Hotel Claridge
Hotel Claridge | |
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D.H. Burnham & Company | |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 240 |
The Hotel Claridge was a 16-story building on
History
The Hotel Rector was established by George Rector as a complement to his popular restaurant, which had been founded by his father and was frequented by New York's rich and famous, including Diamond Jim Brady and Cornelius Vanderbilt III. The timing of his new venture was unfortunate, because as the hotel was being developed, a popular Broadway play was released, called The Girl from Rector's. The play was considered indecent by many critics and gave the Rector's name an unsavory reputation. Rector held the play responsible when he declared his new hotel bankrupt in May 1913. The new owners wanted a new name to escape the stigma, so the Hotel Rector became the Hotel Claridge in 1913. The new name evoked the exclusive Claridge's of London. Although they were no longer using the old name, the new management refused to allow use of the Rector's brand for another restaurant. Rector successfully sued to regain use of his own name.[2][3][4]
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) was founded at the Hotel Claridge on February 13, 1914.
In 1923, the hotel was purchased by real estate investor
One of the most enduring images of Times Square is the “Camel Man”, who blew cigarette smoke rings around the clock from 1941 to 1966 from a large billboard advertising Camel cigarettes and mounted on the Broadway side of the hotel.[6]
Demolition and rebuilding
The building was razed in 1970 to make way for a 33-story office tower.
The first and second floors are occupied by ABC's Times Square Studios, home to the Good Morning America television program.
In popular culture
In the film The Hustler (1961), starring Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman, the pool scenes were shot in the Hotel Claridge bar.
In the film Midnight Cowboy (1969), Joe Buck (Jon Voight) lodges in the Hotel Claridge at the beginning of his stay in New York City (but he is soon expelled due to failure to pay).
References
- ^ a b "Claridge Hotel in Times Square is Acquired by Douglas Leigh". The New York Times, May 21, 1964. p. 57.
- ISBN 0-415-93704-3.
- ^ "The Poster That Put the Ban on Rector's". The San Francisco Call. Vol. 114, no. 36. July 6, 1913. p. 19.
- ^ "Appeal Rector Decision". New York Hotel Record. Vol. 12, no. 8. January 6, 1914. p. 4.
- ^ "$3,000,000 Is Paid for Hotel Claridge; Times Square Property Passes From du Pont Interests to Real Estate Operator". The New York Times. May 24, 1923. p. 12.
- David R. Godine. Several of the drawings in this illustrated book include the Hotel Claridge.
- ^ "Okay 1,500-Seater for NGC On Site Of Claridge Hotel". Variety. August 11, 1971. p. 4.
- ^ a b "National Twin". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved September 26, 2020.