Racquet Club of Palm Springs

Last updated
Racquet Club of Palm Springs
Racquet Club of Palm Springs
Location2743 N. Indian Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, California
Coordinates 33°51′18″N116°32′46″W / 33.855°N 116.546°W / 33.855; -116.546
Owner Olivia Communities
Construction
Opened1934
Renovated1977, 1999
Closed2014
Construction cost$78,000 (1934 investment)
Architect Albert Frey
"Schiff House" and bungalows

The Racquet Club was a resort in Palm Springs, California, founded by actors Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy, which opened on December 15, 1934. [1] [2] [3] Originally designed to include two tennis courts, it expanded to include additional courts, the "Bamboo Room" bar, bungalows, and a swimming pool.

Contents

Overview

Julie Copeland was the longtime hostess of the club. Frank Bogert, who later served as mayor of Palm Springs, was an early manager of the club. [4] Champion players such as Arthur Ashe, Dick Savitt, Jimmy Connors, Roy Emerson, Chris Evert, Pancho Gonzales, Billie Jean King, Jack Kramer, Rod Laver, Bob Lutz, Gene Mako, Alice Marble, Charlie Pasarell, Bobby Riggs, Ken Rosewall, Pancho Segura, Stan Smith, Roscoe Tanner, Mike Franks, and Ellsworth Vines all played at the club. [5] The club also served as a gathering place and party venue for much of Hollywood's show business elite. [6] The club was the venue for the 1975 Davis Cup Americas Zone, [5] but in subsequent years, it suffered a decline. [1] After a massive fire on July 23, 2014, the building was demolished. [7]

The Jack Benny Program (also broadcast as The Jack Benny Show), a 1932–1965 radio and TV series, [8] featured a radio episode titled "Murder at the Racquet Club" on March 9, 1941. Charles Farrell guest-starred. [9] [10]

The Star Studded Ride, a 1954 short film, featured stars Gussie Moran and Dave Gillam at the Racquet Club. [11]

Pin-up photographer Bruno Bernard is credited with first photographing Marilyn Monroe at the Racquet Club in 1947, and it was at the club's pool where she met talent agent Johnny Hyde. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Benny</span> American comedic entertainer (1894–1974)

Jack Benny was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing the violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with a highly popular comedic career in radio, television, and film. He was known for his comic timing and the ability to cause laughter with a long pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated summation "Well! "

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Bellamy</span> American actor (1904–1991)

Ralph Rexford Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and awards, including a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Sunrise at Campobello as well as Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Awful Truth (1937).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coachella Valley</span> Valley in Southern California

The Coachella Valley is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic prominence of the city of Palm Springs. The valley extends approximately 45 mi (72 km) southeast from the San Gorgonio Pass to the northern shore of the Salton Sea and the neighboring Imperial Valley, and is approximately 15 mi (24 km) wide along most of its length. It is bounded on the northeast by the San Bernardino and Little San Bernardino Mountains, and on the southwest by the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Crosby</span> American singer and bandleader (1913–1993)

George Robert Crosby was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younger brother of famed singer and actor Bing Crosby. On TV, Bob Crosby guest-starred in The Gisele MacKenzie Show. He was also a regular cast member of The Jack Benny Program, on both radio and television, taking over the role of bandleader after Phil Harris' departure. Crosby hosted his own afternoon TV variety show on CBS, The Bob Crosby Show (1953–1957). Crosby received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for television and radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-century modern</span> Architectural, interior, product, and graphic design of the mid-20th century

Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was popular in the United States and Europe from roughly 1945 to 1970 during the United States's post-World War II period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Construction Company</span>

Alexander Construction Company was a Palm Springs, California, residential development company that built over 2,200 houses in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, between 1955 and 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hy Averback</span> American actor, producer and director (1920–1997)

Hyman JackAverback was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Farrell</span> American actor (1900–1990)

Charles David Farrell was an American film actor whose height was in the 1920s and 1930s and the Mayor of Palm Springs from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms My Little Margie and played himself in The Charles Farrell Show. He was also among the early developers of Palm Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm Springs Walk of Stars</span> Sidewalk stars honoring Palm Springs area personalities

The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes portions of Palm Canyon Drive, Tahquitz Canyon Way, La Plaza Court and Museum Drive. Among those honored are presidents of the United States, showbusiness personalities, literary figures, pioneers and civic leaders, humanitarians and Medal of Honor recipients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm Springs, California</span> City in Riverside County

Palm Springs is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately 94 square miles (240 km2), making it the largest city in Riverside County by land area. With multiple plots in checkerboard pattern, more than 10% of the city is part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation land and is the administrative capital of the most populated reservation in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza Theatre (Palm Springs, California)</span> Historic venue in Riverside County, California

The Plaza Theatre is a historic theater located at 128 South Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California. It is an anchor of La Plaza, a streetside collection of shops, one of the first planned shopping centers in Southern California, opened in 1936. From 1990 through 2014 the theatre housed The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies which was featured on ABC's 20/20, The Today Show, the New York Times, NPR and other media since its founding. There is currently a fundraising campaign to raise money to restore the historic building to its former glory and make it a theater that meets theatrical needs for today and tomorrow.

Mel Haber was the owner and proprietor of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's Restaurant in Palm Springs, California from 1975 until his death. He also served on the board of the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation for more than 25 years.

Gordon "Whitey" Mitchell was an American jazz bassist and television writer/producer. He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Bogert</span> American actor, rodeo announcer, author, and mayor of Palm Springs, California (1910–2009)

Frank Mitchell Bogert was an American cowboy, professional rodeo announcer, author, and politician best known as the longtime mayor of Palm Springs, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert Memorial Park</span> Cemetery in Cathedral City, California

Desert Memorial Park is a cemetery in Cathedral City, California, United States, near Palm Springs. Opening in 1956 and receiving its first interment in 1957, it is maintained by the Palm Springs Cemetery District. The District also maintains the Welwood Murray Cemetery in Palm Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Fessier</span> American journalist

Bruce Fessier is an American arts and entertainment journalist based in Rancho Mirage, California.

References

  1. 1 2 Meeks, Eric G. (2014) [2012]. The Best Guide Ever to Palm Springs Celebrity Homes. Horatio Limburger Oglethorpe. p. 31. ISBN   978-1-4793-2859-8.
  2. Niemann, Greg (2006). "Ch. 25 Racquet Club Becomes Hollywood Haven". Palm Springs Legends: creation of a desert oasis. San Diego, CA: Sunbelt Publications. p. 286. ISBN   978-0-932653-74-1. OCLC   61211290. (here for Table of Contents)
  3. Rippingale, Sally Presley (1984). The History of the Racquet Club of Palm Springs. Yucaipa, CA: US Business Specialties. p. 146. LCCN   85226534. OCLC   13526611.
  4. Rippingale, Sally Presley (1984). "The Thirties". The History of the Racquet Club of Palm Springs. Yucaipa, CA: US Business Specialties. p. 146. LCCN   85226534. OCLC   13526611.
  5. 1 2 Greer, Gloria (December 18, 2012). "Courtship Among the Pros". Palm Springs Life.
  6. Famous members and visitors to the Racquet Club included: Marilyn Monroe, Johnny Carson, Burt Bacharach, Kay Ballard, Jack Benny, Frank Bogert, Ray Bolger, Sonny Bono & Chaz Bono, Ernest Borgnine, Lloyd Bridges, George Burns, Hoagie Carmichael, Jackie Coogan, Mary Costa, Vic Damone, William Demarest, James Franciscus, Annette Funicello, Eva Gabor, Jolie Gabor & Magda Gabor, Janet Gaynor, Eydie Gormé, Bonita Granville, Shecky Greene, Dolores & Bob Hope, Dorothy Kirsten, Steve Lawrence, Frederick Loewe, Dean Martin, Mary Martin, Barbara Marx, Zeppo Marx, George Montgomery, Joe Namath, Bob Newhart, George Peppard, Lily Pons, Prince Rainier of Monaco, Victoria Principle, Jilly Rizzo, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Robert Stack, John V. Tunney, Ann Landers & Abigail Van Buren, Ken Venturi, Lawrence Welk, Jack Wrather, and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. See: Turner, Mary L. and Turner, Cal A. (photography) (2006). The Beautiful People of Palm Springs. Turner. ISBN   978-1-4116-3488-6 OCLC   704086361
  7. Brown, Renee (July 2, 2016). "Racquet Club attracted Hollywood to Palm Springs". The Desert Sun . Palm Springs: Gannett . Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  8. OTR.Network Library (Beta) Archived 2014-08-11 at the Wayback Machine and Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs – Series: "The Jack Benny Show", "The Canada Dry Program", "The Lucky Strike Program"
  9. "Palm Springs Home To Radio Veterans: Stars of 'Golden Era'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. December 18, 1974. Retrieved September 30, 2012. ...Benny played a sheriff who couldn't get into the exclusive Racquet Club to solve a murder. He wasn't a member. Benny's solution: 'Then throw the body over the fence.'
  10. Also aired April 18, 1948: OCLC   423623496
  11. Star Studded Ride (1954). Universal Pictures. Summary (from Library of Congress data): "A group of desert riders from Palm Springs, Calif., ... see Gussie Moran and Dave Gillam play a set of tennis at Charles Farrell's Racket Club .... Credits: Producer, Thomas Mead; director, William C. Menzies; script, Allan Kitchel, Jr.; narrator, Tex Antoine; music, Jack Shaindlin; editor, Ed Bartsch." LCCN   fi54-948
  12. von Sorge, Helmut (30 April 1984). "Palm Springs – das Goldene Kaff". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 3 October 2012.