Sherman Billingsley

Birth Name:

John Sherman Billingsley

Birth Date:

March 10, 1896

Birth Place:

Enid, Oklahoma

Death Date:

October 4, 1966

Place of Death:

500 E 83rd Street, New York, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Heart attack

Cemetery Name:

Ferncliff Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Business and Finance

Sherman Billingsley was an American nightclub owner and former bootlegger who was the founder and owner of New York's Stork Club in Manhattan, New York City. For more than 36 years Billingsley played host, entertained and (in some cases) barred hundreds of social, political, business and theatrical personalities at the Stork Club, once dubbed "the New Yorkiest spot in town."

Fun Facts

Billingsley had a series of hand signals he gave staff:

If he put his hand on his tie he meant “No bill for this table.”
If his hand was resting on a table with the palm upward he was calling for champagne.
Interlocked hands with the thumbs pointing up was an instruction to get this group of people out and not to let them in again.

Not that Humphrey Bogart would know – he was banned for life after a disagreement with Sherman.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Ferncliff Cemetery

280 Secor Road

Hartsdale, New York, 10530

USA

North America

Map:

Grave Location:

Ferncliff Mausoleum, Unit 8, Alcove Y, Crypt 87

Grave Location Description

As you enter the massive Ferncliff Mausoleum, turn left and then left again and then right. Walk to the far wall and you should see the grave of Ed Sullivan. Look to the right and you will see an elevator (no stairs) to the basement area of Unit 8. Take the elevator down one level and exit to the right, then the first left and then the first right. Look to your right on the top row and you will find Mr. Billingsley and his wife (in what looks like it is marked Alcove X but it is really Alcove Y).

And yes, this windowless, steamy basement mausoleum is creepy as hell.