well i know that Steven Rubell was the owner of 54- but how about he other chracters?like shane o 'shea/ are they all real or semi biographical?
shareI believe they are like Rose and Jack in Titanic made up
share"Marc The Doorman"- is based on Marc Benecke, the one of the real-life doorman at the club.
"Disco Dottie"-was based on Disco Sally, a 70 year old club-goer who would dance with her 20-something boyfriend at the club.
*I have the Anthony Haden-Guest book "The Last Party".
WHoa - thanks a lot - so about Disco Sally - did she die like the way Disco Dottie was portrayed in the movie? a cocaine overdose?? and is Ryan Phillipe's character semi biographical as well?
shareThere is no evidence that I know of that Disco Sally ever died of an overdose. Shane O Shea was an entirely ficticious character, although the bartenders at 54 did indeed live lives as they were portrayed in the movie. A great book out there on the topic is The Last Party: Studio 54, disco, and the Culture of the night by Anthony Haden-Guest.
If you take the time to read that, a lot of the little lines in the movie make a lot more sense. Personally, the story of how Studio came down was particularly interesting. Have fun!!
**A Correction-Disco Sally was actually 85 years old (and a lawyer) when she started dancing at Studio 54 with her Greek boyfriend, whom she apparently married. Sally died of heart failure in the late 1980s. No drug overdose took her away, just Father Time. I also have a copy of "Fabulous!-A Photographic Diary of Studio 54" by Bobby Miller. Disco Sally's pic and info is on page 74.
I have an interest in NYC early 70s-early 80s art/nightlife/culture (Studio 54, CBGBs, Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring, the beginnings of the punk and hip-hop movements). It's interesting how all of these different cultural movements intersected. The movies "54", "Summer of Sam", "Last Days of Disco", and "Basquiat" are all interesting (& dramatized) pieces of social history from that era.
Basquiat is one of my favorites.
share