Stork Club - Celebrities

Celebrities

The activities of the "boldface" celebrities at the Stork Club were chronicled by the "orchidaceous oracle of cafe society", Lucius Beebe, in his syndicated column "This New York". Notable guests through the years included:

  • Lucille Ball
  • Tallulah Bankhead
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Frank Costello
  • Bing Crosby
  • the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (once given the cold shoulder there by Winchell)
  • Brenda Frazier
  • Dorothy Frooks
  • Judy Garland
  • the Harrimans
  • Ernest Hemingway
  • Judy Holliday
  • J. Edgar Hoover
  • Grace Kelly
  • the Kennedys
  • Dorothy Kilgallen
  • Dorothy Lamour (who was turned down as a club singer by Billingsley early in her career)
  • Robert M. McBride
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • the Nordstrom Sisters
  • Erik Rhodes
  • the Roosevelts
  • Ramón Rivero (Diplo)
  • J. D. Salinger
  • Frank Sinatra
  • Elizabeth Taylor
  • Gene Tierney
  • Gloria Vanderbilt

Celebrities who were banned from the club included Milton Berle, Elliott Roosevelt, Humphrey Bogart, and Jackie Gleason.

The news of Grace Kelly's engagement to Prince Rainier of Monaco broke at the Stork. The couple was at the club on Tuesday, January 3, 1956, as the rumors flew. Veteran columnist Jack O'Brian passed Kelly a note, saying that reliable sources indicated she was about to become engaged to the Prince. Kelly replied she could not answer the question posed by O'Brian until Friday.

Those who were snubbed did not always depart quietly. When Jack Benny invited long-time friend, writer and performer Goodman Ace to lunch with him at the Stork, Ace arrived at the club first and received the "cold shoulder" because he was not recognized by the staff. When Benny arrived and asked for Ace, he was told that he "became tired of waiting and left". Soon Ace's mailbox was full of messages from the Stork, which he proceeded to answer. Their message about the club's wonderful air conditioning brought a response from Ace that after having received an icy reception there, he was well aware of the climate. Billingsley responded with a gift of some bow ties; Ace answered that he needed some socks to match so he might be turned down there again in style.

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