Its been the Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard for over twenty years now, but in the 1940s and 1950s, it was Ciros”the hottest nightclub on the planet.

When Herman Hover became manager of Ciro’s in 1942, he made it into a destination nightspot for the best talent in the world. In 1950, it launched the career of a comedy team that would rise to superstardom together and separately in Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. A year later an opening act called the Will Mastin Trio would tear down the house and leave the headliner that night–Janis Page–in the dust. The Trio itself would become the answer to a trivia question when one of its members left to become one of the biggest stars on the planet–a young singer/dancer/comic named Sammy Davis, Jr.

The regulars at Ciro’s comprised a mind boggling array of the greatest entertainers in history–Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Judy Garland and countless others. It became the clubhouse for the Hollywood elite to drink, mingle and network.

During a more civilized time, a network of top nightclubs hosted entertainment, drinking, dining and other hijinx in the major cities of the US. Ciro’s was among this elite group of nightspots dating back to the early 1940’s when the icons of that era including Bogart, Jimmy Cagney, Lauren Bacall and George Raft would frequent the place. It started to ‘cool off’ and by 1942 was forced to close its doors for a time. It didn’t stay closed for long, as Herman Hoover implemented his plan to re-open and revitalize the nightspot.

Hoover, who had a background in running a nightclub”he was lured away from Columbia Universitys Law School by the potent mix of wiseguys and chorus girls at New Yorks Silver Slipper, which was a prohibition era joint owned by Arnold Rothstein and Charles Lucky Luciano among others. Hoover became a fixture at the club, along with Harlems Cotton Club before moving to Los Angeles in 1936.

Ciro’s reopened on the day after Christmas, 1942. The headliner that night was Sinatra crony Joe E. Lewis and the crowd included the aforementioned “Chairman of the Board” along with Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and Cary Grant. Xavier Cugat was next to headline (he’d later to on to marry 1970’s gameshow fixture “Charo”) and became a regular.

Hoover had hosted Dean Martins wedding in 1949, and Martin and Lewis debuted at Ciros in 1950. They always felt a deep debt of gratitude to Hoover and his club, and even when they were pulling down an astounding (for the 1950s) $100,000 a week to perform they insisted on holding their fee at Ciros to what they were originally paid–$7,000 a week. In 1951, Sammy Davis, Jr., along with his uncle and father”the Will Mastin Trio”tore down the house. Several years later, in what may have been the biggest event ever at the club, Davis returned to the stage following a car accident where he lost his right eye and nearly lost his life. Following an introduction by Frank Sinatra, Davis put on a scorching performance before an adoring and emotional crowd of the biggest stars on the planet.

It was the growth of “The Radiant City” in the Nevada desert–Las Vegas–that would eventually seal the fate of Ciro’s and nightclubs like it nationwide. With huge revenues afforded by legal gambling, Nevada casinos were in a position to lure away the best talent for its showrooms. Entertainers liked the fact that they didn’t have to travel, and Las Vegas afforded them a 24/7 playground. By the late 50’s, Ciro’s was forced to close its doors and was sold at a public auction in 1959 for a mere $350,000.

The end of Ciro’s also represented an end of the glamor that characterized Los Angeles in the early to middle 20th century. Sunset Boulevard remained a busy main street, but before long became populated with as many strip clubs and tattoo parlors as upscale restaurants and nightclubs. The tradition of launching new stars, however, continues to this day at the Comedy Store which has operated on the Ciro’s site for almost 30 years. A ‘who’s who’ of comedy have gotten a start at the club from Jay Leno, David Letterman and Andy Kaufman to modern comics like David Chappelle and UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

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