[Photo by Ralph Crane/Getty Images]
The often-shady world of nightlife has traditionally been run by men, from ex-bootlegger Sherman Billingsley who owned and ran The Stork Club to the little man with a big attitude, Studio 54's Steve Rubell (who eventually ended up doing jail time for tax evasion and other big no-nos). But four women with charm and style for days (and nights) changed the face of after-hours society by creating celebrity clubhouses that were so exclusive that wannabes often couldn't even find their locations. Sybil Burton, Régine Zylberberg, Helena Kallianiotes and Nell Campbell (yes, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show) ran their hot spots like private clubs and their A-List guests included everyone from Brooke Shields to Marlon Brando. We re-visit the glamorous days when these disco divas lit up the night.
SYBIL
The woman
Many know her as the one Richard Burton left for Elizabeth Taylor, but Sybil Burton Christopher was much more than a former Hollywood wife.
Born Sybil Williams, she was an aspiring actress when she married fellow Welsh actor Richard Burton in 1949 at the tender age of 20 (Burton was 23). They had met working on a play in London and together they boarded the Queen Mary and set sail to America. In 1994, Sybil looked back on her days with Richard and told the New York Times “In retrospect, that is what I would like to preserve, that nice warm feeling I had on the boat. I had the 23-year-old, the best. I look at the pictures, but I don't know that other guy. I had the golden boy.”
Richard left her for La Liz in 1964, but Sybil didn’t dwell on her loss too long. In 1965, she opened the discothèque Arthur on 54th Street with financial help from a group of her famous friends, which included Roddy McDowall, Julie Andrews, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. Time Magazine reported that she’d gathered a total of $70,000 from her A-list fans ($1,000 from 70 friends according) and rumor has it that Sammy Davis shelled out ten $100 bills at the door one night to get in.
Though she’d been dumped for the princess of Hollywood, Sybil was somewhat of a celebrity in New York City, even before she had opened her famed nightclub. In fact, one society hostess told Time Magazine “The real catch is Jackie Kennedy. But if you get Sybil to come, you’re an absolute success.”
Sybil herself attributed her popularity to the public's sympathy vote; she had, after all, filed for divorce from Burton on the grounds of "abandonement and cruel and inhumane treatment," and it was no secret. She recounted to Time in 1965 that a woman had come up to her at The Plaza Hotel to tell her “We, the women of America, are behind you.”
Sybil sold her infamous club in 1969 and later moved to Sag Harbor (she resides there to this day) where she founded the Bay Street Theater in 1991.
The club
Arthur opened in May 1965 and was an immediate success, all thanks to its owner’s following and the British mod esthetic she brought to the club. Riding the British fame wave, she also named her club after a line from the Beatles’ film, A Hard Day’s Night, in which George Harrison baptizes their infamous hairstyles as the “Arthur.”
Arthur was known for its democratic door policy, which some attributed to the owner’s modest upbringing (her coal mining father passed when Sybil was 15); the club welcomed movie stars as much as it did trendy, young professionals.
Terry Noel, the man hailed by some as the world’s first disc jockey, made his début at Arthur, where the “sophisticated” sound system of the time included not one, but two turntables, allowing Noel to be the first to mix records. For live music, Sybil hired the rock and roll band The Wild Ones and went on to marry their lead singer, Jordan Christopher, who was 13 years her junior.
After Arthur’s success, Sybil opened other clubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas and Detroit. She sold Arthur in 1969, once drugs and debauchery started taking over the club scene.
The People
Tennessee Williams, Princess Margaret, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Bette Davis, Sophia Loren.
NELL
The woman
Born Laura Campbell, her father was the one to nickname her “little Nell,” after the character in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop. She moved to London when she was 18 years old, singing and dancing on the street until she was spotted by the creators of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, who cast her in the 1975 film and stage productions (she played a tap-dancing nymph).
Keith McNally (who worked as a spotlight boy for Rocky Horror) took notice of the outgoing singer, and later hired her as the maître d' at his his Manhattan restaurants Odeon and Café Luxembourg. Nell was just 33 when she opened her namesake club. McNally (current owner of Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, amongst others) and his wife, Lynn Wagenknecht helped her open Nell’s in 1986, sharing ownership of the nightclub until McNally and Wagenknecht divorced and he opted out of the nightclub.
Known for her elaborate costumes and spunky personality, Nell was a natural when it came to schmoozing with the crowd, even providing entertainment for her guests when necessary. A fixture at her own club, she would hop onto tables and sing classic jazz songs with the band and perform cabaret acts into the wee hours of the morning.
In 1994, the New York Times proclaimed Nell the queen of the nightlife monarchy and Tina Brown called her “the new style-maker of nocturnal New York.”
The club
Nell's opened in the fall of 1986, at the site of a former electronics store at 246 West 14th Street, and decorated like a Victorian drawing room with plush, velvet sofas, beaded chandeliers and oriental rugs. At a time when big, loud clubs were the nightlife norm, the city welcomed Nell’s intimate dining and dancing club, where European princesses mixed with rock stars of the time.
Nell’s distinguished itself with a non-VIP treatment of the stars; there were no comps at this nightclub and everyone could potentially get in, so long as they paid the $5 admission fee. But a limited capacity of 250 meant long lines outside Nell’s. Legend has it that even Cher couldn’t get past the velvet ropes one night (“too much fringe,” she was told) and Faye Dunaway, Michael Douglas and Jerry Hall had to wait 15 minutes among the commoners. Madonna was also turned away when she refused to pay the $5 cover. In fact, Rudolf Piper said he opened his club Tunnel to accommodate all of Nell’s rejects (2,000 of them could fit at Tunnel). But Nell dowplayed her club’s restricted door policy, telling the New York Times, “I think that exclusivity was more the reputation than the fact. Certainly it’s not like that now.” But according to New York Magazine, Nell stood behind a peephole at the door to sort out the crowd.
The unusal décor proved important as many credited its visual appeal for helping draw the crowds in, with antique lamps and crystal chandeliers instead of disco balls, and only a small area devoted to dancing.
Though Nell’s closed in 2004, it was revived briefly by Noel Ashman, along with Chris Noth, Damon Dash, Petra Nemcova and former New York Yankee David Wells, who opened NA at the famed site. Memberships cost a little over $1,000 and notable attendees included resident D.J. Mark Ronson, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Ivanka Trump and David Blaine. It closed in 2005 after a nasty dispute between investors.
The People
Warren Beatty, Andy Warhol, Prince, Kim Basinger, Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Bianca Jagger, Julian Schnabel, Princess Alessandra Borghese, Reinaldo and Carolina Herrera, Jay McInerney, Lauren Hutton, Debbie Harry.
RÉGINE
The woman
Régine’s rags-to-riches-story is known to many. Abandoned by her mother, she was raised by her alcoholic father, owner of a French bistro in Paris. After hiding from the Nazis during the war, she got a job at Whiskey-a-Go-Go, where players of the Parisian nightlife took notice of the extroverted, red-headed hat-check girl. With help from her friends the Rothschilds, she opened Chez Régine—hailed by some as the world’s first discothèque—in Paris in 1958.
Régine was credited for inventing the concept of bottle service, and is said to have been the first to play recorded music, while patrons were also some of the first who danced the twist. Even the Duke of Windsor wanted in on the party, asking Régine to teach him the twist in his own home (never one to bossed around, she told to the Duke to come out to her club for a lesson).
In 1975, Régine moved to Manhattan, and landed at the Delmonico Hotel: where Régine the club occupied a 20,000-square-foot ground floor space, and Régine the woman occupied a 10th floor apartment. She told New York Magazine in 1999, “I am the one who saved this city from bankruptcy. I made it happy again. New York owes me.”
A celebrity in her own right, Régine rose to fame on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, she flew back and forth between New York and Paris so often, she was no longer asked for her passport at customs. Instead, she was greated with “Bonjour, Madame Régine.”
At the height of her career, Régine owned 19 nightclubs throughout the world, and even designed her own line of wrinkle-free “ready-to-dance” clothing. These days, Régine can be found in St. Tropez.
The club
Before her club had even opened, Régine had sold 2,000 memberships. At $600 a pop, a membership waived the entry fee and guaranteed entry—a coveted privilege if you weren’t on Régine’s carefully curated and restricted guest list. The club was so exclusive that the flame-haired hostess was sued (and almost sued for social discrimination by the State Liquor Authority) on multiple occasions. Men who weren’t wearing neck-ties needn’t attempt entrance, either. A big fan of Régine, Andy Warhol spent many a night at the Art Deco club. If he wasn’t on a world tour of her clubs (Paris, Monte Carlo, Rio de Janeiro, Saint-Tropez, Santiago, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, London were all home to a Régine's at some point) or a judge for one of Régine’s disco contests, the Pop artist could be seen at the club most nights, taping guests on his recorder.
Over-the-top themed parties were also a big draw for the nightlife set: Moroccan Night, Barbarella and Russian New Years helped attract the Kennedys, Onassises and Niarchoses. When Régine and her husband Roger Choukroun celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in 1980, 500 guests came to the club to gawk at the caged cheetah Choukroun was gifting his wife.
The infamous club was re-opened on several occasions; most recently in Paris, at its former location and under the name Régine Club, by a young French entrepreneur, Roman Dian.
The People
Jack Nicholson, Diana Vreeland, Charlie Chaplin, Gene Kelly, George Hamilton, Cornelia Guest, Brooke Shields, Joan Collins, Kenneth Jay Lane, Bob Colacello, Charles Aznavour, John Gotti.
HELENA
The woman
While Sybil, Régine and Nell reigned over New York City nightlife, nightclub owner Helena Kallianiotes shook up the West coast with her namesake discothèque, Helena’s. A former belly dancer, Helena befriended Jack Nicholson before he became a movie star and the two remained close throughout the years. Acting in a few un-credited roles, she later moved into Nicholson’s guesthouse and became his property manager. With Nicholson’s help, Helena opened various nightclubs—the most famous of which was Helena’s, deemed by many as Studio 54’s West Coast equivalent. Known for her strictly enforced “no press or photographers” rule, Helena made a name for herself as a confidant to the stars. Speaking to SCENE from Mexico, Helena shared some of the outragerous stories from her nightclub’s days of glory.
The club
What made you want open a nightclub?
I wanted a place to go to where there were no photographers, no press—a safe place to gather with friends, and dance.
What do you think made Helena's so popular?
I knew what I didn't want. No nightclub look, no nightclub lights, no nightclub smell, no decorations, no paintings, no plants, no openings, no hooplas, no mobs. I wanted empty, open space—where you could see all the members and their guests. I wanted to see faces, and the faces became art to me.
What were some of the most memorable nights at Helena’s?
There were so many! Jack [Nicholson] booked Helena’s for 70 people one night, to give Anjelica [Huston] a birthday dinner party. Flowers and balloons were everywhere, the dinner guests arrived all in cocktail gowns, and on the menu we had Greek garlic pasta, Greek salad and baklava—that’s what Jack wanted. The dinner was going beautifully; everyone was eating, socializing and all of a sudden, a large elephant, crosses the dance floor and into the dining room! Bags of carrots are given out to dinner guests, but the elephant is eating from their plates. There was pasta everywhere! Dishes were crashing, and people used their tablecloths to hide. Someone finally pulled him towards the dance floor and everyone left out the back door. Most of us went to Tommy’s Hamburger’s to finish dinner. The next morning, I drove like a maniac. The dance floor was so warped, it couldn't be fixed, so I installed a new one.
Marlon [Brando] and his son Christian, were part of my construction crew. Marlon didn’t want money, instead he made a deal with me that he had the place to himself once a month, with a home cooked Greek dinner. Fireplace blazing, roof top open, Marlon sat there waiting for his dinner. One night, I had cooked special lamb chops, wrapped in wax paper with spices. We sat there for a long time eating and reminiscing about Marlon’s New York days. I cleared the table, put the dishes in the sink and I saw Marlon's lamb chops still on his plate! He'd eaten the wax paper! We laughed about it. Then, he played Frank Sinatra, grabbed me, and made me dance for hours.
The People
Jack Nicholson, Anjelica Huston, Marlon Brando, Sean Penn, Madonna, Heidi Fleiss, Chrissie Hynds.