Embassy Theatre
1409 3rd Avenue,
Seattle,
WA
98101
1409 3rd Avenue,
Seattle,
WA
98101
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Henry W. Bittman
Functions: Live Performances, Nightclub
Nearby Theaters
The Embassy Theatre was opened on September 17, 1926 with Ford Sterling in “The Show Off” plus some stage presentations. It was equipped with a Kimball theatre organ. This theatre fascinated me as a child because it had two separate entrances: one on 3rd Avenue and one on Union Street. Little did I know it was a down and out palace showing way past their prime movies to whoever would gather up the 50 cents and stagger in.
My first trip inside consisted of two horrible oaters and Brigitte Bardot in “And God Created Woman”. I sat through the Westerns twice just to get another look at Ms. Bardot.
It later went even further downhill as an adult movie theatre. It had a small fire inside and they just stuck some tape around the burnt seats and kept the movies rolling. The Embassy Theatre was closed in 1978.
It is now used as a nightclub.
Contributed by
Richard O'Neill
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
The Triple Door website includes a short history (which includes photos) of the Embassy Theatre. Here’s the link: http://www.thetripledoor.net/Our-Story/Read-Our-Story.aspx
I was never in the Embassy in it’s movie heyday but also was interested in it often as I toured downtown or waited for the bus close to it. In the 60’s they seemed to feature lots of triple play horror B films. Then porno for years in the 70’s. 3RD ave in Seattle is quite sleazy but this place and the symphony hall next door gives it a better and upscale dimension. Surprising this simpler smaller theatre should survive while the elegant theatres in town like the Music Hall, Orpheum and Palomar and old Orpheum are all dust.
There might have been a fire, but it was bomb that went off in 1984 that resulted in seats being roped off. The bomb was put there by a group called The Order. They were a white supremacist group. Their idea was that all the cops would go the Embassy for bomb, while they were robbing a Brinks Truck north of there.
Hi Dennis: I was on my way to work at the Embassy to relieve Doug Stewart in the booth at the time the bomb went off. I had a matinee shift at the King and was scheduled for the evening at the Embassy. I never made it to work that day. Police wouldn’t let me close. Doug said that the Brenkert BX 80 never missed a beat and continued to project XXX product after the explosion. Broke the port glass, however.
Do you have a current address for Doug Stewart? I’d like to write him a letter.
Sorry, Dennis. I don’t have any contact info for Doug.
The Embassy theatre opened on September 17th, 1926 and closed in 1978. Grand opening ads posted.
It was open at least until sometime in the 1980’s. I worked there during the 1981 - 1984 time frame.
The Embassy had two entrances, two lobbies, and two box offices, one on 3rd Avenue and another one just around the corner on Union Street. A friend told me years ago that his father once had a considerable amount of time to kill in Seattle, sometime in the late 1940’s. He decided to see a movie and bought a ticket at the 3rd Avenue entrance to the Embassy. After the film, he walked around downtown a bit but still had time to kill. He decided to see another movie. This time, he bought his ticket at the Union Street entrance to the Embassy, not realizing that it was the same theater.
Some history and old photos can be seen at this link