In the 1940s and '50s, the biggest stars of Golden Age Hollywood rang in the new year at the famed Romanoff's restaurant in Beverly Hills or producer Sam Spiegel's annual A-list affairs — but by the 1970s, Manhattan's notorious Studio 54 was the place for celebrities to be on New Year's Eve.
Each Dec. 31, people across the globe gather to welcome the new year, and celebrities are no exception. Over the decades, some of the world's biggest stars have been spotted at New Year's Eve parties from Los Angeles to Manhattan and beyond.
Many of these gatherings were formal affairs, while others took place at notoriously rowdy venues. However, even the more intimate parties could turn unruly when alcohol was involved — as it often is on New Year's Eve.
While the drinking aspect of New Year celebrations hasn't changed throughout the years, many other things have. During Hollywood's Golden Age, stars like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland attended film producer Sam Spiegel's annual parties to rub elbows with other icons. By the 1970s, New York City was the place for celebrities to be when the ball dropped, though they weren't typically found in Times Square.
Above, look through 27 vintage photos of celebrities partying on New Year's Eve. And below, read about some of the more memorable fêtes — and why they went down in history.
A Brief History Of New Year Festivities
Although humankind has not always used the same calendar, most societies throughout history have kept track of the rise and fall of the Sun. It was generally accepted that the Earth operated on some sort of cycle, and with that came yearly festivals like Yule and Samhain. Celebrating the end of a calendar year and the start of a new one, however, predates even these ancient traditions.
The earliest known New Year festivities date back around 4,000 years to Mesopotamia. The Babylonians celebrated a 12-day festival called Akitu at the spring equinox, which coincided with the start of their agricultural year, to mark the rebirth of nature.
Anthony Quintano/Wikimedia CommonsTimes Square during the 2013 New Year's Eve celebrations.
Around 46 B.C.E., Julius Caesar shifted New Year's Day from springtime to Jan. 1, creating the basis for what we now recognize as the modern calendar. This was partly to honor Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, who had two faces: one looking to the past and one to the future. Roman celebrations included sacrifices, gift-giving, feasting, and decorating homes with laurel branches as symbols of renewal and prosperity.
This new date for New Year's Day spread with the Roman Empire, influencing calendars across Europe and much of the Mediterranean, and we still celebrate the holiday on Jan. 1 to this day. That makes Dec. 31 New Year's Eve, and the night has become known for drinking, revelry, and staying up until midnight to ring in the new year. Of course, celebrities have historically welcomed the coming year a little differently than the average person.
New Year's Eve Celebrations During The Golden Age Of Hollywood
In the 1940s and '50s, Romanoff's in Beverly Hills was the place for Hollywood's biggest stars to be seen. Fans would often gather outside the restaurant to watch celebrities enter, and the iconic photo of Sophia Loren casting a sideways glance at Jayne Mansfield was taken there in 1957.
That same year, actors Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, and Jimmy Stewart gathered at Romanoff's Crown Room to celebrate New Year's Eve. These "Kings of Hollywood" were captured sipping cocktails and swapping jokes at the bar while dressed to the nines.
Other celebrities flocked to producer Sam Spiegel's annual New Year's Eve party. Stars like Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Zsa Zsa Gabor attended his gatherings throughout the years, making them one of the most popular events each holiday season.
The Judy Garland Experience/FacebookA young Marilyn Monroe at Sam Spiegel's New Year's Eve party in 1948.
According to a 2003 article in Vanity Fair, director Lewis Milestone once said, "Sam was always scared that he would only be remembered for his New Year's Eve parties." And they were certainly memorable affairs. One year, Humphrey Bogart was reportedly dancing with Lauren Bacall when a Navy sailor grabbed her bottom. Bogart then grabbed the man and two of his friends and locked them in a bathroom until he reported them to their command.
Marilyn Monroe attended at least one of Spiegel's New Year's Eve parties, but in 1955, she spent her holiday a different way: making a list of resolutions. The to-dos included professional objectives like "go to class" and "never miss actor's studio sessions," but she also noted her personal goals, such as "keep looking around me — observing... not only myself but others and everything" and "work on current problems and phobias that out of my past has arisen." Monroe even wanted to "if possible — take at least one university class — in literature."
As Hollywood's Golden Age came to an end in the 1960s, however, the types of New Year's Eve parties attended by celebrities started to change.
Celebrity New Year Parties In 1970s New York
In 1972, Dick Clark began his New Year's Rockin' Eve special live from Times Square. Clark wanted to replace the annual events hosted by Guy Lombardo that featured big band music and "people dancing cheek-to-jowl in their tuxedos and funny hats" to appeal to a younger crowd. Even after Clark's death in 2012, the show has remained America's most popular New Year's Eve broadcast.
While many celebrities performed and celebrated alongside Dick Clark, however, the real party in 1970s Manhattan took place at Studio 54, the infamous nightclub that was known for rampant drug use and sexual debauchery. Only guests with a "huge personality that brought something to the party" were allowed to enter the venue on New Year's Eve, and stars like Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, and Diana Ross made the cut.
STANLEY BARKER/Tod Papageorge Studio 54The aftermath of one of Studio 54's raucous New Year's Eve parties.
On New Year's Eve 1977, event planner Robert Isabell had four tons of glitter dumped from the ceiling of Studio 54 onto partygoers below. Per Isabell's 2009 obituary in The New York Times, the nightclub's co-owner Ian Schrager recalled of the night, "You felt like you were standing on stardust. People got the glitter in their hair, in their socks. You would see it in people's homes six months later, and you knew they'd been at Studio 54 on New Year's."
While Sam Spiegel's Los Angeles home and Manhattan's Studio 54 may have hosted some of history's most memorable New Year's Eve parties, they weren't the only places where vintage celebrities welcomed the new year, as you'll see in the gallery above. And while much has changed over the past century, one thing has remained the same for everyone, Hollywood star or not: The new year is a time for new beginnings, to move on from our pasts and set our sights on brighter futures.
After seeing these vintage photos of celebrities partying on New Year's Eve, check out our gallery of photos from the golden age of Las Vegas. Then, look through 55 vintage Disneyland photos.
