Elmer Valentine (June 16, 1923 – December 3, 2008) was the co-founder of three famous nightclubs on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California: the Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy Theatre and the Rainbow Bar & Grill.
While he was in Paris, he visited a discotheque called Le Whisky à Go-Go that was packed nightly with crowds of young dancers.
Impressed by the club's success, Valentine returned to Los Angeles and opened his own Whisky a Go Go on January 15, 1964, with three partners: Phil Tanzini, Shelly Davis, and attorney Theodore Flier.
A year later, Valentine, Adler and original partners David Geffen, Elliot Roberts and Peter Asher opened the Roxy Theatre with a three night appearance by Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers as its premiere act.
[2] During the 1960s and 1970s the Whisky was one of the most important rock clubs in Los Angeles, hosting acts such as The Byrds, the Doors, the Kinks, the Who, and Buffalo Springfield.,[2] Oingo Boingo, The Go-Go's, Tom Petty, The Ramones, New York Dolls, and Blondie.