The Styrous® Viewfinder: Dirty Harry

November 23, 2020

Beemer Memory 30 ~ The Condor Club, Carol Doda, her piano & Theresa Hill

date & photographer unknown

A very bizarre event happened on this date in 1983 at the The Condor Club which was just a few doors up the street from the Hungry i where I danced with Pillow (link below) a few years before it happened.

Condor Club, Big Al's, Roaring Twenties & the Hungry i

date & photographer unknown

During the time Pillow and I danced there many incidents occurred and there are dozens of stories I have to tell, some hilarious, some not. This one falls into the "NOT" category; it would have been in the "hilarious" category if it hadn't ended tragically.

Carol Doda was the headliner at The Condor Club at the time, she had been for many years. Her act began with a white grand piano being lowered from the ceiling by hydraulic motors. The piano was pressed up against the ceiling but there was a hole in the ceiling just big enough for Doda to stand in on top of the piqno. Doda would then be on top of the piano dancing, as it descended from the ceiling. Considering the weight of the piano and Doda dancing on it, the motors must have been extremely powerful!

Condor Club - piano raised to ceiling

date & photographer unknown

She go-go danced to The Swim and other dances of the time which were performed by a rock and roll combo headed by Bobby Freeman as her piano settled on the stage.

Carol Doda on piano - Condor Club

date & photographer unknown

As we danced so close to the Condor Club, Pillow and I knew Carol and I knew Bobby from my high school days in the fifties.

Liberace visited the Condor Club one night and arrived just as the topless Doda was descending from the ceiling on the white piano. Liberace remarked: “What a coincidence. We both use Baldwins!”

The event happened on November 23, 1983, when a stripper, Theresa Hill, tried to get it on with James "Jimmy the Beard" Ferrozzo, the Assistant Manager and bouncer of The Condor Club. They decided after hours to have sex on the famous white piano on which Doda made her entrance. They accidentally hit the "on" switch, and the piano rose to the ceiling, trapping them. Apparently they were so engrossed in their activity they didn't notice the movement of the piano.

Ferrozzo rolled off Hill at the last second, but was pinned against the ceiling. He was asphyxiated by the pressure of the hydraulic motors pressing the piano to the ceiling while Hill lay next to him screaming and survived only because she was thinner than Ferrozzo. When the Condor opened at 7 am in the morning, the janitor found Ferrozzo’s body draped over the naked, screaming woman. Attempts to lower the piano were unsuccessful, as its motor had burned out during the night. The San Francisco Fire Department had to destroy it in order to free Hill. She was taken to a local hospital, and treated for bruises.

Needless to say, the newspapers had a field day with the incident! It appeared on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle the next day.

SF Chronicle - November 24, 1983

SF Chronicle - November 24, 1983 detail

Shortly after the incident the Condor Club began serving a special cocktail, 'Sex on the Piano', to commemorate the gruesome incident. Tony Seymour later said, "I had a huge beef with Jimmy....dude was not all that I cool at all. i knew him well. Didn't cry when he died. Ain't gonna cry for him now."

Viewfinder links:

Carol Doda

Bobby Freeman

Hungry i articles

Liberace

Pillow (She-Beast)

Styrous®

Net links:

Aintnowaytogo ~ When the Music's Over - Aint No Way to Go

AP News ~ Where Topless Dancing Debuted In 1964

Condor SF ~ The History of Condor Club

Facebook ~ Lost San Francisco: Strange Death at the Condor Club!