Bernard "Toots" Shor (May 6 1903 ?? January 23 1977) was the proprietor of a legendary Toots Shor's Restaurant in Manhattan.
Shor was born in Philadelphia to Jewish parents who owned a candy store. When Shor was 15 years old, his mother was killed by an automobile while sitting on the stoop outside their home. His father committed suicide five years later. Shor attended the Drexel Institute of Technology and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania before working as a traveling shirt and underwear salesman.
Shor went to New York City in 1930 and found employment as a bouncer at the Five O'Clock Club, which served as his introduction to celebrities. He later worked at several other nightspots: The Napoleon Club, Lahiff's Tavern, the Ball & Chain, the Madison Royale, and Leon & Eddie's.
He became a great man about town in Manhattan after opening his own restaurant at 51 West 51st Street. While the food at Toots Shor's Restaurant was known to be ??nuttin?? fancy? ?? standard American, sports-bar fare such as shrimp cocktail, steak, baked potato ?? the establishment became well-known for who frequented there and how Shor interacted with them.
Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Joe Dimaggio were among many celebrites who were regulars each evening at Toots restaurant
Shor was known for treating his celebrity clients like anyone else and was quick with a comeback. Charlie Chaplin, one night made to wait in line with everyone else to enter the restaurant. When Chaplin complained, Shor told him to entertain the others who were waiting in line. One day, Hollywood boss Louis B. Mayer complained about waiting twenty minutes for a table and said, ??I trust the food will be worth all that waiting.? Shor replied: ??It??ll be better??n some of your crummy pictures I stood in line for.?
In 1959, Shor sold the lease for his 51st Street restaurant for $1.5 million. The following year, he opened at a new location at 33 West 52nd Street and tried to emulate the decor and atmosphere of the original.
In 1971, authorities padlocked the doors of the 52nd Street restaurant for nonpayment of federal, state, and local taxes totaling $269,516. He vowed to open again in three weeks, but 18 months passed before his restaurant reopened. For a variety of reasons, however, his famous clientele never returned with their former regularity.
Shor died January 23 1977 of cancer at the age of 73.
In 2006, the biographical documentary Toots in which his granddaughter Kristi Jacobson profiled his life premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It took "Best Film" at the Baseball Hall of Fame's first annual film festival in November 2006. Toots will be released on dvd in the fall of 2008.
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