Bernard "Toots" Shor (May 6, 1903 – January 23, 1977) was best known as the proprietor of a legendary saloon and restaurant, Toots Shor's Restaurant, in Manhattan. He ran three different establishments under that name, but his first – and most renowned – was located at 51 West 51st Street. He was known as a saloonkeeper, friend, and confidante to some of New York's biggest celebrities during that era.Shor was born in Philadelphia to Orthodox Jewish parents – his father of Austrian descent from Germany and his mother from Russia. He and his two older sisters were raised in a home above the family candy store in South Philadelphia. When Shor was 15 years old, his mother was killed by an automobile while she sat on the stoop outside their home. His father committed suicide five years later. Shor attended the Drexel Institute of Technology and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania before working as a traveling shirt-and-underwear salesman.Shor went to New York City in 1930 and found employment as a bouncer at the Five O'Clock Club, which served as his introduction to celebrities. He later worked at several other nightspots: The Napoleon Club, Lahiff's Tavern, the Ball & Chain, the Madison Royale, and Leon & Eddie's. He became a great man about town in Manhattan after opening his own restaurant at 51 West 51st Street. While the food at Toots Shor's Restaurant was known to be "nuttin' fancy" – standard American, sports-bar fare such as shrimp cocktail, steak, baked potato – the establishment became well known for who frequented there and the manner in which Shor interacted with them.In one incident, Shor outdrank comedian Jackie Gleason, famously leaving Gleason on the floor to prove the point. (At Toots' funeral, the coffin had a spray of red roses with a card which read, "Save a Table for 2," signed: Jackie Gleason.)Shor was a raconteur and a master of the "needle," jibes or quips directed at the famous. Celebrity alone was not enough to receive first-class service in Shor's restaurant. According to David Halberstam in his book The Summer of '49, guests had to observe the unwritten "code" which prevailed in Shor's establishment. Charlie Chaplin, who was not privy to that code, was made to wait in line. When Chaplin complained, Shor told him to entertain the others who were waiting in line. One day, Hollywood boss Louis B. Mayer complained about waiting twenty minutes for a table and said, "I trust the food will be worth all that waiting." Shor replied: "It'll be better'n some of your crummy pictures I stood in line for." Once while standing outside his restaurant with Frank Sinatra while looking at a crowd of screaming fans being held back by police, Toots reached in his pocket, pulled out a dollar bill and said to Frank, "Here kid go across the street and buy me a paper." At the Opera with friends during the intermission Toots declared, "I bet I'm the only bum in this joint that doesn't know how this th
When MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer complained to Shor one night about waiting in line to get a table in his restaurant, Shor replied that at least his meal would be better than most of the MGM movies that Shor had to wait in line to see.
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He was a famous bartender whose self-named restaurant "Toots Shor's Restaurant" in Manhattan, New York, was a popular spot for both baseball players and entertainers.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Jackie Gleason Show
1953
TV Series
Man at Bus Driver's Charity Ball
All Star Revue
1953
TV Series
Guest Restaurateur
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Ed Sullivan Show
1969
TV Series
Himself - Audience Bow
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1969
TV Series
Himself - Guest
The David Frost Show
1969
TV Series
Himself
Around the World of Mike Todd
1967
TV Movie documentary
Himself
The Jack Paar Tonight Show
1962
TV Series
Himself
The Tonight Show
1962
TV Series
Himself - Restaurateur
What's My Line?
1951-1962
TV Series
Himself - Mystery Guest
The David Susskind Show
1961
TV Series
Himself
Person to Person
1955
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Red Skelton Hour
1954
TV Series
Himself
The George Jessel Show
1954
TV Series
Himself
Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
1951
TV Series
Himself - Audience Member
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1951
TV Series
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Toots
2006
Documentary
Himself
Texaco Presents: A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television