El Morocco, often referred to as "Elmo" or "Elmer," was a celebrated 20th-century nightclub located in Manhattan, New York City. From the 1930s until the decline of café society in the late 1950s, it was a favorite haunt for the rich and famous.
Manhattan, the heart of New York City, where El Morocco once thrived.
Origins and Early Success
Originally founded as a speakeasy, El Morocco thrived as a supper club in the post-Prohibition and postwar eras. After prohibition was repealed, it became one of the most popular establishments in New York City. Its regular clientele consisted of fashionable society, politicians, and entertainers.
The Allure of El Morocco
What made El Morocco-and eventually unmade it-was its snobbish exclusivity, its ability to make its patrons feel that they were sitting in the midst of the most elegant spot on the planet and had been handpicked to do so. Compared to the more buttoned-down environs of the Stork and its ilk, the El Morocco was fast and flashy, an Alfa Romeo Spider in a garage of Packards. Lucius Beebe referred to the club’s regulars as ‘the Parade of People Who Count.’
Part of what made the club the "place to be" were the photographs taken by Jerome Zerbe, which were always in the news the next day. Jerome Zerbe was the in-house photographer.
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Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz even had their wedding reception there.
Famous Patrons and Notable Events
Marilyn Monroe visited on several occasions, beginning in August 1951 when she was spotted with movie mogul Joe Schenck. She returned in 1954 with Joe DiMaggio and danced there with Truman Capote a year later.
In 1972, Al Pacino, then a little-known actor, was in Worcester to attend a screening of his new movie and help promote it. The film was “The Godfather,” which became one of the most acclaimed movies of all time and catapulted Pacino to stardom. The theater manager, Johnny Dee, took Pacino to the El Morocco after the screening for a party in his honor.
Many other famous patrons included Dolly Parton, Wayne Newton, Al Pacino, the Beach Boys, Harry Belafonte, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Neil Sedaka, and Bette Midler, in addition to Worcester’s own Abbie Hoffman.
LISA LISA PERFORMING LIVE AT STUDIO 2000@EL MOROCCO
Changes in Ownership and Later Years
The neighborhood started changing after World War II. Perona died in 1961, and his son, Edwin, took over the proprietorship. Later that year, Edwin Perona sold the club to John Mills, who owned it for three years. It was then owned by Maurice Uchitel (1964-70) and Sheldon Hazeltine.
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Before taking over the El Morocco, Uchitel owned the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach for several years.
Subsequent Ventures
- In 1981, the Second Avenue wing operated briefly as a steakhouse.
- In 1992, it operated as a topless bar.
- In 1997, Desmond Wootton bought the property and opened the Night Owls nightclub.
El Morocco in Popular Culture
The club is a setting for a scene in the 1973 Arthur Laurents film The Way We Were. A fictionalized version of the club featuring distinctive zebra-striped banquettes is featured in the Woody Allen movie Cafe Society (2016).
In the “Lucy Is Envious” episode of I Love Lucy, which aired 3/29/1954, Lucy is reading the society section of the paper, learning that her old, and very wealthy school friend Cynthia, is in town.
John Perona, billed as the club's "owner and operator", appeared as a mystery guest on the television show What's My Line on April 6, 1958.
The iconic zebra-striped banquettes of El Morocco.
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Reviving the Spirit
A New York restaurant called Elmo, opened in 2001, claims to evoke the magic of the club. It doesn’t.
Event designer Preston Bailey transformed the ballroom of the preppy members-only River Club overlooking the East River into the famously fashionable El Morocco nightclub for PR powerhouse Scott Currie’s black-tie 60th birthday drinks/dinner/dancing extravaganza. Bailey, who has done events for Donna Karan and Oprah, left no detail out: enormous white palm tree and cactus statues flanked the room, blue and white zebra fabric was on every chair and he even reproduced the cursive El Morocco logo on ashtrays and matchbooks.
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