Foo Foo's Palace, Dale Street. (c) carling/Local Data Company.
Owned by the famous Ancoats drag artist, Frank Pearson, better known as Foo Foo Lamarr, this place lasted from 1975 to 2002, after which Pearson soon passed away. Pearson previously owned the Picador in Shudehill and when he took the Dale Street club on it was called 'Celebrity' but it was soon renamed [1]. In its heyday in the '70s and '80s Foo Foo's cabaret club was a popular haunt of Man Utd players and bon viveur Alex Ferguson was a good friend of the drag queen. The venue looks to be getting a lease of life with 2010 plans to turn the vacant premises into bar, restaurant, gym and office space [2].
Former Foo Foo's Palace, Dale Street. (c) mancunianmatters.
Lovely, but probably apocryphal story of the time...
ReplyDeleteFoo Foo was up in court for ruining a disorderly house (Greater Manchester's finest having raided on a Sunday morning to find lots of unusual activities underway...).
At some point in the case, the prosecuting Barrister decided to go for the throat - "Mr Lamarr, I put it to you that you are a practising homosexual"
To get the reply "Practising be damned; I'm rather accomplished, you know"
Case dismissed.
I went in here in 2000 or 2001 after I got divorced and Rita Ski (Kryzyanski, if I have the spelling right) was in. She had the Lantern Showbar in Ashton-Under-Lyne for a few years.
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