Sandra Myers
Regine: The Queen of the Nightclubs
Summary
“Call me by my first name” - Regine. From an impoverished young girl abandoned by her mother, to world renowned nightclub queen.
Sandra Myers
Sandra Myers did her MA in Jewish history at UCL and was a director of the LJCC (London Jewish Cultural Centre) from its inception. She has worked for over 20 years with the Citizens Advice Bureau.
I don’t know, actually. Thank you for telling me that. That’s really, that’s interesting. My dad danced with her in Paris, thought she was a great dancer. I don’t think, I don’t think Roberta, your dad was on her, was on his own. I think she was a great dancer, and clearly she was quite a spectacular personality. She really was. She, you know, to survive through all she survived and to come out, she basically lived her life as one big party, but maybe as I said, that compensated.
Okay, good question. She was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery. She was actually cremated. I think there, I’ve not been to that cemetery. Maybe someone who lives in Paris might know a little bit more about it. But she had one grand– She has one granddaughter who survived her, who actually announced her passing. And it was nice that they said that the queen of the night has left the club, which I thought was really very nice. She, I think the Père– I think the Père Lachaise Cemetery must have a Jewish part to it, because I know that there are some quite prominent Jewish people as far as I’ve been researching who were buried there. But she was cremated, so I don’t suppose that that would count anyway.
Oh, a few things, actually. First of all, I had no idea that she was Jewish. It never even occurred to me. And it was only when I read her obituary in the Times, if you want to go back to the London Times in May, 2022, that I actually found out that she was Jewish, that her parents were refugees, and what had happened to her, subsequently. I was introduced to a lady who was her PA in Montreal for a number of years, but unfortunately our schedules didn’t coincide, so I didn’t get a chance to hear much more about her. But from everybody that had contact with her, she was quite, she was very charitable. She did a lot of work for children’s charities after her nightclubs closed. She also had lines of clothing. I mean, she did all sorts. She was a real entrepreneur, you know, she was a total survivor of her era.