at the age of 12. From 1949 to 1951 it was the London equivalent of the Folies Bergère. The Talk of the Town The original interior was demolished in 1958, and Bernard Delfont had the Hippodrome converted into the nightclub The Talk of the Town. It featured appearances by many of the popular artistes of the time, including Diana Ross & The Supremes, Judy Garland, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Bassey, The Temptations, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, Sergio Franchi, Sophie Tucker, Engelbert Humperdinck, Dusty Springfield, Val Doonican, Lonnie Donegan, The Carpenters, John Denver, Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minnelli, Tom Jones, Cleo Laine, The Jackson 5, Buddy Rich, Lulu, Danny La Rue, Cilla Black, Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, Sandie Shaw, Johnnie Ray, Matt Monro, The Andrews Sisters, Dolores Gray, Frankie Vaughan, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Channing Pollock (magician), Dionne Warwick, Raphael, The Seekers, Stevie Wonder, Sacha Distel and Neil Sedaka. In February 1964, Ethel Merman made her only British appearance in a season of cabaret. Dusty Springfield recorded a TV special at the venue, broadcast 15 February 1968 on BBC2 Show of the Week: Live at the Talk of the Town. The Seekers' final concert was recorded for the album The Seekers Live at The Talk of the Town in July 1968. Tony Bennett set his 1972 series for Thames Television, Tony Bennett at the Talk of the Town, there. This form of entertainment, in its turn, fell out of public favour, and the venue closed in 1982. In 2009, the Hippodrome was named by the Brecon Jazz Festival as one of 12 venues which had made the most important contributions to jazz music in the United Kingdom. The musical drama End of the Rainbow, nominated for a number of Olivier Awards in 2011 during its London run and Tony Awards in 2012 while on Broadway, is set at the Talk of The Town during a Judy Garland engagement there near the end of her life. The London Hippodrome Renovated yet again, the building was reopened as a nightclub/restaurant called The London Hippodrome by nightclub tycoon Peter Stringfellow in 1983. Some years later, Stringfellow sold it to a chain company called European Leisure. Under the stewardship of David Chipping the club went on to win many BEDA and DI awards, regularly attracting crowds in excess of 2,000. Following its sale to Luminar, the club soon