Friars Club of Beverly Hills

[1] The modern history of the club began in 1947, when Milton Berle got a group together at the old Savoy Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, including actors Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, George Jessel, Ronald Reagan, and Robert Taylor.

In 1961, the California club moved into a distinctive, almost windowless building at 9900 South Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills designed by architect Sidney Eisenshtat.

[1][2] Past members included Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, George Burns, Carol Burnett, Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Al Jolson, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Sid Caesar, Stan Lee,[3] the Marx Brothers, and Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, among many others.

Over that period, the conspirators earned an estimated $2,000,000 in profits, and six defendants were ultimately convicted on various charges.

[6] In the wake of the resulting scandal, the Friars Club formed an ethics committee and removed some members, while others resigned.