RKO Jefferson Theatre

Last owner was a relative of the owner of the Wetson hamburger chain. He was almost singlehandedly trying to restore it with only one helper. A visit to the upstairs proved he was wasting his time as vandals had removed all the plumbing by that time & the inside of the theater was in shambles. He quickly found this out and gave up on this vanity project

The East 13th Street portion (or rear of this theatre's building) can be seen in Taxi Driver. The action with Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and Harvey Kietel all take place around the corner from The Jefferson.

The Jefferson was another Adam design by Thomas W. Lamb, and was built by B.S. Moss and Sol Brill. It first opened on January 25, 1913 with Keith's vaudeville. During the heyday of vaudeville, the Jefferson was one of the top NYC houses. New acts that registered well with the audience were assured of getting a booking at the Palace on Broadway, which was the ultimate reward for an entertainer in those days. Through its Keith's affiliation, the Jefferson became an RKO movie theatre, but retained vaudeville on the programs until well into the 1930s.

George Keister was the Jefferson's architect. Thomas Lamb did only some minor alterations in the 1930s. The Jefferson was built by the Irvington Construction Company, and took nine months to complete. The original seating plan showed 1,885 seats-- 1,124 in the orchestra, 689 in the balcony, and 72 in boxes...George Keister's other NYC theatres included the Astor, Belasco, George M. Cohan's, Selwyn, Chaloner (later Town), and both versions of the Earl Carroll.

The narration above says it was closed by the early 60's but I seem to recall when going to Luchows in the seventies triple kung fu bills playing? Maybe an independant took over when RKO gave it up?

Yes, it was operated by "indies" after RKO left. It would be very difficult to track the exact closing as a movie house because the operators never advertised in the newspapers or sought listings in magazines like New York. When I last had a chance to visit the dingy interior in 1981, the Jefferson was closed and awaiting re-development as a disco/rock palace, but that never happened.

This question may seem a bit strange...but I am seeking a theater poster of a show that ran at the Jefferson. I don't know the year (although is was after 1956) but it was a show about James Dean. It read "Watch James Dean Materialize...Back From the Dead". Any ideas?

If you're in the vicinity of New York City, you should go to the Billy Rose Theater Collection of the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center (you can find the hours at www.nypl.org) Request the clippings file for the Jefferson Theatre. Or, if you're sure of the show's title, request the clippings file for that. And if you still can't find it, you will have to request clippings files for James Dean, which are voluminous and may take you several days to go through...I honestly don't recall this show, and wonder why it was staged at the Jefferson of all places.

This couldent have been that documentry about James Dean could it? Not the Warner Brothers one, remember the tackey independant one?

Does anyone know an exact date as to when it was demolished?

Ruby, the "Watch James Dean materialize" show was one segment of a traveling spook show which played on stage. I used to have a flyer for this program from the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ. As I recall, they also gave out free photographs: Elvis for the girls, and Marilyn for the boys. This would date it to sometime in the late 50's/early 60's.

The RKO Jefferson was extensively refurbished in 1947 and re-opened on September 13th with advertising that described it as "The Most Beautiful Theatre on 14th Street." Perhaps it was, since the nearby and more sumptuous Academy of Music had turned shabby by that time under skinflint Skouras management. The rejuvenated Jefferson presented six acts of vaudeville and double features (starting with "Dear Ruth" & "Dark Delusion") that had already played at the Academy of Music or the latter's main rival in that part of town, Loew's Commodore. Within a week of re-opening, matinee attendance at the Jefferson was so sparse that vaudeville had to be switched to evening perfomances only, then weekends only, and finally dropped entirely in the wake of similar programming on newfangled home TV.

John Chappell writes that the Jefferson closed in the early 60's,
but I remember it showing movies in the 70's.
At that time I was coming into my early teens, maybe it re-opened
under a new owner.
After the movies, the crowd would head to White Tower for hamburgers
and fries.

I think this was opened for a few years after RKO by an independant. They used to show triple horror and kung-fu bills.

I remember passing by the theater in the late 70's, and it was boarded up and looked terrible. It had a very cool marquee, with lots of bulbs and neon. But it appeared to have been closed for some time.

This theatre sat empty for years and years. I always wondered what the story was. What was the name of the theatre where the Palladium Disco was?

The Palladium was previously The Academy of Music.

Here's a photo ( or two ) I took of the old Jefferson back in the 1980's.
http://www.kilduffs.com/theatre_NYC_Jefferson1.jpg
http://www.kilduffs.com/theatre_NYC_Jefferson2.jpg

Property is owned by the Millstein family - real estate developers.
Place is an eyesore - surprised given the recent re-birth of Union Square and the NYU dorms nearby.
I vaguely recall another smaller theatre on the north side of 14th street, closer to 2nd avenue - anybody have any ideas?

You are not thinking of a porno theatre that was on the east side of Third Avenue between 14th & 15th Streets are you? I think there was one there. There was an SRO hotel on the northeast corner of 14th Street & Third Avenue that is also gone.

Yep- there was a porno theatre there; it was knocked down at some point and there are now apartments; I assume it was once a legit place, probably had a name. And yes you are right - the SRO is gone, think it was called the Sahara.

Are you talking about the Metropolitan?

I don't re-call its name but that must be it. I started living in StuyTown around 1970 and I always re-call the place as being porno. It was a pretty sleazy block for years - its picked up quite a bit in recent years and I'm surprised the Millstein group hasn't developed or sold the Jefferson site.

In 1974 the Jefferson was a Brandt house.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Coffy.jpg

RobertR: I notice in the above-linked ad that there is a San Juan Theatre in Manhattan, and a Puerto Rico Theatre in the Bx. They aren't listed on this site (at least not under those names). Do you know where they were?

I posted that same question on the page for the Cosmo, these have yet to be identified.
Rob

1952 saw a mass release of King King and the Leopard Man
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/KingKongLeopardMan.jpg

The Jefferson was Spanish speaking movie house in the 70's.
I photographed it in 1976.

Go to http://drewcarolan.com and look under NewYork

There was an after hours type palce in the loft above the marquee in the late 80's.

Here are several images, including the front and back cover of a 1931 programme:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3040_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3051_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3043_IMG.jpg

A Moller organ Opus 2236 Size 3/14 was installed in the Jefferson Theater in 1917 at a cost of $4,000.

Celebrate New Year's Eve (1949) at RKO! Please note that the Jerfferson and several other theatres listed in the ad also had stage presentations:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rkonye.jpg

Thanks John - wow- "Pinky", quite a movie for its time
also noticed the Rangers/Bruins hockey game for 70 cents!!!
I think the cheapest seat now is $28!!!

NY Times November 25, 1921

"BOY FIRES THEATRE TO SEE ENGINES RUN; Audience in East Fourteenth Street House Sits Through Blaze Without Knowing It. STARTED FLAMES TWICE First Failed to Burn, and He Climbed to Roof, Then Into Loft, for Second Attempt.

An audience was attending a continuous vaudeville and motion picture show in B.F. Keith's Jefferson Theatre, at 214 East Fourteenth Street, and patrons were going in and out of the playhouse at 6:40 o'clock last night, when some one in the street saw wisps of smoke curling out of the windows on the third floor front".

I remember passing by this place in the 80's. It must be said that it did look like hell.

Here is a 1986 photo by Michael Putnam:
http://tinyurl.com/32l4o2

The Jefferson first opened on January 25, 1913, just two days after the uptown Hamilton. Both theatres were operated by B.S. Moss and Sol Brill: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/hamjeff.jpg

Iremember the huge fish tanks that were in the lobby (circa early 60s) and that I saw a live spook show with "Zacherley"

From Nathan Silver's "Lost New York":
"(the Jefferson)...After it became linked to the big time Keith circuit in 1920, its players included The Marx Brothers, Mae West, Jack Benny & Fred Allen. 'The Jefferson was considered the toughtest house in New York' said George Burns in his book, "Gracie." It was a movie house from the 30's through 60's and finally demolished in 1999."

bobmarshall

The introduction needs correcting. The Jefferson first opened in 1913, not 1910. Please see my previous posts about the Jefferson dated 3/22/04 and 3/27/04.

The Jefferson was probably the toughest house in Manhattan because it was adjacent to a very tough neighborhood, the Gashouse District. And its vaudeville attendance would have dwindled when thousands of people were evicted from their homes to make way for Stuyevsant Town beginning in 1945. The first resident in Stuy Town didn't move in until 1947-1948.

The Jefferson in 1982

...with the side of the Palladium looming in the background.

And a cigarette ad, (Kents, perhaps), on the side of the side of the bus in the foreground.

From the May 10, 1046 NYC edition of the (Communist) Daily Worker RKO Jefferson 14 St. & 3rd Ave.:

Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman
"Bells of St. Mary's"

Question: photos of the facade of the Jefferson posted by Thomas in May 2005: would a theater as famous as B.F. Keith's Vaudeville house really have been only as wide across as the facade in the photo suggests in its heyday? I will have to change my mental image (or at least the ones provided me by "the movies") of what the approach to B.F. Keith's might have been. Thank you.

Theatre entrances are often narrow, due to factors such as the high cost of real estate or already existing adjacent buildings. The most famous of all New York vaudeville theatres, the Palace, also had (and still does) a comparatively narrow entrance for its auditorium size.

The link I posted on 10/23/07 no longer works; use this instead:

RKO Jefferson in 1982

Here's a photo of the Jefferson's facade taken in the late 1990s, plus two cropped close views, all viewable in very large sizes, posted by Flickr user amg2000.

Here are new links to images of the Jefferson Theatre:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3040_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3051_IMG.jpg

Here's a photograph of 14th Street looking west with the Jefferson Theatre on the left side of the street. This photo was printed from the original glass negative, which I have in my possession.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p307/tkmonaghan/photo-2.jpg

Does anyone know if 214 E 14th St was a theatre before RKO opened there in 1913? An actress in my family listed that address as her home in 1908...

RKO didn't exist in 1913. The Jefferson was built by B.S. Moss and Sol Brill, who had a license to present B.F. Keith vaudeville there. I don't know what previously occupied the ground site, but I doubt if it was a theatre. The portion used for the auditorium was actually on 13th Street. There was only a narrow entrance and lobby on 14th Street. The 14th Street portion might have been stores previously, with residential space (flats or houses) on 13th Street.

Thanks, a coincidence then...

Probably. There could have been apartments or furnished rooms above the stores.

Here is a recent photo of the East 14th street portion of the empty lot,where the Jefferson theatre once stood.

http://www.seanrichards.com/jeff2009.jpg


Here is the East 13th street side of the empty lot,where the Jefferson theatre once stood.

http://www.seanrichards.com/jeff2009back.JPG

Glad that the site has been put to such productive, high-valued-added use. It'll probably sit empty for another five years, at least, in this economy. Wonder what the developer paid, what his mortgage is like and how much he's shelling out to the city in the way of property taxes every 90 days. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Oh wait. I know. "NYU can bail me out...In fact, it'll be able to use money from `the stimulus package' to erect yet another dormitory, with tax-free assistance from the New York State Dormitory Authority." What a joke.

I live right behind where the theater was and watched it getting ripped down. It was such a sad thing.

In Harpo Marx's "Harpo Speaks" Marx mentions that he came up with his nonspeaking act while performing on 13th Street, because he had difficulty remembering his lines. It would make sense that he thought it up at the Jefferson.

I think the porn theater mentioned above was Variety Photoplays, which had an amazing old marquee that can also be seen in "Taxi Driver."

I believe this photo coincides with the ad post by RobertR on Jul 4, 2005 at 2:13pm

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=new+york&catpageindex=26&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31026

Al, the above link is to the Hollywood Twin, that you posted earlier.

Sorry folks. Here it is.

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=new+york&catpageindex=26&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31029

1981 Photo

1986 Photo

Thanks to everyone who posted on the Jefferson Theater. I grew up in that neighborhood and was practically a weekly patron of that theater and others in that area. I attended many, many vaudeville shows on weekends that were performed after the movies were shown and I would sit right in front of the orchestra. It was absolutely stunning and unforgettable for a kid of 4–10 years. And all this for 25 cents! I saw fabulous acts that left indelible imprints in my mind and given me a profound love for live theater. The Academy of Music also had spectacular live shows which I attended.

I would like to know when the last vaudeville show

I came to this site because I'm contemplating producing vaudeville on a very small scale where I now live in Oregon and the authenticity I visualize comes primarily from my experiences at the Jefferson Theater. There are many talented people who, like in the old days, would like an opportunity to showcase their art. A live small orchestra/band with a minimum of piano, trombone, trumpet, drums and bass can pull it off.

Thanks again and keep the information flowing on this site that I've bookmarked.

Joe Solano

That cut off question above should read, "I would like to know when the last vaudeville show was given at the Jefferson Theater."

Thanks.