The Groucho Club | |
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General information | |
Address | 45 Dean Street |
Town or city | London |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°30′47″N0°08′03″W / 51.5131°N 0.1341°W |
The Groucho Club is a private members' club founded in 1985 and located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mainly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. [1]
The club's facilities include three bars, two restaurants, a snooker room, an enclosed terrace, 20 bedrooms for members or their guests and four event rooms, which are available for hire. [2]
The club opened on 5 May 1985. Its name was in reference to Groucho Marx's saying he did not want to be a member of any club that would have him. [3] [4]
The club was owned by Graphite Capital from 2006 to 2015, when it was sold to a group of investors led by Isfield Investments and Alcuin Capital Partners. [5] In 2022, the Groucho Club was purchased through Manuela and Iwan Wirth's Art Farm, which owns a group of boutique hotels and restaurants, for £40 million ($48.9 million). [6]
In March 2024, the club announced that it would be opening its inaugural branch outside of London at Bretton Hall near Wakefield in Yorkshire. [7]
Anyone who is proposed by two existing members may apply for membership, but applications are favoured from those working in the creative side of media and the arts. [8]
Prominent members of the club have included Cara Delevingne, Nick Grimshaw, Harry Styles, Caroline Flack, [8] Jarvis Cocker, Lily Allen, Melvyn Bragg, Stephen Fry, Noel Gallagher, Luke Pasqualino and Rachel Weisz. [9]
The club has a large collection of contemporary art, curated by Nicki Carter, a graduate of Goldsmiths' during the YBA period, erstwhile waitress and now the longest serving employee. [10]
Launched in 2010 as 'the antidote to other awards', The Groucho Club Maverick Award celebrates people who have broken the mould in their field by challenging and making a significant contribution to culture and the arts in the previous 12 months, either in the UK or internationally. [11]
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in film and vaudeville and on television, radio, and the stage. He was a master of quick wit and is considered one of America's greatest comedians.
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' fourteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively.
The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by Carte's family for over a century. The Savoy was the first hotel in Britain to introduce electric lights throughout the building, electric lifts, bathrooms in most of the lavishly furnished rooms, constant hot and cold running water and many other innovations. Carte hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as chef de cuisine; they established an unprecedented standard of quality in hotel service, entertainment and elegant dining, attracting royalty and other rich and powerful guests and diners.
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The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex opened on 28 April 2000 and was officially opened on 12 October 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II.
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Hillcrest Country Club is a private country club located on the west side of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1920, it is a historically Jewish country club and was established at a time when Jewish members were excluded from other elite social clubs in the city.
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Iwan Wirth is a Swiss art dealer and the president and co-founder of Hauser & Wirth, a contemporary art gallery.
Richard Allan Caring is a British businessman. He initially built a business, International Clothing Designs, supplying Hong Kong-manufactured fashion to UK retailers. In 2004 he diversified his business interest into property, restaurants and nightclubs. He is the chairman of Caprice Holdings, which owns and operates The Ivy chain of restaurants.
ICG Enterprise Trust plc is a large investment company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. In particular it is one of the largest investment trusts on the stock exchange with a market capitalisation of £820 million as at 27 November 2023.
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Jamie Barber is a British restaurateur, founder and CEO of Hush restaurant in Mayfair, London, the Hache Burgers chain and the Cabana Brasilian Barbecue group. He also founded and co-owned restaurants including Villandry, Japanese restaurant Sake No Hana, and Italian casual dining brand, Kitchen Italia.
Hawksmoor is a British steakhouse and cocktail bar chain started in 2006.
Anita Ruth Zabludowicz is a British contemporary art collector and philanthropist. She is married to Poju Zabludowicz.
George is a private members club at 87-88 Mount Street in London's Mayfair district. It was established by Mark Birley in 2001. Birley sold the club with his four other Mayfair clubs, Annabel's, Mark's Club, Harry's Bar, and the Bath & Racquets Club, to Richard Caring in 2007. The club is dog friendly.
Harry's Bar is a private members dining club at 26 South Audley Street in London's Mayfair district.
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