Finoccio's Club
Finocchio's was a nightclub and bar in San Francisco. The history of the club started as a speakeasy called the 201 Club in 1929, located at 406 Stockton Street. In 1933, with the repeal of prohibition, the club moved upstairs and started to offer female impersonation acts; after police raids in 1936, the club relocated to the larger 506 Broadway location. Finocchio's nightclub opened June 15, 1936, and was located in San Francisco, California, above Enrico's Cafe at 506 Broadway Street in North Beach. The term "Finocchio" is Italian for fennel but is often a negative term for homosexuals.
History
Joseph "Joe" Finocchio, the creator of the club, had the idea of a nightclub with female impersonators in costumes when a patron jokingly went on the stage of his club and did a routine that the crowd enjoyed. The club was not advertised as a gay club; it was advertised as a place for entertainment and fun. Both gay and straight performers worked there. The acts included varying ethnic-inspired performances such as geisha-style performances, which may have helped encourage tourists and contributed to the diverse, often racially diverse crowds, which was unusual during this time of segregation. In the days before gay liberation, female impersonator clubs provided semi-public social spaces for sexual minorities to congregate.
Finocchio's often featured traditional drag, with performers in gowns singing or lip-synching to top 40 ballads.
Finocchio's was "off-limits" during World War II, not due to the entertainment, but rather for selling liquor to the military outside the authorized hours of sales. On December 31, 1943, the ban was lifted after Joe Finocchio and other bar owners signed an agreement to limit liquor sales to military personnel between 5 pm and midnight.
Finocchio's was a huge favorite with tourists from the 1930s to the early 1990s. Joe Finocchio died in January 1986. Eve Finocchio, Joe's widow, decided to close the club on November 27, 1999, because of a significant increase in the monthly rent and dwindling audience attendance.
Influence
A 14-page program, "Finocchio's: America's Most Unusual Nightclub", was published by Zevin-Present, circa 1947. The Finocchio shows published playbills.
Celebrities who attended shows at Finocchio’s throughout their many years of operation included Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Lena Horne , Joan Crawford, Barbra Streisand, Mae West, Carol Channing, William Haines, Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Roddy McDowall, Liza Minnelli, Cher, and Bette Midler among others.
After the 1999 closure, another San Francisco establishment called Harry Denton's Starlight Room started a drag show in 2006 called "Sunday's a Drag," a female impersonation show modeled after Finocchio's. These shows are hosted by Donna Sachet.
Notable acts
Artists who performed at Finocchio's included (in alphabetical order):
- David de Alba, often dressed as Judy Garland or Liza Minnelli.
- Vaughn Auldon
- Jim Bailey, performed at Finocchio's in the 1970s.
- Kenny Bee (aka. Kenneth Bachelor)
- Bobby Belle
- Francis Blair
- Ray Bourbon
- Aleshia Brevard, her Marilyn Monroe impression became well enough known that Marilyn Monroe came to see her perform.
- Lenny Bruce, comedian
- LaVern Cummings
- Francis David
- Val DeVere
- Frank Doran
- Ray Francis
- Nicki Gallucci
- Candi Guerrero
- Tex Hendrix
- Sir Lady Java
- Bobby Johnson
- Pussy Katt
- Brian Keith
- Bambi Lake
- Milton La Maire
- Lestra La Mont
- Jeri-Lane
- Paul La Ray
- Harvey Lee (aka. Harvey Wilson Goodwin)
- Del LeRoy
- Li-Kar, performed a "Geisha dance" and was also a designer and artist, contributing visuals to the Finocchio's playbill.
- John Lonas
- Johnny Mangum
- Katherine Marlow
- Jackie Maye
- Kelly Michaels, as Madonna in the late 1980s.
- Mike Michelle
- Karyl Norman, worked at Finocchino's circa the 1930s, a former well-known vaudeville performer.
- Lucian Phelps ("a Sophie Tucker expert", or "Male Sophie Tucker") would wear Sophie Tucker's actual gowns and early in their career performed vaudeville.
- Jackie Philips
- Charles Pierce
- Russell Reed
- Libby Reynolds
- Craig Russell
- Lori Shannon[
- Francis Stillman
- William Stoffler
- Holotta Tymes
- Carroll Wallace
- Holly White
Enrico's Cafe
Beneath Finocchio's Nightclub, (at street level} was Enrico's Cafe. It was a restaurant where the owners of all of the other clubs along Broadway 'Hung out'. Duke Skinner, Ronny London, and John Loudin owned almost every club in North Beach. The large round table to the left of the main door was 'their table' and was used to 'hold court'.
External links
https://zagria.blogspot.com/2010/01/finocchios-nightclub.html
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