Stephen Crane - The Errol Flynn of Polynesian Pop
Born:
February 7, 1916;
Crawford, IN
Died:
February 6, 1985;
Pauma Valley, CA
Stephen Crane didn’t just have the good luck to successfully cash in on America’s tiki craze for 25 years.
As a former actor, he was also heavily enmeshed in southern California’s celebrity culture, and known for wining, dining and bedding some of Hollywood’s top leading ladies.
Crane grew up in Crawford, Indiana, the son of a prominent cigar store owner. During high school, he was active in drama and debate, and voted “Most Attractive” his senior year. After college, he decided to give acting a shot and moved to Hollywood in 1939.
Although his acting career was brief—appearing in only three movies- Crane had the good fortune to meet and marry actress Lana Turner 1942.
(Their only daughter, Cheryl, would gain notoriety after stabbing to death Turner’s gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato, in what was ruled a justifiable homicide .)
After their divorce two years later, Crane continued dating other A-list celebrities such as Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Mamie Van Doren and French sex symbol Martine Carol.
Although celebrity would still elude him as an actor, Crane found his true calling in 1953 when he bought The Tropics restaurant in Beverly Hills, renaming it The Luau.
Sure, Crane may not have been the best actor, but he was a fantastic host, effortlessly charming and socializing with the celebrities who frequented The Luau.
To keep customers, he not only modeled the décor and design after Trader Vic’s, adding plenty of tikis, he also had a hush-hush policy of allowing high-priced hookers to discreetly mingle around the bar with the clientele .
But Crane just didn’t want to keep old customers coming in—he wanted lots and lots of new ones. So to compete with Trader Vic’s Outrigger chain at Hilton hotels, Crane made a deal with the Sheraton in 1958 to create a string of Polynesian restaurants across North America.
Named Kon Tiki, they popped up in Portland, Chicago, Clevland, Cincinnati, Boston, Montreal, Portland, and of course, Honolulu. Another chain, Ports o’ Call, was set up in Toronto and Dallas.
This chain of restaurants, known as Kon Tiki Ports, were known for their elaborate décor, excellent service, and detailed design on tableware and dinnerware. Each dining room had a different tropical theme, or region, it was modeled after, such as Macoa, Saigon, Papeete or Singapore.
No question about it, Crane’s Luau and Kon Tiki restaurants were immensely popular and iconic symbols of America’s love affair with Polynesia during the 50s and 60s.
When this affair ended, he sold the Luau for several million dollars in 1979. Soon after, it was razed, the final nail in the coffin for America’s Tiki era .
But what an era it was – and much of it was due to the contributions of pioneers like Stephen Crane .