RKO 86th Street Theatre
1284 Lexington Avenue,
New York,
NY
1284 Lexington Avenue,
New York,
NY
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This theater was located in Yorkville on Lexington Avenue, on New York City’s upper east side. It was built in 1926.
After being demolished, Gimbels was built on the site, which in turn has been replaced by an apartment building.
Contributed by
Jean
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Recent comments (view all 47 comments)
It’s a sketch for the corner vertical sign which is shown here and dates back to at least 1947, when the photo was taken:
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Some nice shots of two eras here.
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WOW that first one jogged my memory!!! Thanks for the link! What a shame to demolish that beautiful theater and replace it with that awful Gimbels East building. Everything for the almighty dollar.
This theatre was still open in October 1968 when it closed after playing “For Love Of Ivy”. It was replaced by the Gimbels store and the RKO 86th street Twin.
Here’s a link to some unnarrated newsreel coverage of an invitational screening of the Rock Hudson starrer, “Battle Hymn,” at the RKO 86th Street in 1956: View link
Stripped down to its steel frame, It appears that the old marquee now used for Duane Reade is being renovated or demolished. This marquee was for the smaller RKO movie house that was built into the Gimbels East Ibuilding that replaced the original RKO 86th. If I recall correctly, this smaller theater was supposed to make up for the loss of the palace.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOmarquee2.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/RKOmarquee.jpg
Anyone remember the old RKO on 58 St-3 Ave acroos from Alexanders
Here
Fifty years ago this weekend, Hollywood sexpot Jayne Mansfield made a three-day tour of twenty RKO theatres in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Westchester to promote the current engagement of “The George Raft Story,” in which she portrayed a fictional composite of some of his celebrated Hollywood conquests. The RKO 86th Street was Mansfield’s last stop on the first night. She made a brief stage appearance at each theatre, with radio disc jockey Murray the “K” as emcee. Ray Danton played the title role in the B&W biopic, which was running on the RKO circuit with the B&W “Look In Any Window” as the supporting feature.
Here is the complete schedule for the Jayne Mansfield tour of RKO theatres: Friday, 3/23/62—Franklin, Royal, Fordham, Coliseum, Regent, 86th Street; Saturday, 3/24/62—Castle Hill, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers, Flushing, Richmond Hill, Madison, Bushwick, Kenmore; Sunday, 3/25/62—Strand, Tilyou, Dyker, Prospect.