Leroy Charles Griffith born March 26, is an American theater and nightclub proprietor, former Broadway and off-Broadway theater producer and director , and former burlesque and adult film producer. In a career spanning 75 years, he has owned, leased, or operated more than 70 theaters, cinemas, and nightclubs across the United States , dating from the burlesque era of the s to the present.
During burlesque's heyday, Griffith was a prolific producer of live stage shows featuring showgirls , strippers , comedians , vaudevillians , and other stars of the era.
As burlesque declined in popularity, he made the crossover to exhibiting as well as producing adult films and operating strip clubs , notably past and present Miami -area clubs such as Club Madonna, Deja Vu, and Wonderland. His business endeavors in the adult entertainment industry have, for decades, put him at odds with restrictive municipalities, and he has taken legal action, often successfully, to defend his constitutional rights and be able to operate his establishments.
His and others' trailblazing victories helped to make the adult entertainment industry more accepted and tolerated in 20th and 21st century American society. His father was a theater owner. The younger Griffith began as a projectionist, cashier, and usher at a local theater in his hometown. At 17, he left for St. Louis and a job working concessions at the Grand Burlesque Theatre for East Coast-based theater concessions magnate Oscar Markovich At the Grand, Griffith started as a "candy butcher," hawking candy and trinkets to burlesque audiences before and during intermission.
It was a good show. Griffith discovered that any profit to be made was not from the show itself but from the concession stand: "That's where I was. In between acts, the pitchman would sell prize packages, candy, stuff like that. Concessions was where the real money was, just like it is with regular movies today. In , Griffith began service with the U. Army in Hot Springs , Arkansas.
