[2] On March 15, 1955,[3] Ella Fitzgerald opened at the Mocambo,[4] after Marilyn Monroe lobbied the owner for the booking.

It has been widely reported that Fitzgerald was the first Black performer to play the Mocambo, following Monroe's intervention, but this is not true.

African-American singers Herb Jeffries,[6] Eartha Kitt,[7] and Joyce Bryant[8] all played the Mocambo in 1953, according to stories published at the time in Jet magazine.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were frequent guests at the Mocambo and were close friends of Charlie Morrison.

Early in 1957, club operator and co-owner Charlie Morrison died at his Beverly Hills, California, home.