Thursday, December 6, 2012

Who the HELL is "Dining at Melvyn's"?

click to enlarge
"Dining At Melvyn's" was a large panoramic mishmash drawn by "The Rumba King", Cuban bandleader/caricaturist Xavier Cugat created when Melvyn Haber ("Mr. Palm Springs") opened the restaurant in 1975. Melvyn's continues to be a popular Palm Springs restaurant/tourist stop, and this piece featured many of the new "regulars", or at least 1975 Palm Springs regulars. A print of the art still hangs there above the men's room urinal. Some of the caricatures are clearly identifiable (thanks to his  basing them on Al Hirschfeld caricatures), some continue to baffle to this day. Cugat took his master list and the mystery to the grave with him in 1990. People have debated this for years. 
The best I can make out:
Top Row: Possibly John Carradine, Abbey Lane or Charo (both Cugat wives), the artist himself-Cugat, Liza Minelli, Phyllis Diller, possibly Ernest Borgnine, or, a restaurant bouncer?, the following the most confusing of all: possibly Eddie Fisher and his latest squeeze, or, as some have speculated, restaurant owner Melvyn's "agent" with his girlfriend, although why a restaurant owner would have an agent is confusing, and finally possibly Melvyn himself?
Row 2: David Niven, Tony Bennett, Buddy Hackett, Liberace, Charles Bronson, Jerry Lewis (some had guessed Clark Gable, but ears way too small and he was long deceased)
Row 3: John Wayne, Hugh Hefner, Katherine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Jackie Gleason, Barbra Streisand
Row 4: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Sonny and Cher, Sammy Davis Jr. (??), Alfred Hitchcock (via Hirschfeld), Anthony Quinn, Frank Sinatra
Bottom Row: Rex Harrison, Kirk Douglas, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball, Danny Thomas and Groucho Marx (what, no Zeppo who lived in Palm Springs?)
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18 comments:

  1. censlerDecember 6, 2012 at 6:13 PM

    I'm pretty sure the second one is Charo, not Abbe Lane.For the row 2 unknowns how about Charles Bronson and

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kevin DoughertyDecember 6, 2012 at 6:26 PM

    I really want to say that it looks like Charles Bronson and Gable next to Liberace, but I can't see either fitting in with that crowd. Especially in '67 (Gable was dead and Bronson was pretty obscure.)

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  3. UnknownDecember 6, 2012 at 6:33 PM

    Hi Drew. I'm thinking Paul Robeson to Liberace's right.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the PublishersDecember 7, 2012 at 11:54 AM

    Feel free to call me an idiot, but I think the mystery man with ascot might be Jerry Lewis. Shiny black hair, lower lip, indication of high cheek bone, and ascot all say Jerry to me. Plus he has a house in Palm Springs. Remember this would be the more mature Jerry, not the skinny kid from 1955.

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  5. Drew FriedmanDecember 7, 2012 at 11:59 AM

    I think you might be right!?

    ReplyDelete
  6. ScottDecember 7, 2012 at 5:24 PM

    Drew! This is the piece I just saw, signed by Cugat, at the Santa Monica Swap Meet! If I'd known you were gonna discuss it, I would have bought the thing! Now it's tripled in value.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Drew FriedmanDecember 7, 2012 at 5:35 PM

    Oy Vey!

    ReplyDelete
  8. mike fontanelliDecember 9, 2012 at 6:54 AM

    I don't think that's supposed to be Sammy Davis Jr; it looks more like Perez Prado. His John Carradine (?) looks like a cross between John Barrymore and Lawrence Harvey. And the Bronson caricature looks like the "What If They Mated" bastard lovechild of Charles Laughton and Danny Trejo!

    But I really don't want to pick on it. Can we at least agree that Cugie drew pretty good for a bandleader? I have an LP cover that he painted of some Spanish kids, in a kind of cartoony, Mary Blair/"Small World" style. It's actually kind of appealing.

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  9. Drew FriedmanDecember 9, 2012 at 8:18 AM

    I agree it doesn't look at all like Sammy, but most likely is supposed to be. The guy on the upper leaft continues to be a mystery.

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  10. UnknownMarch 26, 2014 at 2:44 PM

    Dean Martin is definitely between Rex and Red on the lower left! That solidifies my impression that Jerryʻs between Phyllis and Danny. Also, I see the upper left guy as Kirk Douglas, then, Charro. This is hanging in the upstairs bedroom/loft of our Hollywood-themed vacation rental in Woodland Hills and Iʻve been naming the celebs all week! I agree with Eddie Fisher and thought Ann-Margaret was with him, then, Ernest Borgnine. Definitely Sammy Davis. Guess I gotʻem all, except Hugh Hefner (shame on me, an ex-Bunny!). Big thanx for the key!

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  11. UnknownMarch 26, 2014 at 2:45 PM

    Dean Martin is definitely between Rex and Red on the lower left! That solidifies my impression that Jerryʻs between Phyllis and Danny. Also, I see the upper left guy as Kirk Douglas, then, Charro. This is hanging in the upstairs bedroom/loft of our Hollywood-themed vacation rental in Woodland Hills and Iʻve been naming the celebs all week! I agree with Eddie Fisher and thought Ann-Margaret was with him, then, Ernest Borgnine. Definitely Sammy Davis. Guess I gotʻem all, except Hugh Hefner (shame on me, an ex-Bunny!). Big thanx for the key!

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownFebruary 14, 2015 at 1:14 PM

    Got this in an email from Melvyn Haber in 2004: IGNORE THE 3 PEOPLE IN THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER, THEY ARE ME, MY MANAGER, AND MY GIRLFRIEND AT THE TIME.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownFebruary 14, 2015 at 1:15 PM

    Got this from an email from Melvyn Haber in 2004: IGNORE THE 3 PEOPLE IN THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER, THEY ARE ME, MY MANAGER, AND MY GIRLFRIEND AT THE TIME.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Melody MakerSeptember 4, 2016 at 1:17 PM

    Melvyn's is located inside of the Ingleside Inn which are both owned by Mel Haber. The property was originally bui
    lt in 1925. Turned into a hotel shortly thereafter. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were frequent guests of the Inn, so, that may very well be Clark in the photo. Perhaps his ghost was there that night!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Melody MakerSeptember 4, 2016 at 1:22 PM

    Melvyn's is located inside of the Ingleside Inn which are both owned by Mel Haber. The property was originally bui
    lt in 1925. Turned into a hotel shortly thereafter. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were frequent guests of the Inn, so, that may very well be Clark in the photo. Perhaps his ghost was there that night!

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownJanuary 7, 2017 at 9:41 PM

    Here's the official list as per Mel Haber. Caricatures are number from the upper left. The "generic blonde'' originally was to be Haber's girlfriend. But they parted way while the painting was under way, so Haber asked the artist to change her face to be that of a generic blonde. 1 Kirk Douglas
    2 Charo (married to Xavier Cugat)
    3 Xavier Cugat
    4 Liza Minelli
    5 Phyllis Diller
    6 Ernest Borgnine
    7 “Generic Blonde”
    8 Mel Haber (owner of “Melvyn’s” & The Ingleside Inn)
    9 Alan Mald (Mel Haber’s General Manager)
    10 David Niven
    11 Tony Bennett
    12 Buddy Hackett
    13 Liberace
    14 Charles Bronson
    15 Jerry Lewis
    16 Richard Burton
    17 Elizabeth Taylor
    18 John Wayne
    19 Hugh Hefner
    20 Bette Davis
    21 Danny Kaye
    22 Jackie Gleason
    23 Barbara Streisand
    24 Sonny Bono
    25 Cher
    26 Sammy Davis, Jr.
    27 Alfred Hitchcock
    28 Bronco Nagurski (Famous football player. According to legend,

    Bronco was famous for getting drunk at Melvyn’s)
    29 Frank Sinatra
    30 Rex Harrison
    31 Robert Mitchum
    32 Red Skelton
    33 Bob Hope
    34 Peter Lorre
    35 Lucille Ball
    36 Danny Thomas
    37 Groucho Marx

    ReplyDelete
  17. UnknownJanuary 2, 2018 at 7:51 PM

    I have a signed copy in nice frame. Perect condition. 350 of 400 with cert from gallery where my father bought it in 2002. Says it's a collotype? Says it has a value of $900 on the 02 cert. Anyone have an idea of value in 2018?

    ReplyDelete
  18. MartinAugust 30, 2020 at 7:23 PM

    I just bought a signed print for $80 at auction

    ReplyDelete