Mulkey Theatre

The Cozy Theatre was destroyed by a fire and was rebuilt, reopening as the Mulkey Theatre on February 13, 1946. It was named after Homer Mulkey, a pioneer photographer based in Clarendon. It was closed in 1986. When I last saw the Mulkey Theatre in 1988 it stood closed and lonely. It had a wonderful double sided marquee that extended out from the building and and formed a point. On top of the marquee “Mulkey” was spelled out in individual dark red letters that were outlined with neon tubing. The front of the building had pink and red tile.

It was purchased by Clarendon ECD in 2008 and work began on a $1million restoration. It reopened on May 25, 2019 with John Wayne & Claudette Colbert in “Without Reservations”(1946) and the South Plains Jazz Orchestra from Levelland playing tunes from the 1940’s on the stage.

Recent comments (view all 14 comments)

irpworks on September 3, 2007 at 9:29 pm

Does anyone know the root of the Mulkey name? It’s the only one with that name in the database.

Don Lewis on January 26, 2008 at 12:57 pm

A 1988 photo of the Mulkey in Clarendon.

www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/2221522842

Don Lewis on July 17, 2010 at 3:17 pm

From 2010 a view of the Mulkey in Clarendon Here and Here.

Don Lewis on December 23, 2010 at 4:13 pm

From 2010 photos of the Mulkey Theatre in Clarendon. [Click on thumbnails for larger view].

CSWalczak on March 22, 2011 at 3:07 pm

According to this article about efforts to restore the Mulkey, the theater opened in 1946 as a rebuilt version of an earlier theater on the site, the Cozy, which was destroyed by fire: View link. The theater was named for a Mr. Homer Mulkey by his widow; Mr. Mulkey operated theaters in the Clarendon area.

Mike Rogers on March 22, 2011 at 4:44 pm

Nice 1982 pics.Too lazy to put “ANNIE” on the other side?

RoadsideArchitecture.com on September 18, 2011 at 5:04 pm

Some history and plans for restoration here.

Don Lewis on March 28, 2013 at 12:09 am

From 2010 a photo of the Mulkey Theatre in Clarendon.

hdrs on January 5, 2020 at 4:17 pm

This is now open again as of 2020

https://www.clarendontx.com/mulkey

dorstar on October 14, 2022 at 3:01 pm

The Donley County Leader shows that Homer Mulkey came to Clarendon in 1904 and became one of the outstanding photographers in the region. He sold his art gallery in 1910 and opened up his first movie theatre in Clarendon. At the time of his death in 1941, he owned two theatre houses in Clarendon including the Cozy.