Groucho Club
| Groucho Club | |
|---|---|
 June 2010 |
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| General information | |
| Address | 45 Dean St |
| Town or city | London |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°30′47″N 0°07′56″W / 51.5131°N 0.1321°WCoordinates: 51°30′47″N 0°07′56″W / 51.5131°N 0.1321°W |
The Groucho Club is a well-known private social club located at Dean Street in Soho, London. Its members are mostly drawn from the media, entertainment, arts and fashion industries.
The club has rooms on several floors, including three bars, two restaurants (dining room and brasserie), 20 bedrooms available for members or their guests, a billiards room, and four function rooms available for hire.
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[edit] History
It opened in 1985 as "the antidote to the traditional club." In this spirit, the club was named after Groucho Marx because of his famous remark that he would not wish to join any club that would have him as a member. In September 2008, British artist Stella Vine presented the club with an acrylic painting of Groucho Marx.[1]
Rupert Hambro, Matthew Freud, and Joel Cadbury (the son of Peter Cadbury) bought the club for £11.8 million in 2001. Five years later the club was bought by private-equity firm Graphite Capital for £20 million.
In November 2008, Bernie Katz, the Groucho Club's front of house host, wrote a book about his experiences in Soho and at the Groucho Club.[2]
[edit] Members
Membership is difficult to obtain and its members are mostly drawn from the media, entertainment, arts and fashion industries. The club is known as a haunt of Young British Artists, including Damien Hirst,[3] Tracey Emin,[4] Daniel Chadwick, Sam Taylor-Wood, Sarah Lucas and Stella Vine.[1] and post-YBA artists like Christian Furr and Rachel Howard. Other entertainment stars including William Orbit, Sienna Miller, Keith Allen, Lily Allen, Alex James, Janet Street-Porter, Melvyn Bragg, Hugh Dennis, Stephen Fry, Liam Gallagher, Robin Millar, Julie Burchill, Robert Elms, Victor Lewis-Smith, Samantha Janus, Rita Simons, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Robert Pattinson are also members.[3]
The character of Richard 'Rocky' Hardcastle in the British sitcom As Time Goes By purports to be a member of Groucho's.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Art In The Club" Grouch Club newsletter Via Duck, September 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
- ^ "Prince of Soho tells stories of the stars, sex and the city
- ^ a b "Inside Story: The Groucho Club - 20 years of schmoozing and boozing", The Independent, 2 May 2005. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ Tracey Emin: My Life In A Column The Independent 9 June 2006
