70 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
J
N

ARTS&LIFE
NOSTALGIA

T

he Elmwood Casino, “Show Spot of 
Canada,
” opened May 8, 1946, and 
closed Dec. 21, 1974. The “unof-
ficial” 50th anniversary of its closing will 
occur later this year. That somewhat special 
anniversary will probably come and go with-
out any significant celebrations taking place 
to honor the memory of that once- 
notable nightclub. 
Even though most people in the Detroit-
Windsor area will be oblivious to the 
Elmwood’s 50th, I, for one, will not. On 
that special day, I’m planning to set aside a 
few moments to fondly reminisce about the 
good old days of the Elmwood. My beloved 
father, Harry Gozzard, performed there for 
about 25 years, from the 1940s through the 
1970s.
Harry was a fine trumpet player who 
had a remarkable musical career. Prior 
to the Elmwood, he performed with Sam 
Donahue, Sonny Burke, Count Basie, Jan 
Savitt and other talented musicians. He 
made dozens of records with big-name com-
panies in New York City and Los Angeles. 
He traveled around the U.S. performing. 
After the Elmwood closed, he continued 
to play random gigs on the weekends. He 
drove a taxi, too.
In a way, I feel as though I owe a debt of 

gratitude to the Elmwood. It paid my father 
a nice salary during its glory days, which 
he, in turn, used to buy his family food, 
clothing and a house to call home. Thank 
you, Elmwood Casino! I had a pretty decent 
childhood because of you.
Thanks, as well, to all of the stars who 
performed there. Without them — Ann-
Margret, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, 
Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Dean 
Martin, etc. — there wouldn’t have been an 
Elmwood to pay for my childhood. 

ELMWOOD STORIES
Some assume that the Jewish owner of 
the Elmwood, Al Siegel, was related to 
American mobster Bugsy Siegel because 
both shared the same name and were 
involved in the nightclub business, but that 
was just a coincidence.
I’m at work writing a screenplay about my 
father that chronicles his career. Through 
my research, I heard from Phil Madden, the 
son of Elmwood’s longtime bandleader Jack 
Madden. He told me an interesting Sammy 
Davis Jr. story. Phil had the unique privilege 
to play a round of golf with Sammy at the 
Roseland Golf Club. Phil was about 13 years 
old at the time. While they were playing, 
Sammy told Phil, “If you want to get any 

older, stop beating me.
” 
Phil also suggested I add the short speech 
that his father made every night at the end 
of the show.
“Each night at the Elmwood, after the 
headliner had finished his or her show, 
Jack and his band would play dance music 
for the patrons. Jack’s final dance tune of 
the evening, sending everyone home, was 
always ‘Sweet and Lovely’
,
” Phil said. “He 
would speak over the song to say, ‘‘It has 
been sweet and lovely playing our music for 
you this evening, ladies and gentlemen. We 
hope you’ve had a wonderful experience and 
you’ll come back to be with us again very 
soon. Thank you and goodnight.
’” 
Phil remembers owner Al Siegel very well. 
“
Al was very much Jewish,
” he said. Many of 
the performers he booked for his nightclub 
were also Jewish. Their stage names were 
quite different from their birth names.
Some of the Jewish Elmwood entertainers 
who changed their names: Milton Berle 

The Elmwood was a popular place in the Metro 
Detroit-Windsor area where many talented Jewish 
entertainers performed.

No Biz Like Show Biz

GEORGE GOZZARD SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

 The Elmwood 
Casino in Windsor

TOP TO BOTTOM: Phil Silvers was Jewish 
and performed at the Elmwood in 1964. 
Buddy Baer was Jewish.

