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New Beverly Cinema owner Sherman Torgan died yesterday, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. Two local film blogs, Hollywood Elsewhere and Cinema is Dope are reporting it, and LAist has confirmed the sad news with the revival movie theater.
Projectionist Jeff Nowicki of the New Beverly said on the phone with us that Torgan had indeed died in Santa Monica yesterday of a heart attack while on a bike ride. While the theater will be dark tonight, there is hope that it will re-open tomorrow for a double feature of Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, Nowicki said.
The Beverly Cinema originally opened in the 1920s for vaudeville, saw some days as an XXX theater, and was even a nightclub for a while. Torgan bought the theater in 1978, added the "New", and turned the place into the lovable inexpensive double-feature revival house that LA has known ever since.
You might recall that just a few months ago Quentin Tarantino took dozens of his own grindhouse films from his own library and programmed a month-long series at the New Beverly and then held the world premiere of Grindhouse at the small theater.
There is no word yet from his family, Nowicki said, as to what the long-term future of the theater holds.
Torgan, a UCLA alumn, is survived by his wife, Mary, and son, Michael.
detail of a photo of the New Beverly by optionthis via flickr
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Oh no! :-(
I hope this does not mean the end of the theater.
LA Weekly ran a story on Sherman Torgan a few years ago.
That's awful! He did a great service to our city keeping the New Beverly going for all these years. I always enjoyed seeing him there. Thank you Sherman, you were greatly appreciated! I hope the theater will live on.
Awful, awful news. If we are lucky enough to have the New Bev live on without him, may the popcorn stay cheap, the double features remain exquisitely paired and may the eyes greeting us in the box office window be half as kindly as Sherman's.
Rest in Peace.
Run down, with uncomfortable seats, sticky floors, and even the stains of a thrown soft drink on the screen, the New Beverly Cinema has always been one of the most important places in world cinema. Seriously.
No L.A. filmmaker of any quality has not spent hour after hour there, watching, re-watching, studying, sharing a real theater with a real audience, listening to his shoes sticking to the floor.
I love that place. I live in London now and there is nothing here even remotely comparable. Probably nothing like it anywhere in the world.
Without Sherman, will the New Beverly continue to be the New Beverly? I hope so.
I hope it stays open.
I know jeff and he's a good guy. his trailer nights are awesome.
hopefully he'll be able to carry on the new bev's legacy after sherman...
No! Please, don't close the New Bev!
Where would the rats in the couch go? Their nibbles on the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup packages.
I'll always remember when Sherman "fixed" the popcorn maker with some WD-40, and how the popcorn had a light, airy brake-fluid taste!
The regular customers, the single men, who'd pleasure themselves during the Sunday afternoon Ingmar Bergman double-feature, will surely miss Sherman's hospitality. Ahh, the fond memories at the New Beverly.
Please see my article about my friend Sherman and the New Beverly.