Siegi Sessler

Siegi Sessler was one of London's most famous, influential and respected restaurateurs and club owners of the late 1940s, 1950's and 1960s.

Having started club life after the Second World War, he was eventually, in 1950, to open Siegi's Club, in the heart of London's Mayfair, at 46, Charles Street.

Siegi's became the first of the legendary Mayfair establishments, later including The Claremont Club, Annabel's, Tramp, Harry's Bar and The Colony Club.

Well known to be the 'home from home', for almost every legendary Hollywood star, from Sinatra and Bogart,to Hope and Crosby. From Niven and Brando to Monroe, John Wayne, Cary Grant and Clark Gable, onto Doris Day, Joan Crawford, Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor(the list is quite simply endless). It was also the place where Studio Moguls, Producers and Directors forged their deals,often under Siegi's watchful eye and Prime Ministers mixed with Shipping Magnets,Sportsmen enjoyed the mutual admiration of Singers and Authors and Artists,mixed seemlessly with Royalty and those of lesser lineage.

It was described as "a sort of Madame Tussauds for live people","a safe haven for the friendless" and "a place impossible to leave, without a pocketful of introductions, for all four corners of the globe...you may not have wanted to lunch with Brando in LA or safari with Bill Holden, in Kenya, however once out of the door you were committed and often compelled to be their house guests, although a stranger...and you may have only popped in for a night cap before bed!"

Often considered the twin brother of New York's 21 club, Siegi, always vaunted as London's best dressed man, was as well known for his back room Gin Rummy games, as his patronage of The London Boys Club Federation, who's Royal Patron was The Duke Of Edinburgh, for whom he raised thousands of pounds.

Early life

Siegi was born, Siegesmund Sessler, in Krackow, Poland, on September 9, 1910. The eldest of 5 brothers and 2 sisters, life was disrupted by the breaking up of Poland, and Jews being subjected to that which history has given us in graphic detail. He managed to get to England, and fought in WW2 from the start, only discovering, like many Poles, that at the end of the war, his brother Freddie, was the only survivor of his immediate family.

Post World War 2

Unsure of what family may still be alive, he found his Uncle Max, who had a restaurant in Swiss Cottage, London. In an office upstairs, he and his partner John Mills, with whom he later started The Milroy Club, which, upon the demise of their partnership, became Les Ambassadeurs.

He spent much time in America and was responsible for helping many of those who were forced out of Hollywood, by the Macarthy "Witch hunt".

One such incident, was the Writer/Producer/Director Carl Foreman,who at the time of his allegations, was writing the script for "The Bridge On The River Kwai". He later thanked Siegi, by naming a character after him in the classic "The Guns Of Navarone" (unfortunately, the character in question was an SS officer...but the thought was there!)

He was the "Best Man" to singer Pearl Bailey, when she remarried and spent much "quality" time in Las Vegas, at The Sands Hotel, and in New York, at the 21 Club or watching his beloved New York Yankees, also taking up residence in Madison Square Gardens, for many a title fight, having been a professional wrestler himself, back in Poland.

Siegi's Club

Siegi's opened in 1950 and thanks to what was considered to be some of the best food anywhere in the world and the extraordinary clientele, it soon became the favourite 'hideaway', for those who knew that their privacy was assured and despite journalists and newspaper moguls, alike, enjoying their 'membership', it was this code of conduct,long since passed, and watched over carefully by the owner himself, that insured complete trust. Should Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin choose to entertain the lunchtime gathering with a few songs around the piano, the chances are that Sam Speigel would ask them to "keep it down...I'm trying to work here!", or Groucho Marx would insist on "professional singers entertaining him over his lunch...Auditions by "buskers" gave him gas!" In 1960, the club enjoyed it's 10 year anniversary, and a special edition book marked the event.

Personal life

In 1958, Siegi was married to Barbara Anderson,a Kenya born beauty, who had come to England to be an actress, at the Edison Hotel, in New York. In 1960, they gave birth to a son, Simon Edison Sessler. By 1965, however, ill health had started to take hold, and an operation on his throat, was the beginning of a deterioration from which, on April 1 1969, he passed away, at just 58 years old. He was cremated at Golders Green Cemetery.

The club was sold shortly thereafter to Mark Birley, who owned Annabel's, and became Mark's Club, which continues to this day to be one of the most exclusive clubs in London.

References

Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Sammy Davis Jr.

Global Oil Finder: Autobiography of a Petroleum Geologist by Fred W Kelly Jr

Donald Zec on this show business;: His provocative, candid, hilarious encounters with the stars by Donald Zec

Cindy and I;: The real life adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Joey Adams by Joey Adams

No Cover Charge : A backward look at the night clubs by Robert Sylvester

Londoner by Tudor Jenkins

RSVP Elsa Maxwell's Own Story

External links

Jet - Google Books Result 4 Dec 1952 - 64 pages - Magazine London night club owner Siegi Sessler served as best man in Ferrer's place. The civil ceremony ended so suddenly that Miss Bailey asked: "What happens now ... books.google.co.uk/books?id=S7sDAAAAMBAJ...