Stanley Bard, Longtime Owner Of The Famed Chelsea Hotel, Dies At 82

Image by Emmanuel Dunand / Getty Images

By Jake Romm February 15, 2017

After a string of celebrity deaths this past year, the patron saint of New York celebrities has died as well. As dnainfo reports, Stanley Bard, once the manager of the Chelsea Hotel, died in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday at 82.

As manager of the Chelsea Hotel, Bard turned the institution into a hot spot for artists, writers, and musicians, often letting residents pay their rent in art instead of money. During Bard’s time at the helm, the hotel housed the likes of Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan, Sid Vicious, Thomas Wolfe, Andy Warhol, Dee Dee Ramone, and so many more.

In addition to housing some of the world’s most famous artists, the hotel also figured prominently in a few artistic works. Among others, the hotel inspired Andy Warhol’s film “Chelsea Girls,” and Dee Dee Ramone’s novel “Chelsea Horror Hotel.” Most famously, perhaps, the hotel was immortalized in Leonard Cohen’s (incredibly mean) “Chelsea Hotel #2,” a song about his tryst with fellow hotel guest Janis Joplin.

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