Home Of ‘Queen For A Day’…Moulin Rouge, 6230 W. Sunset Blvd
Home Of ‘Queen For A Day’…Moulin Rouge, 6230 W. Sunset Blvd
You can see the main room of The Moulin Rouge in the first few seconds of this video. NBC carried the show weekday afternoons at 1:30 from 1956 till 1960 when it moved to ABC and stayed on till ’64.
‘Queen for a Day’ began on the Mutual Radio Network on April 30, 1945 in New York City before moving to Los Angeles a few months later. Believe it or not, this series is considered a forerunner of modern-day “reality television”. The show became popular enough that NBC increased its running time from 30 to 45 minutes to sell more commercials, at a then-premium rate of $4,000 per minute.
The venue was originally The Earl Carroll Theater and opened
December 26, 1938 for lavish Earl Carroll musical comedy revues. The exterior featured a 20-foot high neon silhouette of Beryl Wallace, one of the Earl Carroll girls. Over the entrance doors it said: “Through these portals pass the most beautiful girls in the world.”
The theater was sold following the deaths of Earl Carroll and Beryl Wallace in an airplane crash. In 1953 it re-opened as the Moulin Rouge nightclub. Martin & Lewis, Red Skelton and many of the top performers of the 40s and 50s performed here as it was the largest nightclub in Los Angeles and on any given night, you could find a who’s who of movie stars there.
The club has had many names since, but below is a link to a video clip from 1966 announcing the opening of the Hullabaloo Club…I think you’ll find the names and faces familiar! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfpLw1uh2ac&feature=player_embedded
I remember watching it with my mother in the summer when I was home from school.
The host of the clip is John Willis, who moved to Boston in the 70s and hosted “Good Morning” (later known as “Good Day” when it was syndicated) for years. He passed away about 10 years ago, but his son is morning DJ on WKLB Country 102.5 in Boston.
Celebrated my Jr. High grad nite at the Moulin Rouge. 1959.
Yes Tom, same theater. And for those who didn’t blink, it was also the home to that short-lived late-night Chevy Chase Show!
Was this also called The Aquarius Theatre for a while — Then Nick on Sunset?