BBB's Cellar
Address
1651 Cosmo St, Los Angeles, CA 90028
Active Dates
1932 - 1934
Schultheis, Herman. Hollywood west from Cosmo. Circa 1937. Herman J. Schultheis Collection, Los Angeles Public Library. https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/38501.
About this location
B.B.B.’s Cellar was a Hollywood nightclub run by entertainer Bobby Burns Berman. It was known for female impersonators in shows like “Boys Will Be Girls,” and for celebrity audiences that included gay men and lesbian and bisexual women. The Hollywood Reporter saw Tallulah Bankhead there in 1932. The LAPD raided the club in 1932 as part of what Variety described as an effort targeting “Nance and Lesbian amusement places.”
Categories
LGBTQ+
Sources
- “B.B.B.’s Cellar | One Archives.” Accessed September 4, 2026. https://one.usc.edu/archive-location/bbbs-cellar.
- Faderman, Lillian, and Stuart Timmons. Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. Univ of California Press, 2009. 44.
- Mallory, Mary. “Hollywood Heights: Drag Comes to Hollywood at B.B.B.’s Cellar.” Los Angeles Daily Mirror, July 16, 2024. https://ladailymirror.com/2024/07/16/mary-mallory-hollywood-heights-drag-comes-to-hollywood-at-b-b-b-s-cellar/.
- Queer Maps. “B.B.B.’s Cellar.” Accessed September 4, 2026. https://www.queermaps.org/place/bbbs-cellar.