It
was 5:00 AM and Jerry Lewis just walked into Reubens on Madison
& 59th St., his arms filled with the early edition
of the NY Mirror and his hat turned backwards portraying the
hapless paperboy. He proceeds to sell them table-by- table. He
then returned the papers that were unsold and any money collected
to an excited paperboy. On this night, as on most nights, the
crowd was a who’s who of the New York City nightclub circuit as
remembered & told to me by Harriet Weber Wright. “Sometimes
they were there to enjoy the camaraderie, the famous Apple
Pancakes or just to unwind after another night on the town, but it
was always a roaring good time” she said.
The
year was 1940 and America had just awakened from a ten-year
hangover, better known as the Great Depression. Europe was at war,
but the American café society elite wanted to party. The supper
club was now the nightlife entertainment of choice (there were no
televisions), the successor to the prohibition speakeasies.
Hollywood stars like Errol Flynn would frequent NYC clubs like the
El Morocco, Stork Club, the Rainbow room or 21 – “New York was
where the rich and famous came to play”.
On
November 10, 1940, Monte Proser opened a new club called the
Copacabana, which Walter Winchell referred to as the “latest
click at 10 East 60th Street”. The club became the
number one hot spot among a hybrid crowd of sports figures, stars
of stage & screen, jockey’s, prizefighters, oil barons,
gangsters, politicians, columnists, Wall Street and 7th
Ave. A place where moguls would all mix together – shaken not
stirred. “Every night was New Year Eve,” I was told.
The
Copacabana was Brazilian in theme, run by Jews and Italians which
oddly enough was known for some of the best Chinese cuisine in the
city, talk about your melting pot - but that’s New York. The décor
was marvelous art deco throughout, and the main room downstairs
was grand with palms tress everywhere illuminated by blue and pink
hues. Everyone who worked there was dressed in tuxedos, it was
pure elegance - even the bar stools covered in velvet.
Maitre
D’s Joe Lopez, Gus or Arthur Brown accommodated the guests to
the best of their ability, but you definitely needed a
reservation, unless of course you were a celebrity or a friend
carrying a $100 bill. Some nights the Maitre D’s would earn
$1,000 in tips.
With
headline entertainment, the Copa was the first supper club to
present a line of dancing beauties. Also, there were two society
bands, and two Latin bands, which played the hottest Rhumna,
Merenge and cha-cha rhythms. But if you wanted a softer laid-back
atmosphere you could always stop into the upstairs lounge.
Celebrities’ names were called out as they entered by the on-air
radio commentator who invited them over to chat with the radio
audience at home. When Jack Eigan retired, Barry Gray took over
the radio show that aired from 10PM – 4AM on WMGM.
If
Ziegfield glorified the 20th century woman in the
1920’s and 30’s, Monte Proser glorified the “great American
super-club”. Managed by Jack Entratter with the help of Jules
Podell, the mob’s man in charge, the Copacabana was on its way
to becoming the stuff that legends are made of.
Columnists
and celebrities collaborated in an unspoken ritual of career
enhancement and the Copa was the beneficiary.
Mob boss’s such as Albert Anastasia and Frank Costello
were never written about, nor was their friendship with Jack
Entratter. One slip up and a columnist could find themselves on
the black list. Cameras were not allowed inside either. A patron
could get a picture taken by a concession photographer, who had to
make sure that no one was in the background. Jules Podell
controlled the club with an iron fist and was famous for the
pounding of his diamond ring on any hard surface - he was all
business.
Almost
overnight the Copa became the crossroads for Hollywood, Europe and
New York City. Danton Walker in the Broadway column of the Gotham
Gazette wrote “The story tellers of Hollywood: screen writers
Jesse Lasky Jr., Richard Brooks and David Lord in town to make
studio war training films, were sitting ringside at the Copacabana.
Was the stage attraction pretty dancer Harriet Weber the reason
David Lord is planning on seeing a preacher?”
The
dancers were known as ponies for their short stature, ranging from
five foot to five foot four inches tall. Walter Winchell said,
“It’s the best girl show in town”. They were beautiful and
dressed in extravagant outfits costing as much as $4000 each. In
1940 the girls earned $75.00 per week, while the average working
man earned $40 per week. You could buy a Beef Stroganoff meal at
the Copa for $7.95 and a drink for $1.70 back then.
Walter
Winchell said, “Paying customers who came back with endearing
regularity were impressed by the Copacabana girls”. And Dorothy
Kilgallen wrote, “among those watching were Billy Rose and
Eleanor Holm who could hardly take their eyes off the pretty line
of girls. Was Billy scouting for his next show? Harriet Weber, a
protégé of his World’s Fair Aquacade, was a front line
stunner”.
The
girls wore mink bras and panties and died their hair to match the
colors of their outfits, which were changed every three months.
They performed three shows nightly and sometimes the crowd was so
large they all but tripped over the tables that were just barely
set back from the dancing area. The seating was always referred to
as “flexible” and could balloon from 670 to 1500 on any given
Saturday night.
The
girls were not allowed to mix with the customers so they would
sneak off many times between shows to meet dinner dates, which was
against the rules. Just picture four dancers changing in the back
seat of a cab to and from the dinner date to the amusement of the
driver.
Columnist
Dorothy Kilgallen, The Voice Of Broadway wrote “was the
presidents son John Roosevelt eyeing Harriet Weber and sending
Orchids backstage to her at the Copa”? Walter Winchell noted
spotting “Jimmy Durante and Harriet Weber, a front line pony
partying after the show”, and Louis Sobel of the New York
Cavalade said that “Ted Howard reported seeing Copabeaut,
the lovely Harriet Weber at Ruebens with Sam Bramson of the Wm.
Morris Agency”. Even Ed Sullivan wrote in Little Old New York
“Is Harry Ritz of the famous Ritz Brothers carrying on a 4 alarm
blaze with Harriet Weber – Copacabana cutie?” Everyone loved
to be seen with those Copa girls.
But
the Copa was not for tourists. They were drawn to the Latin
Quarter or the Diamond Horseshoe, and had a big list of other
clubs to choose from as well:
Village
Gate, Beverly Room, Glen Island Casino, International Casino, Tony
Paster’s Uptown, Hawaii Kai, Living Room, Carnival,
Metropole, China Club, Empire Room, Leon & Eddies, Sardi’s,
Jilly’s, Zanzibar, Riviera, Ed Wynn’s, 81 Club, Chez Vito,
Onyx Club, Peppermint
Lounge (famous for the twist), Byline Room, Basin Street
East, Jack Dempsey’s, Hawaiian Room, Diamond Horseshoe,
Greenwich Village Inn, Billy Reed’s Little Club, Club 82 – some of the best and grandest Drag
Queens of the day partied here, Gilded Cage, Persian Room,
Chateau Madrid, La Conga, Round Table, Lindy’s, Birdland, Cotton
Club, Latin Quarter, Blue Note, Bon Soir, Brassierre, Cotillion,
Blue Angel, Jazz Spots on 52nd St., Downstairs @ the
Upstairs, Julius Monk’s, At the Round Table, King Arthur’s
Room, Goldies on Lex and the Pin Up Room.
“If
you had a successful run at the Copa you were almost guaranteed
stardom”, Harriet Weber Wright wrote in her upcoming book
entitled “I’d Do It Again”, and to follow is a list of some
of those stars:
“Frank
Sinatra, Lewis and Martin, Sammie Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Peggy
Lee, Jimmy Durante, Johnny Mathis, Della Reese, Mel Torme, Steve
Lawrence, Edie Gorme,
Jerry Vale, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Pattie Page, Kay
Thompson & the Williams Brothers, Bobby Rydell, Donald
O’Connor, Tom Jones, Bobby Darin, The Temptations, Diana Ross
& The Supremes, Connie Francis, Connie Russell and Joey Bishop
Get
the picture - everybody. Black entertainers, even as famous as Nat
King Cole and Sammie Davis Jr., however entered through the back
door - this “was” the 40’s and 50’s after all.
I
had the privilege of sitting and talking to Harriet Weber Wright
(who went on to swim in Ester Williams movies), as well as Dorothy
Gurry (who was in the last line at the Copa in 1969).1950’s and
60’s Copa girls Paula La Mont, (the daughter of a Ziegfield
Follies Girl – and the current president of the Ziegfield Girls
Club), and Myrna Lee (who is still a nightclub singer today) were
also there.
The
Copacabana, whose last line of Girls ran until 1969, closed in
1973 and to this day it still evokes fond memories of those I
spoke to. There is something magical about it that I can’t seem
to put my finger on. But it is out there lingering like a dream
you remembered when you awoke that has now become slightly fuzzy.
Even
after the club closed, the girls remained Icons and on October 15,
1976 they formed the “World Famous Copacabana Girls Inc., a
non-profit organization with 150 Copa girls. They hosted benefits
for aids and other charitable events which were supported by such
dignitaries as Mayor Beame, Henny Youngman, Michael Todd, Liz
Taylor, Robert Mitchum, fashion designer Clovis Ruffen, Nicky
Haskell and Joan Crawford to name a few. In 1978 seven Copa girls,
including Harriet and Paula, danced in costume with Peter Allen at
the Waldorf Astoria when he performed his hit song “I Go To
Rio”.
The
formula for what created the mystique of the Copa was not one
secret ingredient – it was all of it: The times, style,
sophistication, danger, Copa girls, Jules Podell, live radio and
columnists who loved to report about it all. Even the famous brawl
between Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Billy Martin, Whitey Ford and
Hank Bauer only enhanced the clubs popularity. It was not just
another club - it was an experience.
As
I talked to these four women I was overcome with Nostalgia, like a
warm breeze of endearing images so close and so real I could
almost reach out and wrap my arms around them. With all the talk
about these legendary entertainers “did anyone meet Frank
Sinatra”? I asked. “He threw the best parties in town, the
only catch was you couldn’t leave until Frank said so. Meet him?
Sure we met him and she slept with him,” Harriet said. To which
I inquired – “was he any good”?
The
Girls of the Copacabana are part of a legacy that will never
happen again in quite the same way, and for that – they have
memories to cherish and a bond to share. In a future article
they’ll speak candidly about celebrities, lovers, performance
mishaps, romance & dating, the nightlife then and now, glamour
and style. It’s a once upon a time story when they were the
chorus line at the COPACABANA.
Copyright
2002 - All Rights Reserved
