Leroy Griffith

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Leroy Griffith

Griffith and Britt Ekland in 1967 during filming of The Night They Raided Minsky's
Born Leroy Charles Griffith
(1932-03-26) March 26, 1932
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, U.S.
Residence Miami, Florida
Nationality American
Occupation Theater owner, film producer

Leroy Charles Griffith (born March 26, 1932) is an American theater and nightclub proprietor and film producer. He has owned and operated more than 50 adult entertainment theaters across the U.S., dating from the burlesque era of the 1950s to modern day.[1] During burlesque's heyday, he was a prolific producer of live stage shows featuring showgirls, strippers, comedians, and other stars of the era.

His business endeavors in the adult entertainment industry have put him at odds with municipalities, and he has taken legal action, often successfully, to be able to operate his establishments.

Early life

Griffith was born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri to Floyd R. and Stella Griffith. His father was a theater owner. At 17, the younger Griffith left for St. Louis and a job at the Grand Burlesque Theater. "In those days," he said in a 1993 interview, "they had probably 30 people in the cast, a chorus line, an orchestra, two comics, a singer, a vaudeville act, and then five exotic dancers. It was a good show."[2]

Griffith discovered that any profit to be made was not from the show itself but from the concession stand: "That's where I was. In between acts, the pitchman would sell prize packages, candy, stuff like that. Concessions was where the real money was, just like it is with regular movies today."[2] After working his way up to concession manager, Griffith began saving money, his eye set on greater aspirations.

By his mid-twenties he had acquired his first theater, in Detroit.

Career

Identifying "legitimate" theaters that were going out of business, Griffith began buying them. "These places would go under," he said in a 1993 interview, "and I'd go in and take over and make them successful with an adult policy."[2] He soon acquired theaters throughout Ohio and from Chicago to New York City.

Coney Island's Shore Theater in New York

Theaters he has owned and operated, been an ownership partner in, managed, or been associated with include these:


The Midwest & Northeast (1950s- )

Baltimore

The Paris
The Ritz Theater in the Ybor City section of Tampa, Fla.
The Folly Burlesque Theater in Kansas City, Mo., in 1973
Manhattan's Hudson Theater

Chicago

The Gayety (formerly located at 9205 S. Commercial Avenue) was originally opened in 1908 as a vaudeville theater, later becoming a movie house. It was demolished following a fire in 1982.[3]
Minsky's Rialto Theater (formerly located at 336 S. State Street, two blocks from the The Gayety) opened in 1917 as a venue for vaudeville and movie, and could seat over 1,500. Later called the Loop End Theater and the Downtown Theater, the Rialto was a burlesque house by the 1930’s and closed in 1953. Demolished in 1954, it is the site today of Pritzker Park.[4]

Indiana

The Little Theater (Fort Wayne)
The Ritz (3422 N. Illinois Street, Indianapolis) opened in 1927 with seating of 1,400. Considered one of the leading movie houses in the city, burlesque took over in 1962; it was also known as the Northside Theater from 1958 to 1970. Remodeled, it became a rock concert venue and resumed its former name, but closed in 1972.[5]

Kansas City, Missouri

The Folly Burlesque is a theater at 300 W. 12th Street that first opened in 1900 as The Standard.[6] Following a renovation in the 1980s, it remains in use today.
The Strand (located at 3544 Troost Avenue) was built in 1917 and is the oldest still-operating theater in the city. It began showing adult movies in the '70s.[7]

Michigan

The Garden Theater (Detroit), located at 3929 Woodward Avenue, opened in 1912 and, a century later, was undergoing an estimated $14 million makeover to become the 1,300-seat Woodward Theater.[8][9]
The National (Detroit), located at 118 Monroe Street and renamed The Gayety.[10]
The Michigan (Flint) was a 1,500-seat theater located at 1614 S. Saginaw Street.[11]

New York City

The Gayety (located at 2nd Avenue and 12th Street, in Manhattan)
The Hudson (located at 141 W. 44th Street in midtown Manhattan) is a former Broadway theater that is a conference center today. In 1954 it became home to the original version of The Tonight Show with host Steve Allen.[12]
The Mayfair Burlesque Theater (located at 235 West 46th Street) was a theater in the basement of the Paramount Hotel. From 1938 to 1951, theatrical impresario and song writer Billy Rose operated Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub there.
The Metropolitan (formerly located at 241 East 14th Street)[13]
The Shore (located at 1301 Surf Avenue in Brooklyn, across from Coney Island)[14]

Newark, New Jersey

The Luxor Follies Theater (located at 264 Market Street) was a 590-seat, one-screen theater, since demolished.[15]
The Treat Theater (located at 68 Orange Street) was a 750-seat, two-screen theater, later renamed the Cameo Twin Cinema XXX.[16] It closed in 2010.

Ohio

The Gayety (Cincinnati)
The Imperial (Cincinnati) was a theater at 282 McMicken Avenue that presented adult films and later, in the '60s, live burlesque shows.[17]
The University Theater (Cleveland) was a 900-seat theater located at 10606 Euclid Avenue. It closed in 1982 and was later demolished.[18]
The Little Art Theater (Columbus), located at 2523 N. High Street, opened in the silent picture era as The Piccadilly, eventually being renamed The Olentangy and The World Theater. It was an adult movie theater from the '50s to its demolition in 1976.[19]
The Livingston (Columbus), which Griffith renamed The Gayety, was a 1,000-seat theater located at 1567 East Livingston Avenue. As of late 2012, there were plans to renovate it.[20]
The Parsons (Columbus) was an 830-seat theater located at 1291 S. Parsons Avenue.[21]
The Ohio (Steubenville)
The Gayety (Toledo), located at 322 N. Summit Street.[22]
The Town Hall Theater (Toledo), at Orange and St. Clair Streets, was built c. 1887 and demolished in 1968.[23]
The Strand (Youngstown; formerly located in Central Square) opened in 1916, closed as a movie house in the 1950s, then reopened featuring live burlesque and adult movies. It has since been demolished.[24]

Philadelphia

The Aardvark (located at 4731 Germantown Avenue) opened in 1915 as the Cayuga Theater, with a seating capacity of 460. It closed in 1955 and was demolished.[25][26]
The Howard (located at 2614 N. Front Street) opened in 1925 with a seating capacity of 900 and closed in 1953; later demolished. In the early '60s, it operated with an adults-only policy and advertised as the “Howard Follies.”[27]
A promotional poster for a live burlesque show.

The Pacific Northwest

Portland, Oregon

The Capitol (located at 626 SW 4th Street) was a one-screen, 850-seat theater that opened in 1928. It was renamed The Blue Mouse Theater in 1958. Famous stripper Tempest Storm co-owned and operated The Capitol in the 1950s.[28] [29]

The South

Florida

The Little Theater (Jacksonville) is a theater located at 2032 San Marco Boulevard.[30] Its landlord, Griffith said in a 1993 interview, "was the county sheriff" at the time.
The Ritz (Tampa) is a 1,000-seat theater located at 1503 E. 7th Avenue in the Ybor City section of Tampa. Built in 1917 as The Rivoli, it expanded in the 1930s as The Ritz and showed movies until 1982. It reopened as The Ritz in 2008, used for concerts and special events.[31]
The Casino Theater (Tampa) is a 700-seat theater located at 1536 7th Avenue in the Ybor City section of Tampa. It opened in 1912, closed in the 1970s, then was renovated and reopened c. 2000. It is home today to the Tampa Improv Comedy Club.[32]

New Orleans

The Carrollton (located at 4710 S. Carrollton Avenue) was a classic Art Deco-style, 750-seat theater that suffered water damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 but which has since been refurbished as a banquet hall.[33]
The Cine Royale (located at 912 Canal Street; also known as Wonderland and Center Theater). It became an adult theater after 1975 and closed in 1997.[34]
Sinerama (formerly located at 3615 Tulane Avenue) was originally known as Mike Todd's Cinerama, and was also known as Martin Cinerama, Trans-Lux Cinerama, and Cinerama Adult. Under Griffith's management, it was also known as The Pussycat. It was demolished in 2001.

Washington, D.C.

The Central (formerly located at 425-433 9th Street NW),[35] later renamed by Griffith The Gayety Burlesque. It opened in 1911 as The Imperial, was renamed Moore’s Garden Theatre in 1913, then became The Central in 1922. It showed live burlesque from the 1950s to its closing and 1973 demolition.


South Florida (1961- )

"I couldn't even use the word burlesque."[36]

— Griffith, recalling local regulations in '60s-era Miami Beach
With Sammy Davis, Jr. (c. 1966).

"One time Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Belle Barth came into the Gayety Theater when I was running it. We had a Chinese dinner together, and then started watching the coming attractions for an X-rated film that was going to be running. For fun we shut the sound off and the three of them -- Frank, Sammy, and Belle -- improvised the sounds to go along with the scenes. They were all moaning and groaning and making funny noises. It was hysterical."[37]

— Griffith, in Miami Beach Memories: A Nostalgic Chronicle of Days Gone By by Joanne Biondi (2006)

On a visit to Miami Beach in 1961, he noticed the Paris Theater at 550 Washington Avenue was for sale. He leased it, then bought it, originally staging burlesque, including Tempest Storm. But back in the early '60s, Griffith didn't call it "burlesque"; doing so would have been against the law. "You couldn't even use the word," he said in a 1993 interview. "I had one big stage show called 'The Top Stars of Burlesque,' with Blaze Starr and all these people. I told the city, 'It's not burlesque. It's the top stars of burlesque. There's no law against the people of burlesque.' The city decided they'd fix me by charging me $1,000 for a special license to do the show. I said fine. I was going to have to pay $1,600 for a regular permit anyway."[2]

Griffith continued to open new venues. In addition to bringing in live acts, he began showing movies. He also began producing films and exhibiting them in his theaters.

Theaters and clubs he has owned and operated in South Florida include these:

Adam and Eve (Fort Lauderdale)
The Atlas (formerly located at 1446 W. 49th Street, Hialeah)[38]
The Boulevard Theater is a Miami theater at 7770 Biscayne Boulevard that has variously been a strip club, night club, and adult theater.[39] Bought by Griffith for $165,000 in 1970 and renamed The Pussycat, he created three different theaters within: The Pussycat, the center theater, was a 900-seat theater that showed adult films like Deep Throat; The Kitty Cat featured female performers; and The Tomcat featured male performers. Its other names over the years have included Pussycat II, Club Madonna II, and Black Gold. It is now Wonderland.
The Cameo (Miami Beach) is a theater at 1445 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach.[40]
The Carib was a Miami Beach theater located at 230 Lincoln Road.[41] "I used to do [benefit] shows at the Carib, which seated over 2,000 people," Griffith said in a 1993 interview, "and donated the theater, staff, advertising, and helped get talent. This all went to the widows and orphans of the firemen and the policemen."[2]
The Dixie was a 1,000-seat, one-screen theater located at 222 NE First Avenue in downtown Miami. It opened in 1948 and was renamed The Rio in 1965.[42]
The Flamingo was a theater at 320 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.[43]
The Gayety Burlesque Theatre Lounge was a Miami Beach burlesque theater at 2004 Collins Avenue. It has also been known as Deja Vu and SoBe Showgirls.
The Monroe (Key West; formerly located at 612 Duval Street)[44]
The Cameo in Miami Beach
The Paramount was a theater at 257 East Flagler Street in downtown Miami.[45]
The Paris was a Miami Beach theater at 550 Washington Avenue[46] and was Griffith's first acquisition upon settling in the area in 1961. He originally leased it, then bought it, and staged burlesque there, including Tempest Storm. He sold it in 1986, then bought it back after its owners failed with the nightclub Paris Moderne, and later sold it again.[2]
The Pussycat is a theater in Hollywood, Fla.
The Rex Art Theater was a 981-seat theater at 7920 NE Second Avenue in Miami. It originally opened in 1926 as the Rosetta Theater.[47]
The Roxy was a Miami Beach adult movie theater at 1527 Washington Avenue.[48] Griffith generated publicity there when, in 1967, he publicly invited city officials to a screening of a film, Man and Wife. "It was advertised as the art of making love 49 different ways," he said in a 1993 interview. "I don't remember inviting them, but I vaguely remember the incident. I think that was the first hard-core movie ever shown down here."[2] According to press accounts at the time, the officials seemed to think the movie was boring, but not obscene.[2] Later, Griffith turned the Roxy into Club Madonna, which it remains today. Griffith successfully withstood an attempt by attorneys for the pop singer Madonna to prevent him from using the name.[36]
The 21st Street Theater was a Miami Beach theater at 21st Street and Collins Avenue.[49]
The 79th Street Twin II Cinema was a Miami adult theater at 137 NE 79th Street.[50]
Griffith (far right) with cinematographer Manuel Conde, Miami Beach attorney Ben Cohen, and director Herb Jeffries on the set of Mundo depravados (1967).
Griffith (sitting) signs burlesque entertainer Tempest Storm (far left) to a film contract (1967).

Film producer

Griffith produced Bell, Bare and Beautiful (1963), Lullaby of Bareland (1964), Mundo depravados (1967), and My Third Wife, George (1968).[51]

Film appearances

Griffith played brief cameo parts in some of his films. His recollections of the burlesque era are featured in Leslie Zemeckis's 2010 documentary, Behind the Burly Q.[52]

Controversies

vs. The City of Hialeah, Fla., and Raul Martinez

Griffith turned Hialeah's Atlas Cinema into an X-rated theater in August 1985, outraging Mayor Raul Martinez. "The issue is not censorship," Martinez said at the time. "It is morality. They will bring in derelicts, the sick of mind. They're like herpes -- wherever they go, everybody gets infected. We don't need that."[2]

The day after opening, in a pre-emptive strike, Griffith's lawyers sued the city, charging that a Hialeah zoning ordinance banning porn cinemas within 500 feet of residences was unconstitutional. His court challenge failed and the theater was ordered shut down.[2]

"If I was a judge taking bribes, a banker trying to swindle my customers out of bank funds, a doctor selling drugs, I might feel bad. But seeing a nude girl? There's nothing immoral about that. And there are more judges and lawyers and cops and bankers in jail than theater owners. I'm not hurting anyone or stealing or anything like that."[2]

— Griffith, in a 1993 interview

vs. The City of Miami

In 1987, city officials confiscated movie projectors, a refreshment stand, and other property from Griffith's Pussycat Theater. He had just won a court fight with the city over his right to exhibit a film called Three Ripening Cherries. He was accused of owing more than $50,000 in fines dating back to 1978. The city bungled part of the collection process in a technical snafu, so Griffith ended up accountable for only $21,400.[2]

An auction of his theater equipment was conducted to satisfy that debt. The winning bid came in at $13,500, from Griffith himself, effectively reducing his penalties by another $8,000.[2]

vs. Miami-Dade County

Between 1976 and 1987, the Pussycat was raided 18 times. Efforts by the county to charge him with a felony for screening two obscene movies within 5 years collapsed when Griffith's attorney pointed out that too much time had elapsed between incidents. When prosecutors then indicated they might like to charge him with a simple misdemeanor for the more recent indiscretion (showing the film American Babylon), his attorney argued it had been two years since that film had been confiscated, thus denying Griffith his right to a speedy trial. The judge agreed and threw out the case.[2]

In April 1987, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office filed a ten-page complaint demanding that the Pussycat be shut down. This time the charge was brought under the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. Because the Pussycat had been raided 18 times in eleven years, prosecutors contended, it must be an ongoing criminal enterprise. "That's not what the RICO Act was put in for," Griffith retorted. A judge agreed and dismissed the complaint.[2]

vs. The City of Miami Beach

Confronting Miami Beach city commissioners in 2009 on the city's ban of alcohol in nightclubs featuring nudity.

In late 1989, after the cities of Fort Lauderdale and North Miami Beach outlawed alcohol in establishments featuring nude entertainers, Miami Beach officials—led by Mayor Alex Daoud—feared strip club operators would gravitate to their city and that Miami Beach "would be overrun with sex-mad drunken men and immoral, naked women."[2]

The imminent debut of the Gold Club, whose owners had intended to introduce nudity and alcohol in their new building on 5th Street, spurred the City Commission to pass local legislation prohibiting such a mix.[2]

Griffith announced that if the Gold Club was allowed to open with liquor and nudity, he would move his hard-core films from the Gayety Theater (then known as Deja Vu) to the Roxy, which then was showing second-run movies for general audiences. In turn, he would convert the Gayety into an upscale nude bar to compete with the Gold Club.

Daoud said, "We don't have to sit idly by and watch [adult clubs] open up. It would be detrimental to the growth of our city that has been developing so nicely."[2]

The city passed an ordinance in January 1990 prohibiting not only nudity and alcohol sharing the same room, but also banning any nudity near schools and churches. The Gold Club did open with nude dancers, but soon folded under the handicap of the no-liquor policy.

"There's nothing immoral about the human body. Evil's all in the mind."[2]

— Griffith, in a 1993 interview

Griffith, meanwhile, successfully changed the Gayety into the all-nude, alcohol-free Deja Vu (without local competition), and turned the Roxy into an adult theater, Club Madonna. Daoud was removed from office a year later after being implicated on unrelated corruption charges for which he was later convicted.[2]

Since the early 2000s, Griffith has been involved in legal disputes with the City of Miami Beach over its 1989/1990 ordinances banning the sale of alcohol in any establishment featuring nudity. He sued several city officials in federal court, alleging they conspired to deny him a fair hearing before the City Commission after he sued the wife of one commissioner for libel, slander, and defamation after she waged a campaign against him, claiming, among other things, that he was a tax cheat.[53][54] [55]

With showgirl and Miss Nude World Vanna Lace at one of his clubs.

References

  1. ↑ Norman, Forrest (February 2, 2006). "The Battle of Biscayne". The Miami New Times. Retrieved 20 August 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 Baker, Greg (January 27, 1993). "The Pioneer of Porn". The Miami New Times. Retrieved 19 August 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Gayety Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Rialto Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Ritz Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Folly Theater". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  7. ↑ "Strand Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  8. ↑ Beshouri, Paul (July 16, 2013). "Restored Garden Theater Predicts September Debut". curbed.com. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  9. ↑ "Garden Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  10. ↑ "National Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Michigan Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 1 October 2013. 
  12. ↑ "Hudson Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Metropolitan Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  14. ↑ "Shore Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Luxor Theater". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 3 December 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Cameo Twin Cinema XXX". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 3 December 2013. 
  17. ↑ "Imperial Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  18. ↑ "University Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Little Art Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  20. ↑ "Livingston Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  21. ↑ "Parsons Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  22. ↑ "Gayety Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  23. ↑ Hebert, Lou (February 20, 2010). "A Summer’s Night In Downtown Toledo". The Toledo Gazette. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  24. ↑ "Strand Theater". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  25. ↑ "Cayuga Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 
  26. ↑ McGlinchey, Dennis. "The Theatres of Germantown". www.friendsofimmaculate.com. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 
  27. ↑ "Howard Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2 September 2013. 
  28. ↑ "Blue Mouse Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 
  29. ↑ "Capitol Theatre". silentera.com. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 
  30. ↑ "Little Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  31. ↑ "Ritz Theater". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  32. ↑ "Casino Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  33. ↑ "Carrollton Theater". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 1 October 2013. 
  34. ↑ "Cine Royale Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  35. ↑ "Central Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Wakefield, Rebecca (May 2, 2002). "Strip Wars". The Miami New Times. Retrieved 19 August 2013. 
  37. ↑ Biondi, Joanne (2006). Miami Beach Memories: A Nostalgic Chronicle of Days Gone By. Guilford, Conn.: The Globe Pequot Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0762740666. 
  38. ↑ "Atlas Twin". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  39. ↑ "Boulevard Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  40. ↑ "Cameo Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  41. ↑ "Carib Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  42. ↑ "Rio Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 
  43. ↑ "Flamingo Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  44. ↑ "Monroe Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  45. ↑ "Paramount Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 4 September 2013. 
  46. ↑ "Paris Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  47. ↑ "Rex Art Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 29 November 2013. 
  48. ↑ "Roxy Theatre". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  49. ↑ "21st Street Twin". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 26 September 2013. 
  50. ↑ "79th Street Twin II Cinema". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 3 December 2013. 
  51. ↑ "Leroy C. Griffith". Retrieved 21 October 2013. 
  52. ↑ "Behind the Burly Q". imdb.com. Retrieved 21 October 2013. 
  53. ↑ Branham-Bailey, Charles (August 8, 2013). "For Pete's Sake, Give Madonna A Trial Liquor Period Already". The Miami SunPost. Retrieved 19 August 2013. 
  54. ↑ Smiley, David (September 25, 2013). "Club Madonna sues Miami Beach, again". The Miami Herald. Retrieved 1 October 2013. 
  55. ↑ Branham-Bailey, Charles (November 14, 2013). "If It Walks and Quacks Like One, It's Extortion". The Miami SunPost. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 

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