Nassau Theatre
Nassau Road,
Roosevelt,
NY
11575
Nassau Road,
Roosevelt,
NY
11575
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Island Theater Circuit
Previous Names: Roosevelt Theatre
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Located in Roosevelt, Long Island, NY. This was a neighborhood house that played double features for low prices. It opened as the Roosevelt Theatre and was renamed Nassau Theatre in 1939 after a refurbishment. In the 1970’s when the neighborhood changed they often ran “blaxploitation” triple bills. A fire destroyed part of the auditorium and it was closed and left to rot.
Contributed by
RobertR
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
My Family moved from Brooklyn to Roosevelt in 1959….and if I recall correctly, the little Theater was called the Nassau………..One tear-jerker that I took a date to there was “Imitation of Life” with Lana Turner——-what a mistake that was as the gal cried all night—lol—-but the little movie house was very cozy—-it was one level, with a very small lobby on Nassau Road in Roosevelt, L.I.——-Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
Wow! I remember seeing “Imitation of Life” on the television (did you know it’s a remake of a 1930’s Claudette Colbert film?), far from being a tearjerker, it now comes across as a bit of a snoozefest.
Listed in various editions of Film Daily Yearbooks;1941-1950 as the Nassau Theatre (the only theatre listed in the town of Roosevelt). Seating capacities vary from 590 to 404.
Thanks to all for responding…..Yes I have both films in my collection——I have been a Classic film collector for over 40 years of all genres, including foreign, in particular Italian Cinema…..and thanks KenRoe for checking the name out———If you continued down Nassau to the south, you would come into Freeport where there were two large Movie Theaters—-the Grove & the Freeport……Check out my post on the Freeport and get a few chuckles………Go North into Hempstead, and you would find The Old Hempstead Theater, the Rivoli & the Calderone……Ciao, Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—–
Gregory Bigelow stated: The Nassau Theatre was great because it was our community movie house and parents let their kids go there without much fear. It I worked there briefly as a kid, sweeping up and helping change the marque. It was owned by a man named Lightstone and he had a few other small theaters in the Bx and Jersey. They showed blaxploitation movies like Buck and the Preacher, Petey Wheatstraw and The Mack. All of the Kung Fu movies, Sonny Chiba, Bruce Lee Black Belt Jones, Cleopatra Jones played there and then of course horror like the Exorcist, Scream Blacula Scream,Willard. Uptown Saturday Night and the list goes on and on.
Joe Williams: I saw all of Bruce Lee Movies there and all Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, etc… B.E. movies.. We used to be there for 4 or 5 hours. (By the way, it was never called the Roosevelt Theatre!)
http://www.fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/Freeport%20NY%20Daily%20Review/Freeport%20NY%20Daily%20Review%201927%20Nov-Feb%201928/Freeport%20NY%20Daily%20Review%201927%20Nov-Feb%201928%20-%200920.pdf#xml=http://www.fultonhistory.com/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=20e48b42&DocId=5015263&Index=Z%3a\Index%20O-G-T-S&HitCount=5&hits=fa8+fa9+faa+fab+fac+&SearchForm=C%3a\inetpub\wwwroot\Fulton_New_form.html&.pdf ….It was called the “Roosevelt Theatre” in the 1920’s.
1940 ad from Newsday and brief 1939 article announcing the reopening of the former Roosevelt Theater as the modern Nassau uploaded.
I just added some Newsday articles and Ads featuring the Nassau Theater. Special thanks to my librarian wife for digging these out for me.
Howard Stern’s movie theater growing up