Leon and Eddie's nightclub
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- A Visit to Leon and Eddie's Nightclub in 1946
The April 20, 1946 issue of Billboard ran a review of the show at Leon and Eddie's, a popular nightclub on West 52nd Street. The show was also reviewed in the Sunday Mirror (see an earlier blog post or the website for that take).
Like many popular nightspots of the day, Leon and Eddie's had begun as a speakeasy. In its case it started in a basement at 18 West 52nd, later moving across the street to 33 W. 52nd. It was one of the more reputable spots on this block known for hot jazz, strippers, and mob-run clip joints. Unlike its fabled neighbor '21', Leon and Eddies did not cultivate celebrities and socialites through a policy of exclusivity. This was a rowdy joint patronized by local businessmen and out-of-towners who enjoyed the bawdy humor, singalongs, vaudeville-like revue and strippers the club featured. It was very well-known, being frequently mentioned in the press or in magazines. It was a particular favorite for garment industry executives who entertained customers and visiting buyers here. This was a place where they didn't have to worry about getting the high hat. Leon and Eddie's maintained an extensive mailing list and sent out birthday cards to patrons. Prices were relatively reasonable, at least in comparison to the snooty joints. While there was less snobbishness than at Cafe Society hangouts, although the proprietors could be less than welcoming to African American patrons, it still a commonplace, although diminishing, practice in 1946. Black patrons who ventured into some of these places complained of inattentive and deliberately sloppy service (e.g. the waiter's sleeve in your soup) and being seated behind columns. Back in the 1930s, Davis had hired newcomer Louis Prima for an engagement and then backed out when he met him, mistaking the Italian-American New Orleans native for a black man.
The club had shows at 8, 10, 12 and at 3 AM with dancing in-between. That week it crammed in seven acts and two production numbers. The late show often attracted performers who had finished their shows at other spots, so, even though this was a place for the average man, at least one who could afford the $3.50 minimum (about $38 in 2010 dollars), you could find famous faces in the crowd at times. It was known for its Sunday "celebrity nights" in salute to someone well-known where the entertainment was impromptu and included performances by the famous and the unknown. So many other clubs had started their own celebrity nights where performers did not get paid that the nightclub performers' union was cracking down on them. The one at Leon and Eddie's was considered legit by the union.
The sign out front of the club said "Leon and Eddie" without the apostrophe s. Another sign at the door was a takeoff on the famous Earl Carroll slogan and read "Through these portals, the most beautiful girls in the world pass out!" A sign posted over the swinging kitchen doors stated “Through these portals pass the most beautiful waiters in the world!" The walls were covered with tongue-in-cheek murals. On either end of the back wall, Leon Enkin and Eddie Davis thumbed their noses at each other in caricature. The gravel-voiced Davis was the face of the place and frequently performed his repertoire of risque songs. The club was big on audience participation. Most nights Davis would lead the patrons in a few choruses of "She Came Rolling Down the Mountain." Newcomers could join in because the lyrics, filled with double entendres, were printed in their souvenir books, which also included photos of celebrities and tips on the city's top attractions. The book also included bios of the proprietors, describing Leon as a king-size combination of Lou Costello and Fiorello LaGuardia."
The Billboard review of the current show made no mention of Davis, who either was not performing or perhaps was so much of a given, he did need to be reviewed. Here is what you would have seen if you visited the club this week:
Comedian Jackie Whelan. The review said he had perfected his timing and delivery but that he was badly in need of new material. “Some of his stuff has been done so often that toppers are no longer yocks to customers." His "blue" material got responses but much of the rest did not register with the crowd. Stripper June March. The club usually featured a strip act, although there was relatively little stripping involved. The reviewer found March to be the show's big surprise. “Girl is an actress and comes in with a clever routine which calls for a lot of chatter,” he said. I wonder what became of her?
The Barretts. These hoofers were described as a red-headed gal and a dark-haired boy who performed “straight terps" that morphed into ballet leaps and then a tango. They returned for a fast jitterbug number Lou and Lillian Bernard had a harmonica routine. Harmonica music was taken seriously then. This team performed "Tico-Tico" and "Might As Well Be Spring," finishing with a Hungarian Gypsy number. Helene and Howard, another dance team, who started straight and then went into a knockabout comedy routine. “Boy is tossed around like a sack of spuds, taking some resounding pratfalls. The cute appearance of the couple sells them easily." They returned for a zoot suit number and a big hand. They were a popular act at clubs at this time and in the Fifties made several appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on TV.
Tenor Sonny King. The review said his ease of delivery made him compelling. He opened with "Stars in Your Eyes,” followed with ‘Sorrento” in English and Italian, then ended with “Donkey Serenade.” The audience called him back for an encore and he performed “an excellent "Vesti La Giubba'.” King was 24 at this time, a former boxer from Brooklyn born Luigi Antonio Schiavone. He had no formal vocal training but had picked up pointers from his father who performed as Georgie King at the Paramount Club. Sonny started his own club career as a bouncer at the Copacabana and was Rocky Marciano's sparring partner. He was the roommate of Dean Martin and Alan King at the Bryant Hotel on 54th Street when they were all starting out in the business (and before Martin had the nose job). He is credited with introducing Martin to Jerry Lewis. A few years later, he became the straight man for Jimmy Durante and then a regular singer at Las Vegas lounges where he often hung out with Martin and the other members of the rat pack. The Billboard reviewer liked him.
The Three Arnauts. Described as a “standard vaud act,” they also often performed in movie theater shows. According to the review the opening “fiddle-acro act does not do too well” but they scored with their bird-talking routine.
Sidney Sprague presented a chorus line of eight "lookers" with a fast routine, that opened with a can-can number that segued into a precision “a la Rockettes finish.”
The band was led by Art Waner with Julie Stein fronting. The review said they "cut a good show." The club did not last long into the postwar period. Leon and Eddie dissolved their partnership in 1947. Charlie Davis kept it going until his retirement in 1953 when Toots Shor, who had been day manager, and some say part-time bouncer, at Leon and Eddie's in its early years, opened a restaurant at the site. After the split, Leon Enkin ran the Leon and Charlie's that had opened in Palm Beach in 1946.
Must reads
Sources
- Billboard review 4/20/1946
- Eddie Davis obit in NYT 4/24/1987
- 52nd Street: The Street of Jazz by Arnold Shaw
- Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show by Rachel Shteir
- Wikipedia entry on Sonny King
- Sonny King obit in Boston Globe 2/8/2008
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