watch party for Cincinnati Bengals fans who are in Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI, but couldn't afford or get tickets.


References


External links


Photo of jitterbuggers at the Trocadero Ballroom, with newspaper clipping dated March 10, 1936
{{coord missing, Los Angeles County, California Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles Landmarks in Los Angeles Nightclubs in Los Angeles County, California Buildings and structures in West Hollywood, California