![]() Lenny wasn’t happy about that … but he had a smile on his face when he discussed it with me. Women were crazy about him … we were together at that time … and I remember ‘accidentally’ spilling an entire tray of French 75’s on a girls lap … her dress was crepe and it shrunk. Mickey Montana was the singer there (his dad Tony was the bartender at The Whiskey) he was very handsome and had a gorgeous voice ala Johnny Mathis … BUT, he only knew the lyrics to maybe 10 songs! ![]() Some time after The Whiskey, I worked for a short time at THE TRIP, a very cool club that Lenny Feldman (from The Whiskey) opened, it had a travel theme and I wore a stewardess outfit. They were all supremely talented and fun … great memories. Here’s a few photos I love … the gang from Shears & Cheers at the 1962 xmas party, Fred is in the stripe shirt with glasses, my hair guy was Sam, the handsome one on the right with light sweater, leaning on the table … I’m the one with the huge hair in the center of the xmas tree, next to Omar…Īnd a few of the ‘girls’ … Gayle Sherman became very famous, she’s the one with the dramatic pose at left … Cari Saunders is the blonde closeup, and I just can’t remember the name of the beautiful blonde with the trophy. Richard Saunders was the bartender, one of the funniest men I’ve ever known … and a very good friend for a long time, he actually visited me in LA many years later when I was married to Michael. it was a very big deal for my mom, she was pretty conservative, my dad was always up for anything. We took my parents there one weekend, they had a fantastic time …. Eventually we became good friends with a few of them … they all worked at THE NIGHT LIFE on State Street, the best drag show in Chicago with the most gorgeous ‘queens’ ever. He had a diverse clientele and quite a few of them were female impersonators. (Here I am, sitting in Omar’s, waiting for him to finish so we could go home) It was the beginning of mens hairstyling and Omar was the best. I sat next to Barbra Streisand under the dryer … Fred Glaser was the owner and created many of her iconic hairdos … he actually has credit on her early albums and films. when I was still married to Omar, we had a mens hair salon on the ground floor of SHEARS & CHEERS on Rush St., it was the hottest salon in the city. I think the place remained open, but not sure for how long or who owned it. The rumor was “the mob” wanted the parking lot concession and the brothers wouldn’t give it to them. I’m not sure of the time frame … but some time afterwards Ronnie and George both left Chicago … I don’t know if they sold the place. I remember management telling the band to keep playing … and louder … while all this was happening. There was a 3rd man in an overcoat just standing there watching and muttering. George got into the argument, but was never touched. One night early, a couple of goons came in and we could hear them yelling at Ronnie by the front door, he was smallish but fearless and screamed right back, they beat the crap out of him and at one point the bartender jumped over the bar to help, and he got it pretty good too. Oy … when they got up to leave, they left her a tiny tip … she ran after them and caught one guy by the back of his jacket collar at the front door … “See, you asshole, that’s why I didn’t want you to sit in my station” … he replied “I hope your eyelashes fall off” (we all wore a couple of pairs of lashes) … she shot back … “I hope your dick falls off” … and that’s my good friend Lois … even now still throwing zingers and making everyone laugh … and taking no prisoners. But, Lois was a professional and funny as hell, so she gave them great service and they had a good time. Lois used to put ‘Reserved’ signs on all of her tables in the front section by the bandstand, naturally, she would only let her friends and big tippers sit there … none of the waitresses cared, she was the best and we all loved her! One Saturday night 4 people came in and wanted to sit in her station, she said no, they complained to the manager and he told her to let them sit there, so she did, begrudgingly. It was owned by the Dettlo brothers, George and Ronnie … handsome, nice, womanizers. It was a terrific club … huge with two giant rooms and a bandstand in the center of them … great bands, always crowded and we made good money. Some time after I left the WHISKEY, I went to work at THE WINE AND ROSES in Schiller Park … my friend, Lois, from the Whiskey was working there as head waitress, so it was a no brainer.
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