70 | APRIL 18 • 2024
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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.