55-512: The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky , is the seventh deadliest nightclub fire in history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A total of 165 people died and more than 200 were injured as a result of the blaze. The Beverly Hills Supper Club was a major attraction, less than 2.5 miles (4 km) outside Cincinnati , just across
110-588: A group called "the Beverly Hills Survivors for Justice". Beshear appointed a special Governor's Review Team, which reviewed the allegations and evidence with assistance from the Office of Inspector General of the Kentucky Public Protection, Environment and Energy, and Labor Cabinets. This Review Team's final report on the matter described the allegations as "a very tiny shred of evidence of arson and
165-459: A huge mountain of conjecture, unsupported speculation, and personal opinion" which "fall[s] many miles short of the kind of proof that would be needed to justify a ... re-investigation ..." Southgate, Kentucky Southgate is a home rule-class city in Campbell County , Kentucky , United States. The population was 3,648 at the 2020 census . The city of Southgate is named for
220-585: A human-interest/stunt-themed series. In 1967 Davidson made his film debut in The Happiest Millionaire , alongside Lesley Ann Warren and Fred MacMurray . The following year he appeared with Warren again in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band . He appeared as a guest singer on The Carol Burnett Show in 1967 and 1969, and as the Mystery Guest on What's My Line? in 1969. His career
275-486: A regular guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . In the early 1980s he hosted his own talk show, produced by Westinghouse Broadcasting /Group W, after it canceled The Mike Douglas Show . The John Davidson Show aired daily in syndication from 1980 to 1982. In 1985, he hosted the NBC daytime game show Time Machine . Davidson appeared as a host on real estate promoter Dave Del Dotto ’s paid programs during
330-531: A result, news of the fire and the first of the smoke and flame reached the Cabaret Room, the farthest point from the Zebra Room, nearly simultaneously. By the time busboy Walter Bailey arrived in the Cabaret Room and interrupted the show to order an evacuation at 9:06 p.m., there was very little time left for the audience of around 1,000 people to leave via the room's small number of exits. As it spread laterally,
385-470: A revival of Hollywood Squares which ran from 1986 to 1989. He also hosted 170 episodes of a revival of The $ 100,000 Pyramid in 1991. He also appeared as a featured guest on The Carpenters ' television specials Space Encounters (1977) and Music! Music! Music! (1980). Following his run on Hollywood Squares , he was one of six people who auditioned to host the CBS daytime version of Wheel of Fortune (in
440-499: A set of doors opening into a bar area that funneled frantic guests into a dead end. Firefighters, alerted that the majority of the building's occupants were in the Cabaret Room, focused their efforts there, but even the combined efforts of every fire department in the county were simply too little, too late. Temperatures in the Cabaret Room soared into the thousands of degrees and even firefighters, weary and dehydrated, were soon unable to safely attempt any further rescues. When I got to
495-589: A singles artist, he placed seven records on the Adult Contemporary chart . "Everytime I Sing a Love Song", released in 1976, peaked at No. 7, his most successful single. Davidson acted in many movies, including The Happiest Millionaire (1967), The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Coffee, Tea or Me? (1973), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979), Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders II, (1980) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). Davidson has appeared in productions of A Funny Thing Happened on
550-913: Is an American actor, singer, and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible! , Time Machine , and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $ 100,000 Pyramid in 1991. Davidson was born to Dr. James Allie Davidson (1908–1984) and Elizabeth Emma Beck (1908–1996), both Baptist ministers, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . He lived in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts , and graduated from White Plains High School (in White Plains, New York ), then entered Denison University . He considered following in his parents' footsteps, but ultimately decided that he "would rather sing about love than preach it." Davidson worked in situation comedies, game shows, variety shows, and talk shows. In 1964 he appeared in
605-453: The Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of The Fantastiks with Ricardo Montalbán and Susan Watson . In the summer of 1966, he was the host of two prime-time variety hour shows, The Kraft Summer Music Hall and The John Davidson Show , the latter of which included George Carlin and Richard Pryor . In the 1980s he became well known for co-hosting That's Incredible! (1980–84),
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#1732890634342660-460: The New England Journal of Medicine , it was a fascinating study, and it said that..." Davidson put over these preposterous stories with such sincerity that many a contestant was fooled more than once. In 1973 and 1974, he starred with Sally Field on the situation comedy The Girl with Something Extra . In 1974 he guest-starred on the television series The Streets of San Francisco , in
715-772: The Ohio River in Southgate, Kentucky, on US 27 , near what would later become its interchange with Interstate 471 . The club booked its entertainers from Las Vegas , Nashville , Hollywood , New York , and other show-business hubs. The site had been a popular nightspot and illegal gambling house as early as 1926. Ohio native Dean Martin had been a blackjack dealer there. In 1967, organized crime figures Moe Dalitz , Morris Kleinman and Samuel A. Tucker sold The Beverly Hills Country Club to Joseph E. Cole , Sam W. Klein, Carl Glickman and two other men (one of whom has been linked to New Jersey mob boss Gerardo Catena ), who, in 1974, sold to
770-470: The Cabaret Room could safely accommodate about 600 people, according to the calculations of the Fire Marshal . On that night it exceeded capacity, with people seated on ramps and in aisles. According to later estimates based on seating charts and memories of those present, the number of patrons in the Cabaret Room at 9:00 p.m. on was between 900 and 1,300. Regardless of the exact number, sources agree that
825-775: The Delta Music Society Quartet of Sacramento. Davidson performed daily in 1993–94 in Branson at a theater bearing his name. In May 1999, Davidson and Stephanie Mills joined the cast of the Chicago company of Ragtime as the Father and Sarah, respectively. In late 2011 Davidson was listed as a guest star with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California . In June 2012 Davidson took on
880-469: The Garden Room and the Cabaret Room; to exit the building from the Cabaret Room using that corridor, a person would need to pass through a set of double doors into the main interior corridor, pass through a single door between the main interior corridor and the branching interior corridor, turn a sharp corner into the branching corridor, and proceed approximately one-quarter of the length of the Cabaret Room to
935-488: The Richard Schilling family. In 1971, the club had reopened under the then-current owners and management and was considered an elegant venue that attracted top-notch talent and affluent clientele. Several additions had been built onto the original structure between 1970 and 1976, creating a sprawling, non-linear complex of function rooms and service areas. The resulting complex was roughly square in shape, and though it
990-616: The Supper Club—nor did it have an alarm system or smoke detectors. In addition, the majority of the paths of egress in each event room led not to the outside of the building, but to a variety of narrow interior corridors and service spaces. On Saturday, May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club was operating beyond capacity, largely due to the popularity of that evening's Cabaret Room show, featuring popular Hollywood singer and actor John Davidson . Based on its number of exits,
1045-465: The Viennese Room and a series of service spaces, which ran northward along the building's eastern wall. This interior corridor terminated between the Garden Room, occupying the central portion of the north wall of the building, and the Cabaret Room, which jutted out from the northeastern corner of the building. A smaller, branching corridor led from the internal corridor to an exit door that sat between
1100-777: The Way to the Forum , Kismet , State Fair , Man of La Mancha , Chicago , and The Will Rogers Follies , at the Surflight Theatre in Long Beach Island, New Jersey . He has also performed the autobiographical play Father/Son and Holy Ghost, about his relationship with his father, who was a minister. In July 1991 Davidson appeared in summer stock with Sacramento Music Circus of Sacramento, California , in The Music Man alongside Susan Watson , Richard Paul , Carol Swarbrick, and
1155-503: The Zebra Room's door to confirm the presence of smoke. She asked another employee to call the fire department while she and others grabbed fire extinguishers and began trying to fight the flames. Though the employees were not aware of it, their opening of the Zebra Room's door allowed enough oxygen into the room to cause what had been a smoldering fire in the room's drop ceiling to flashover and begin to spread rapidly. It quickly became clear that fire extinguishers were useless against
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#17328906343421210-532: The age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.82. 21.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 35.0% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
1265-432: The building from the Cabaret Room, a wedding reception drew to a close around 8:30 p.m. in the Zebra Room, near the building's main entrance; some of its guests had complained of the room being excessively warm with loud explosions from beneath the floor, and the group left the building before the end of their allotted time. The room remained vacant from their departure until 8:59 p.m., when an employee smelled smoke and opened
1320-403: The building's roof would soon collapse, ordered all firefighters to evacuate the building. At approximately midnight, the roof did indeed implode onto what remained of the building. The magnitude of the blaze was such that firefighters did not have the flames under control until around two o'clock that morning; parts of the building continued to burn until May 30, two days after the fire began. By
1375-403: The building. However, as the sprawling complex lacked an audible fire alarm , those in more isolated rooms had no way to know that there was a fire in the building until an employee walked the length of the building alerting them. Fire investigators later estimated that the fire, once it spread through the northern doors of the Zebra Room, took only two to five minutes to enter the Cabaret Room; as
1430-432: The early morning of May 29, 134 bodies had been removed from the building and laid out, initially on the hillside surrounding the building and then in a makeshift morgue inside the nearby Fort Thomas Armory. By the end of June 1, 28 more bodies had been discovered, bringing the death toll up to 162. All but two of the dead were found in and around the Cabaret Room, with 125 clustered near the room's north exit and another 34 at
1485-488: The end, Bob Goen was hired). Davidson was also a successful recording artist. He recorded twelve albums in the '60s and '70s. From 1966 to 1971, he recorded for Columbia Records, where he enjoyed his greatest success. Five of his albums reached the Billboard 200 album charts, with The Time of My Life! peaking at No. 19 in 1966. His albums usually consisted of covers of recent hit singles along with some new material. As
1540-512: The episode "Mask of Death", portraying a cross-dressing lounge singer who murders his/her fans. In the episode, Davidson sings in drag while impersonating such notables as Carol Channing , singing " Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend ". Also in 1974, the singer posed near-nude (with a discreetly placed towel) for the magazine Cosmopolitan . In 1977, Davidson was present at the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky. He
1595-602: The family of Richard Southgate. Born in New York City , Richard Southgate went to Newport from Richmond, Virginia in 1795. In October 1797, he was licensed to practice law in the court of Kentucky and appointed Commonwealth Attorney for Campbell County in 1798. He was State Representative in 1803 and Senator from 1817 to 1821. Richard died in July 1857 at the age of 83. Richard's home still stands on Third Street in Newport . His son William
1650-427: The fast-growing blaze. The Fire Department was alerted to the fire at 9:01 p.m. and arrived by 9:05; as they approached, firefighters on the first emergency vehicles could already see smoke coming from the building. As smoke began to escape the Zebra Room and drift down the hall toward other banquet rooms, patrons and employees nearest to the Zebra Room smelled it. The employees began to urge room occupants to leave
1705-415: The fire also began to spread upwards, engulfing the spiral staircase that would have provided the best exit for those on the second floor of the building. Around 9:10 p.m., power failed in the building, extinguishing the lights. Panic ensued, and even those who had been calmly moving toward exits in the Cabaret Room began to push and shove each other. The situation was made even more desperate because of
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1760-476: The fire, including pictures of the club's basement during the aftermath, which the forensic specialist had taken personal possession of following his retirement from the State Police. Conway's decision was that these documents were public records, and must be handled and made available to the public in accordance with Kentucky's Open Records Act. A state historic marker commemorates the fire. Although off limits to
1815-404: The fire. His citation reads: "For his coverage of a fire that took 164 lives at the Beverly Hills Supper Club at Southgate, Ky., and subsequent investigation of the lack of enforcement of state fire codes." In a letter dated July 8, 2011, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway ordered a retired Kentucky State Police forensic specialist to return 30 boxes of color slides taken in the days after
1870-429: The game show's premiere in 1966 to its cancellation in 1981. He was known for his long-winded bluffs which often fooled contestants with his often ridiculous answers to questions the program's host, Peter Marshall , posed. Most times, Marshall could barely conceal a grin as Davidson began some far-fetched but plausible explanations for his answers, often prefaced with some misleading statement like "I just read about it in
1925-477: The inside doors, which is about 30 feet inside the building, I saw these big double doors, and people were stacked like cordwood. They were clear up to the top. They just kept diving out on each other trying to get out. I looked back over the pile of – it wasn't dead people; there were dead and alive in that pile – and I went in and I just started to grab them two at a time and pull them off the stack, and drag them out... At 11:30 p.m. fire command, suspecting that
1980-468: The late 1980s and early 1990s, which were notable for taking place in outdoor, scenic settings (such as Hawaii). These "infomercials", as they have come to be called, often appeared on late night television and were a staple for years on many cable channels till the FCC filed a complaint against Del Dotto in 1995, alleging that he had "made false and unsubstantiated representations" in his programs. Davidson hosted
2035-524: The project, but came to an agreement in November 2020, allowing the project to move forward. Author Robert D. Webster, along with co-authors David Brock and Thomas McConaughy, in their 2012 investigative history Beverly Hills Supper Club: The Untold Story of Kentucky's Worst Tragedy , alleges that the fire was actually set deliberately by the mafia , in retaliation for the Supper Club's owner's refusing to sell
2090-508: The public, the site is a popular destination for urban explorers , many of whom have found relics from the club. In 2020, a private developer reached a deal with the City of Southgate to build a mixed-use development on the site. The development will include a memorial to the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. First responders, families of fire victims, and others filed a lawsuit in September 2020 to halt
2145-705: The role of Henry in the off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks . In April 2013 he took on the role of the Wizard in the first North American tour of Wicked . In 2016, Davidson played Norman Thayer in On Golden Pond at Judson Theatre Company in Pinehurst, North Carolina . In June 2017, he took on the role of Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook in the North American tour of Finding Neverland . Davidson's first marriage
2200-413: The room was beyond its safety capacity. Elsewhere in the club, patrons were eating gourmet meals. Later estimates place the total number of people in the Beverly Hills Supper Club on May 28, 1977, at approximately 3,000, substantially more than the 1,500 people fire code allowed at the time for a building with the number of exits the club had. Near the south exit close to the main bar, the opposite end of
2255-475: The room's southern exit. Two bodies were removed from the Viennese Room. A small number of fire victims died after being rescued from the scene: one on June 25, and one on July 2. The last victim of the fire, Barbara Thornhill of Delhi Township , died on March 1, 1978, nine months after the tragedy. This brought the number of verified deaths to 165. The investigation into the fire found the following deficiencies, as enumerated by The Cincinnati Enquirer : This
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2310-413: The single door that connected the branching corridor to the exterior of the building. This complex navigation was not atypical for the building; a number of other event and services spaces were scattered throughout the rest of the building, with some rooms leading into each other, some leading into interior hallways, and some leading to the outside of the building. A partial second story covered approximately
2365-462: The southern third of the building, sitting above the main entrance, Zebra Room, and main dining room; it held two more small event rooms made of six smaller rooms conjoined, collectively labeled the Crystal Rooms. Though the building's frame and ceiling tiling was classified as non-combustible, the Beverly Hills Supper Club made substantial use of wooden building materials, including floor joists for
2420-467: The three exits in the room, two were soon blocked by the fire, leaving the crowd to funnel through a single exit. Employees outside the exits attempted to pull guests to safety, but the crush of bodies as those behind pushed upon those in front became so solid that no amount of strength could free most of them. Many of those who escaped the crush blocking the northeast fire exit became lost trying to find other exits. The building's confusing design often led to
2475-417: The two-story portion of the complex and framing on interior hallways. It was decorated throughout with highly flammable carpeting and wood wall paneling; event rooms also used wooden tables and supports, as well as tablecloths, curtains, and a variety of other small combustible materials. The building did not have a fire-suppression sprinkler system installed—at the time, these were not required in venues such as
2530-477: The venue to them. Webster and McConaughy began their investigation at the behest of David Brock, who had been a busboy at the venue on the night of the fire and claimed to have seen unidentified "maintenance men" working in the ceiling of one of the party rooms shortly before the fire broke out. Webster was awarded a 2013 Kentucky History Award for his work on their book. Brock's allegations had previously been presented to Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear in 2008 by
2585-451: Was 2,439.1 inhabitants per square mile (941.7/km ). There were 1,665 housing units at an average density of 1,169.6 per square mile (451.6/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 95.85% White , 0.72% African American , 0.26% Native American , 1.53% Asian , 0.69% from other races , and 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.24% of the population. There were 1,601 households, of which 26.0% had children under
2640-571: Was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.8 males. The median household income was $ 42,257 and the median family income was $ 53,365. Males had a median income of $ 37,846 compared with $ 27,634 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 24,188. About 1.5% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over. John Davidson (entertainer) John Hamilton Davidson (born December 13, 1941)
2695-468: Was a congressman from Northern Kentucky. On May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate was engulfed in fire, killing 165 inside. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 1.4 square miles (3.6 km ), all land. At the 2000 census , there were 3,472 people, 1,601 households and 944 families residing in the city. The population density
2750-435: Was a member of the repertory company on the short-lived CBS variety show The Entertainers (1964–65). He was a regular player on many anthology and variety series of the 1970s–80s, including The Ed Sullivan Show , The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour , Love American Style , The Love Boat , Fantasy Island , and Spenser: For Hire . Davidson made numerous appearances on the original Hollywood Squares, from
2805-404: Was expected to appear onstage as the headline act the evening the fire broke out. Davidson helped others escape before fleeing through a back door. Davidson's music director, Douglas Herro, was among the 165 victims. Davidson was unharmed in the disaster and later participated in a charity concert to raise funds for the families of the victims. In the late 1970s, the actor appeared 87 times as
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#17328906343422860-533: Was managed by Alan Bernard, former manager of Andy Williams and one of the partners in BNB, the largest personal management firm in the 1970s. In 1987, during an appearance on Scrabble he mentioned that he appeared as an underwear model in the 1959 Sears catalog, when he was seventeen. He made his Broadway debut in the 1964 production of Foxy, which starred Bert Lahr . He also appeared in State Fair in 1996. He
2915-429: Was not situated in a north–south direction, reports of the fire have tended to use these as reference points when describing the complex. Assuming this system, the front entrance of the complex lay at the southern point of the compass. Along the central portion of the southern wall, to the east of the building entrance, was a small event room called the Zebra Room. A narrow corridor to the Zebra Room's east separated it from
2970-472: Was the first lawsuit to use the concept of " enterprise liability " and one of the first disaster suits to be brought as a class action . Chief litigation attorney Stanley Chesley raised millions through the class action, benefiting many survivors. Richard Whitt of the Louisville Courier-Journal was awarded the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Local General or Spot News Reporting for his articles on
3025-503: Was to Jackie Miller. He has two children: John Davidson Jr., who often appeared with his father on later versions of Hollywood Squares; and Jennifer (Davidson) Kane. Since 1983 Davidson has been married to former backup singer Rhonda Rivera, and they have a daughter Ashleigh Davidson. They live primarily in Tamworth, New Hampshire . The son of two Baptist ministers, Davidson now identifies as an atheist, declaring himself "openly secular" in
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