The History of The Friars Club
 Many of the Friars comedians have their own tales of how the
Friars Club began but truth be told–comedians pretty much
have a different agenda than keeping the historic record,
that agenda being to go for the laugh at any expense. For
the sake of realism, not to mention legitimacy, this will
serve to explain the origins and dispel any myths about this
legendary private club’s entre into the world of
showbiz–sans laughs.
In 1904 press agents were doling out tickets to reporters to
Broadway shows in the hopes that they would plug their clients
in newspapers and magazines. They eventually noticed that not
all of these reporters were legit. It became so frustrating for
them that a band of 11 agents gathered together weekly at
Browne’s Chophouse, in Manhattan, to discuss the problem. They
dealt with it by setting up a blacklist. When the problem at
hand was resolved they realized that they actually enjoyed these
weekly meetings and continued to meet and just hang out
together.
They formed a club called the Press Agents Association. When the
actors and musicians started to join them on their weekly
get-togethers the group realized they needed a broader name to
incorporate the ever-diversifying membership. The term Friars
stems from the Latin “frater” meaning brother–the perfect name
for a fraternal organization whose motto would soon become Prae
Omnia Fraternitas (brotherhood forever).
The newly formed Friars Club quickly
established itself as
the club to join.
They started honoring their own with lavish black tie dinners
utilizing the enormous talent that the members from the Broadway
stages possessed. Even as early as 1910 they were known for
their unorthodox ways. “FRIARS KID MR. HARRIS: Veteran
Theatrical Manager Butt of Jokes at Dinner,” read the headline
of the December 10, 1910 issue of the
New York Tribune.
They’ve been making headlines ever since.
It was only a matter of time before the Friars would see the
need to contain their bawdy behavior at these dinners into a
separate event, so in 1949 with Maurice Chevalier as the guest
of honor, they held their first “Roast.” This luncheon launched
the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the Friars and
the world at large, showcasing the greatest wits in show
business telling the funniest jokes ever told. Add on to that
the Friars motto, “We only Roast the ones we love” and even the
guest of honor is happy.
The famed Celebrity Roast, which features the greats of the
entertainment world taking their best barbs at a guest of honor,
is the most imitated event throughout the world. Be it a private
affair or on television if it’s not produced by the Friars, the
Friars imprint is still certainly apparent. Usually presented
behind closed doors the Friars have, on occasion throughout the
years, allowed the TV cameras in and the laughs out for all the
public to witness for themselves.
The Friars Club started out as an all-male
Club, owing to the era, but that didn’t stop women from being
wined and dined themselves by the guys. Several women throughout
their early history were honored and they were also allowed to
join the men folk at some of the Testimonial Dinners. The
Roasts, however, remained stag, a fact that didn’t thrill Lauren
Bacall when they Roasted her husband Humphrey Bogart in 1955.
Bacall sent an audiotape to be played for the boys:
“This
is Lauren Bacall, the uninvited guest, you rat bastards.” When
they held a Roast for Lucille Ball in 1962 Roastmaster Johnny
Carson told the crowd, “We have a lady present and we need to
treat her like one” and then introduced her as “Lucille
Testicle.” And In 1983 Phyllis
Diller was so curious what went on behind those closed doors she
dressed as a man and snuck into the Sid Caesar Roast, noting “It
was the funniest and dirtiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
By the time 1988 rolled around and
most all-male clubs started letting women in the Friars welcomed
women into the fold, making Liza Minnelli the first official
card-carrying female member.
The Friars have had several homes over the
years as they moved on beyond Browne’s Chophouse (and later
Keene’s Chophouse) settling in to their first clubhouse in 1908.
Located at 107 West 45th
Street and calling it the Monastery (a name that lays claim to
all subsequent Friars clubhouses) this building allowed the
membership the freedom to meet, greet, party and conduct all
their Friarly business. As the membership grew so did their
events and with funds raised through shows known as the Friars
Frolic they eventually built a new clubhouse in 1916, made to
their order, on West 48th
Street. This new Monastery was as grand as any hotel, with
suites for sleeping, a ballroom, dining room, poolroom, a gym,
bars, and meeting rooms. When they laid the cornerstone, Abbot
George M. Cohan
broke a bottle of sparkling American wine on the stone saying,
“I dedicate this club to art, literature and good fellowship.”
They enjoyed a great run in the 48th
St. Monastery with Testimonial Dinners and other events that
solidified their place in entertainment. But while fraternity
lasts forever, clubhouses can come and go, and in depression-era
1933 owing to not being able
to make good on a bill for butter, eggs and cheese for $1,130.00
the Friars lost their beloved building. Fearing their club’s
survival it was by the sheer passion of several members that
they were able to hold the Friars together though nomadic for
several years and hopping from hotel to hotel they saw their
numbers dwindling, But survive they did through the 1930s and
1940s and by the 1950s they were back to being the premiere club
in entertainment. They moved into their current Monastery on 55th
Street in 1957, a building steeped in its own grand tradition
fit, if not for a king, then certainly for court jesters.
Whether it was the eras of Will Rogers sniping at politicos with
hilarious results or Milton Berle in drag bringing TV audiences
to tears of laughter or Jack Benny thinking over his money or
his life to contemporary Seinfeld leaving the club still wearing
the Friars jacket or Homer Simpson being roasted by the
Springfield chapter of the Friars Club or Joy Behar giving her
view, the members throughout the years have maintained a steady
dose of wit ready to dole out laughs at a moments notice. They
have also kept the music playing. Be it Victor Herbert writing
the Friars theme song “Here’s To The Friars” rather than make a
speech at his Testimonial Dinner or Irving Berlin composing
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” for a Friars Frolic to Clive Davis
being serenaded by Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Whitney
Houston, and Dionne Warwick the Friars have kept the melodies
playing through the decades.
Some might find it ironic that a club that has made a name for
itself being as bawdy and unorthodox as any group can be, has
given monastic labels to its officers: the Abbot is the head of
the organization (Jerry Lewis), the Dean (Freddie Roman) is
president and the vice president the Prior (Stewie Stone), not
to mention the club’s name itself. Perhaps those early press
agents were more visionary than people thought, putting in place
an irony of things to come.
While the Friars reputation has preceded itself through laughs
garnered at roasts and celebrations of all kinds they have also
dedicated their cause to charitable giving. When Frank Sinatra
was Abbot he once commented, “Their continuous good work for
charity, rather than their great triumphs on the stages of the
world, is the true glory of this band of earthly angels known as
the Friars.”
The Friars Foundation, established in 1977 to foster the
performing arts has raised over $5 million dollars. Their
mission is to help small performing arts groups create excellent
innovative and affordable programs for the enrichment,
education, and enjoyment of diverse audiences and participants.
The Foundation also helps prepare the next generation of
performers and musical artists through scholarship programs for
students studying the performing arts.
For over twenty-five years the Sunshine
Committee (which is funded through an annual holiday raffle held
at the Monastery) has been providing entertainment and
companionship to senior citizens and children’s centers in the
New York area.
Whether they are sending singers,
musicians, comedians or performance artists to brighten up the
residents of nursing homes; or providing clowns, magicians and
entertainment for disadvantaged children in group homes, the
Sunshine Committee is dedicated to enhancing each and every life
they touch.
Each year, during he holidays they
invite 1,500 underprivileged children to a movie screening at a
mid-Manhattan theater. After the movie each child receives a
“goody bag” filled with toys, hats, scarves, books and a variety
of other items guaranteed to make their holidays brighter.
Throughout the Friars century of magic the revolving door of
celebrities that have crossed the threshold of their Monasteries
has been a timeline of show business history. George M. Cohan,
Irving Berln, Al Jolson, Victor Herbert, Oscar Hammerstein,
George Jessel, Mayor Jimmy Walker, Jimmy Durante, President
Woodrow Wilson, President Calvin Coolidge, Bob Hope, Jack Benny,
George Burns, Sophie Tucker, Humphrey Bogart, Sammy Davis, Jr.,
Milton Berle, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Dean
Martin, Elizabeth Taylor, Kirk Douglas, Johnny Carson, Dr. Henry
Kissinger, Buddy Hackett, Phil Silvers, Lucille Ball, Sid
Caesar, Phyllis Diller, Redd Foxx, Neil Simon, Barbra Streisand,
Candice Bergen, Red Buttons, Diana Ross, Barbara Walters, Clive
Davis, Liza Minnelli, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Whoopi
Goldberg, Rob Reiner, Richard Pryor, Hugh Hefner, Donald Trump,
John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Chevy Chase, Drew Carey, Jerry
Seinfeld, Matt Lauer, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, along with
countless others have all been part of this unique fraternity
known as the Friars Club.
and
The History of the Clubhouse |
