Temple Tuesday: Shirley and Romanoff’s

The above undated image of Shirley is most likely from 1944 or 1945 and shows her standing outside of Romanoff’s restaurant in Beverly Hills. How do I know this? Just take a look at the door…or ask Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas, and either way, you’ll get your answer. It’s more fun to ask Rita as she typically gives additional tidbits!



This next shot shows even more fun details.



Notice the embroidered insignia from Shirley’s school, the Westlake School for Girls:



How do I know about the insignia? Duh…I asked Rita. After, I matched it to a 1941 Westlake yearbook cover:



Note the excited fan, with pen and paper in hand, hoping for an autograph from Shirley.



Speaking of autographs, below is one of Michael Romanoff, the man behind the restaurant. Actually, his name was Hershel Geguzin then he became Harry F. Gerguson and THEN he became Michael Romanoff, deceptively claiming to be a member of Russia’s royal House of Romanov/Romanoff.



Romanoff was a bit of a con man but did manage to run a very successful Beverly Hills restaurant, first located at  326 North Rodeo Drive (1941-1951, where Shirley is shown) and then to 140 South Rodeo Drive, which closed on New Year’s Eve, 1962. A few of the restaurant’s “claims to fame” include being the site of where the original Rat Pack (Boart, Bacall, Sid Luft, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, and Frank Sinatra) used to meet. The famous photo below shot by Slim Aarons was taken at Romanoff’s during their 1957 New Year’s Eve bash and features Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, and Jimmy Stewart. It was dubbed, “The Kings of Hollywood.”



From the digital collection of the Los Angeles Public Library comes this photo of 20th Century-Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck, his daughter Susan, and Mrs. Zanuck at a formal dinner dance given by the Zanucks for their daughter and her graduating Marlborough School classmates at Romanoff's.



…and this interior shot:



The most INFAMOUS photo from Romanoff’s shows Sophia Loren giving serious side-eye to Jayne Mansfield’s cleavage, circa 1957.



From Vanity Fair:

Newcomer Loren had just skyrocketed to stardom in Europe when she became the most photographed performer at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. The Beverly Hills party two years later was meant to officially welcome Loren to Hollywood. But the Italian bombshell found her spotlight unexpectedly stolen by Mansfield. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Loren confirms that, yes, she was thinking exactly what it looks like she was thinking. Paramount had organized a party for me. All of cinema was there, it was incredible. And then comes in Jayne Mansfield, the last one to come. For me, that was when it got amazing. . . . She came right for my table. She knew everyone was watching. She sat down. And now, she was barely . . . Listen. Look at the picture. Where are my eyes? I’m staring at her nipples because I am afraid they are about to come onto my plate. In my face you can see the fear. I’m so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow—BOOM!—and spill all over the table. Loren went on to explain that even though she was caught smiling or having a good time with Mansfield later in the evening, her mind was always on that dress. “No, no. Well, there may be other photos, but this is the picture. This is the one that shows how it was. This is the only picture.” But the veteran actress, who has more than 90 film credits to her name, says that even if she was thinking all those things, she doesn’t like being associated with the photo that launched a million side-eyes. “Actually, many, many times I am given this photo to autograph it. And I never do. I don’t want to have anything to do with that. And also out of respect for Jayne Mansfield because she’s not with us anymore.”

Gossip columnist Louella Parsons is seen in the shot below at right.



Surfing eBay I found this matchbook which shows a caricature of the door seen behind Shirley:



…and one of owner Romanoff:



As for the food, you can check out the menu:





Oh the prices…



One of the best-loved desserts was the Chocolate Soufflée. According to PBS SoCal this is the recipe:

Romanoffs Style Chocolate Soufflé, Serves 10

6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
4 drops vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 cups egg whites
1/4 tbs salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix egg yolks with sugar and vanilla until smooth. Boil milk and then slowly add yolk and sugar mixture, let boil for two minutes and then whisk. Put mixture into a standing mixer and beat for ten minutes.
In a different pan melt chocolate and then add slowly to the mixture. Whip egg whites with a dash of salt in a separate bowl until they form meringue peaks. Add ½ cup of sugar to the egg whites and then carefully fold them into the chocolate mixture. Spoon into buttered 6 ounce ramekin dishes and bake for 15 minutes. Finish with sprinkling of powdered sugar or whipped cream.

The same article also gave this little tidbit about Romanoff:

At Romanoffs the most celebrated phony of the 20th century played host, but perhaps his true secret was not his pretensions, but his kindness and humanity. He was legendary for his flamboyant generosity. When his friend Walter Wanger shot the man he suspected of sleeping with his wife, Romanoff had his favorite foods delivered to him in his jail cell every day on a silver tray.

Back to Rita, to bring this little rabbit-hole home. She informed me that the original location (where Shirley is photographed) became the Daisy Discotheque in the 1960s. From the Beverly Hills Public Library website:

In the early-1960s, the original Romanoff’s building became home to The Daisy, Beverly Hills first members-only private discotheque. Jack Hanson, best known as the founder of Jax, a popular Beverly Hills clothier, had purchased the property. The exclusive club with an initiation fee of $250 was limited to only 400. It quickly became a hot spot for celebrities. The small building contained 38 tables, pool tables, bar and a dance floor. Most nights the place was packed with luminaries such as Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Sonny and Cher, Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Mia Farrow, Natalie Wood, Paul Newman, Grace Kelly, Bobby Darin, and Peter Sellers dining, dancing, playing pool, or socializing. Items on the menu were named after celebrity members of the club. The Daisy was one of the first night clubs where Frank Sinatra was seen publicly with his soon-to-be third wife, Mia Farrow. On August 11, 1969, Diana Ross formally introduced the musical group the Jackson 5 at The Daisy. In 1974, the cast of the film “Young Frankenstein” dined al fresco on the Daisy patio and portions of the 1980 film “American Gigolo” starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton were also filmed on the front patio. It was also the place where Nicole Brown, then a waitress at The Daisy, met football star O.J. Simpson. The Daisy remained in operation as an eatery through much of the 1980s. The building was substantially remodeled in 1989 for use as Jax of Beverly Hills and again in later years for its current occupants the boutiques Saint Laurent and Moncler.

And that’s the end of this particular rabbit hole! See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Evolution of a Jester

Another Disneyland character casualty due to change was The Jester. This first shot shows the Jester, circa September 1958, standing in front of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant. This is the earliest shot in my collection showing this roving chap who entertained guests.

I’m not sure how many Jesters were employed at Disneyland, but arguably the most famous was Christopher Fair, shown below on his unicycle in 1959. He was hired out of high school (Chula Vista High School in San Diego) to do magic tricks and juggling at the Park; it was his idea to ride around on a unicycle. From the Disney History 101 Facebook page:

A young Christopher Fair’s first foray into the wonderful world of Walt Disney came during the mid-1950s, when he first appeared on the Mickey Mouse Club’s “Talent Roundup Days.” On these episodes, it became clear that young Christopher had a particular knack for performing magic tricks. Chris was more than a ‘fair’ magician, and Walt Disney kept an eye on this aspiring talent. Three years later, Christopher graduated from high school, and soon received a phone call informing him that Disneyland was seeking a Royal Court Jester to make magic happen in Fantasyland!



This 1960 Castmember spectacular was shot in front of Disneyland’s Main Street Train Station:



Zooming in you can see jester/juggler/unicycler Fair:



And a shot of his backside in front of the castle:



…performing for Annette Funicello above:



This June 1963 image shows him zipping by the Matterhorn Band on his unicycle outside the Castle, with the Sleeping Beauty Diorama sign barely visible on the right:



The shades and deadpan expression of this drummer are priceless…as is the Ticket Book Holder sign!



Another June 1963 image of Fair, with an amazed guest in the background.



Here’s a closeup of the stick he's holding; the mini-jester head on top is reminiscent of the Jack-in-the-box car antenna toppers. Which came first?!?



1963 was the last year that Fair worked at Disneyland. Another June 1963 shot below:



Another look at the mini-jester-on-a-stick:



There was at least one other Jester/Unicycle lad after Fair left, as seen in this 1965 image:



His Jester stick appears to be a different one from that of Christopher Fair:



If you want to see a Jester at Disneyland now, you need to visit the it’s a small world attraction:



This little model was on display at the Opera House in 2009:



See more Disneyland Fantasyland photos at my main website.