2 days ago
Dan Tana, Former Owner of Namesake Hollywood Restaurant, Dies at 90
Dan Tana, the sometime actor and former maitre d' who opened the namesake Dan Tana's Restaurant in West Hollywood in 1964, has died at the age of 90.
The eatery, which became a Los Angeles institution, hosting actors and various industry figures, announced Tana's death in a Facebook post on Saturday, saying that he had 'passed on.'
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'We all know that he created a very magical place,' the statement, attributed to Dan Tana's staff, said of the restaurant's former owner. 'Our beloved little yellow house will forever feel his presence.'
Tana took over the old Dominick's in West Hollywood in 1964, after working as a maitre d' at La Scala and Villa Capri, and saw a need for a place where stars could gather and dine late into the night (he kept the kitchen open until 12:30 a.m.).
'There was not a decent restaurant serving until 1 a.m. You had to go to a coffee shop,' Tana said of the L.A. dining scene at the time in a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he looked back at his eponymous eatery as it celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In the Saturday Facebook post, Dan Tana's staff said that working for La Scala and Villa Capri inspired Tana to open his own place.
'He was always proud of where he came from and what he accomplished,' the post continued, noting Tana's past as a former soccer star in Yugoslavia.
The staff praised his 'wonderful stories' about Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, James Dean, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis.
'This man is a legend, and as you know a legend never dies,' the Facebook post concluded.
Tana sold the restaurant to current owner Sonja Perencevic in 2009 and moved to Belgrade, Serbia.
Hollywood figures who frequented the restaurant include Cameron Diaz, Harry Dean Stanton, Rick Yorn, Nick Styne, Jerry West, Johnny Carson, Jack Nicholson and Dabney Coleman.
More to come.
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