On June 19, 2013, Johnnie Planco was re-elected as president. One of the terms of the settlement was that the club would sell its John Singer Sargent portrait of Edwin Booth to raise money. The dispute between the library and the club was settled, with neither owing the other any money the settlement also satisfied part of the state's investigation. The boards of the club, the library, and the fund have overlapping members, a circumstance which may have contributed to the financial irregularities. The club also borrowed money from the John Drew Fund to pay for the renovation, a loan which had not yet been paid back. The allegations were that the club may have overcharged the library for building upkeep, and kept more than its appropriate share of the sale of a collection of books in 1984, using the money to help pay for a major renovation to the building.
In 2000, the New York State Attorney General's Office launched an investigation into The Players' financial dealings with the Hampden-Booth Theater Library, which occupies about a third of the club's building, and the John Drew Fund, a charity which has its offices in the building. Helen Hayes was admitted as the first woman member on April 23, 1989, the birthday of William Shakespeare.
The players club apartments full#
In September 1987, the club voted to allow women to be full members, a change that allowed the Players to rent its facilities for outside functions, which it had not been allowed to do before under New York City law. 20th century īeginning in the 1970s, widows of club members were afforded limited privileges to the club. īooth died at the club on June 7, 1893, at the age of 59.
The players club apartments series#
When completed, a series of meetings was held, and a small group of founding fathers turned the clubhouse over to newly invited members in a grand ceremony on December 31, 1888. In its title, he stipulated that the building be equipped with a furnished apartment for his own undisturbed use. Hall in Gramercy Square and, perhaps inspired by London's Garrick Club, established a social club to bring actors into contact with men of different professions such as industrialists, writers, and other creative artists.īooth had the building redesigned, furnished, equipped, and decorated with his personal possessions. In 1888, Edwin purchased the former residence of Valentine G. In June 2007, Angela Lansbury was the recipient, and Edward Albee received it on September 30, 2007. Past recipients include Helen Hayes, José Ferrer, Garson Kanin, Christopher Plummer, Jason Robards, Jack Lemmon, and Marian Seldes. The Players also gives the prestigious "Edwin Booth Life Achievement Award" to actors who have had a long, important body of theatre and film work. In the Dining Room, filled with portraits of theatre and film notables and rare playbills from the 19th and 20th centuries, a small stage has been built where members and people of the theatre can be honored staged readings can take place and new works tried out. Today, the club still holds "Pipe Nights" honoring theatrical notables, and maintains a kitchen and wine cellar and a billiard table in its usually busy Grill Room. A portrait of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, hangs in Edwin Booth's suite, along with the letter Edwin wrote to the public apologizing for the actions of his brother. It has been reported to have the largest private collection of stage memorabilia, including costumes and weaponry, and owns portraits of its members, most notably a portrait of actor Joseph Jefferson painted by John Singer Sargent. The Players serves as a social club but is also a repository of American and British theatre history, memorabilia, and theatrical artifacts.
It is reportedly the oldest club in its original clubhouse and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The building's interior and part of its exterior were designed by architect Stanford White its entryway gaslights are among the few remaining examples in New York City. In 1888, Booth purchased an 1847 mansion at 16 Gramercy Park, reserved an upper floor for his residence, and turned the rest into a clubhouse. The Players (often inaccurately called The Players Club) is a private social club founded in New York City by the noted 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth.
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