Roosevelt Theatre
2497 Seventh Avenue (now Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard),
New York,
NY
10030
2497 Seventh Avenue (now Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard),
New York,
NY
10030
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The Roosevelt Theatre opened in c.1920 and is located on the corner of Seventh Avenue and W. 145th Street. In the center of the facade there is a bust relief of Theodore Roosevelt.
During the 1920’s this movie theatre operated in conjunction with the Odeon Theatre located close-by on 145th Street and the Douglas Theatre on Lennox Avenue. It was at the Roosevelt Theatre that Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller won an amateur night contest playing James P. Johnson’s “Carolina Shout”.
The Roosevelt Theatre was listed in Film Daily Yearbooks for 1930-1933 and 1940-1955 as being a ‘Negro’ theatre catering to African-American audiences.
It closed in 1978, and is currently in use as a Pioneer Supermarket.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
A c/o dated October 7, 1920 was issued for a 1526 seat motion picture theater at 2495-97 Seventh Avenue . The owner is listed as the Silber Amusement Co.
It was still open in 1971 showing one of MGM’s Family Matinee’s.
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Small item from the NYT dated 10/12/63:
A movie projectionist was shot and robbed yesterday in the projection booth of Roosevelt Theater, Seventh Avenue, the police reported today.
Interesting. Thanks.
The Roosevelt.
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Check out the odd vertical with the arrows…..did it once say RKO?
“Roosevelt” was such a long name that they economized on the vertical sign by using just the first letter “R”, followed by animated arrows pointing at the building.
The architect was Charles Goodman.
Stopped showing films in 1976.
No, actually the theater closed in 1978. The last picture I saw there was the Bill Cosby Sidney Potier 1977 film, ‘A Piece Of The Action’.