Roosevelt Theatre
2497 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard,
New York,
NY
10030
2497 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard,
New York,
NY
10030
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Meyer & Schneider, RKO
Architects: Charles Goodman
Functions: Supermarket
Previous Names: RKO Roosevelt Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Roosevelt Theatre opened in c.1920 and is located on the corner of 7th Avenue and W. 145th Street. In the center of the facade there is a bust relief of Theodore Roosevelt.
By 1927 this movie theatre was operated by the Meyer & Schnieder circuit who also operated the Odeon Theatre located close-by on W. 145th Street and the Douglas Theatre on Lennox Avenue. It was at the Roosevelt Theatre that Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller won an amateur night contest playing James P. Johnson’s “Carolina Shout”.
The Roosevelt Theatre was listed in Film Daily Yearbooks for 1930-1933 as being a ‘Negro’ theatre catering to African-American audiences. It was taken over by RKO on August 25, 1937, but by 1940 to 1955 it had reverted back to being an African-American theatre.
It closed in 1978, and is currently in use as a Pioneer Supermarket.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
Three views of the Roosevelt Theatre taken in July 2003:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/139767260/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/139767567/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/139767921/
It was still open in 1971 showing one of MGM’s Family Matinee’s.
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Small item from the NYT dated 10/12/63:
A movie projectionist was shot and robbed yesterday in the projection booth of Roosevelt Theater, Seventh Avenue, the police reported today.
The Roosevelt.
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Check out the odd vertical with the arrows…..did it once say RKO?
The architect was Charles Goodman.
Stopped showing films in 1976.
No, actually the theater closed in 1978. The last picture I saw there was the Bill Cosby Sidney Potier 1977 film, ‘A Piece Of The Action’.
not a great shot but here is 1940 tax photo http://nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/s/1e4m6v