{"id":45156,"date":"2025-11-25T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=45156"},"modified":"2025-11-20T17:09:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T00:09:01","slug":"dark-night-ciros-nightclub-of-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/dark-night-ciros-nightclub-of-the-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark Night \/ Ciro\u2019s Nightclub of the Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DARK NIGHT \u2013 PAUL DINI\u2019S CHILLING AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL BATMAN TALE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dark Night: A True Batman Story<\/em>
by Paul Dini (author) and Eduardo Risso (illustrator)
Vertigo
2016, 128 pages, 6.9 x 10.4 x 0.5 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batman the Animated Series<\/em> was perhaps the<\/em> cartoon of my childhood. I remember watching it when it premiered, and followed it through its entire run. While I\u2019ve loved the movies, and the comics, Batman for me will always be the voice of Kevin Conroy, and the Joker will always be Mark Hamill. I owe my love for Batman to this wonderful show that Paul Dini helped create, which is why I was so struck to read his chilling autobiographical Batman tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like myself and many others, Dini too was hugely influenced by Batman through his childhood. The beginning of the book establishes how comics became a coping mechanism for Dini as he navigated through the world with social anxiety. His lonely but successful life is thrown upside down one night when he was mugged and beaten within an inch of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dini\u2019s story is all about coming to grips with a world that can be cruel, dealing with demons, and finding a way to overcome. It\u2019s a Batman story that doesn\u2019t take place in the Batman universe. I found it tremendously moving, the artwork beautiful, and I highty recommend it. \u2013 JP LeRoux<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

UNSEEN PHOTOS OF CIRO\u2019S NIGHTCLUB STARS SNAPPED BY A CIGARETTE GIRL AND HER BEST FRIEND<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ciro\u2019s Nightclub of the Stars<\/em>
by Andra D. Clarke and Regina Denton-Drew
Arcadia Publishing
2015, 128 pages, 6.5 x 9.2 x 0.3 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1940s and \u201850s, everyone who was anyone went to Ciro\u2019s Nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. The famous and infamous came to dine, dance, and perform during its 15 plus years in business. Regina Drew was a Cigarette Girl and photographer at Ciro\u2019s for eight years. Her best friend Nancy Caporal was the head photographer from 1940 to 1957. These women were part of the glitz, glamour and decadence of the Ciro\u2019s era, and they seemed to love every minute of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regina\u2019s daughter, Andra Clarke, worked tirelessly to research and cull through both women\u2019s photographic mementos. As tribute to what Regina called the \u201cbest job of my life,\u201d Andra created Ciro\u2019s Nightclub of the Stars<\/em>, a compact coffee table book filled with photos and stories that capture the semi-private lives of Hollywood\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the pictures in this book had previously not been seen by the public. Some of my favorite photos include Elizabeth Taylor dining with President Nixon and his daughters; Bing Crosby photographed with his sons; Ray Bolger (from \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d) joking around with Zero Mostel (from Fiddler on the Roof<\/em>), Clark Gable chatting with (or to) a bevy of admirers, and Lucille Ball having drinks at a table with Peter Lawford, with no Desi in sight. The captions for each picture are as interesting as the images themselves. There are also Ciro\u2019s behind-the-scenes tidbits like Yvonne de Carlo having the hatcheck girls watch her pet monkey, and Errol Flynn\u2019s special food preference of octopus. Ciro\u2019s Nightclub of the Stars<\/em> offers a great glimpse into the past and is much more interesting than today\u2019s tabloids!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun fact not in the book: Before these photos were turned into a book, Andra\u2019s collection was appraised on the 18th season of Antiques Roadshow<\/em>. Per the appraiser, the most expensive photo Andra brought in was of Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was photographed at Ciro\u2019s after her movie premiere of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes<\/em>. Andra was told at the auction that an unseen photo of Marilyn Monroe would sell for about $100 to $150. All the other photos were in the value range of $30 to $75 each. \u2013 Carole Rosner<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Books That Belong On Paper<\/strong>\u00a0first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair.<\/em>\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get the issues a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issue No. 93<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[31],"tags":[2398],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45175,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45156\/revisions\/45175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}