Ciro's Hollywood: The Nightclub Where Old Hollywood Lived

On the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, there was a nightclub that defined Hollywood glamour in the 1940s and 50s. Ciro's was where the stars came after the cameras stopped rolling — to drink, to dance, to perform, and to be seen in the company of other people who were equally famous.

The Club

Ciro's opened in 1940 on the Sunset Strip and immediately became the most fashionable nightclub in Hollywood. The club was owned by Billy Wilkerson, the founder of the Hollywood Reporter, who understood that a great nightclub needed great talent, great food, and the right clientele — and who delivered all three.

The performers who took the stage at Ciro's read like a golden age hall of fame: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Nat King Cole, Carmen Miranda, and dozens of others. The audience was equally star-studded — on any given night, the tables at Ciro's might hold Humphrey Bogart, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, and half the cast of whatever was filming at the major studios.

The Scene

Ciro's was more than a nightclub — it was a social institution. In an era when Hollywood operated as a closed world, with its own hierarchies and rituals, Ciro's was one of the places where that world gathered and performed for itself. The gossip columnists were always there. The photographers were always outside. And the stars, who spent their working lives being watched, came to Ciro's to watch each other.

The End

Ciro's closed in 1957 as the Sunset Strip's entertainment landscape shifted and the old Hollywood studio system began to break down. The building later became the Comedy Store, one of the most important comedy clubs in America — a fitting second act for a room that had always been about performance.

The Ciro's Hollywood Nightclub Retro T-shirt and Rocks Glass are for everyone who loves old Hollywood. Find them in the Los Angeles collection.