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The Lambs, in Debt, Petitions for Reorganization

By Louis Calta

Credit...The New York Times Archives
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October 3, 1973, Page 39Buy Reprints
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The Lambs, the actors' club at 130 West 44th Street, filed a petition for reorganization under the Federal Bankruptcy Act yesterday morning in Federal Court seeking temporary relief from its current indebtedness. Thee club listed liabilities of $567,011 and assets of $463,399 as of last July 31.

The action was taken on the advice of the club's governing body, the council, according to Tom Dillon, Shepherd (president.

“We are going into Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy statute,” Mr. Dillon explained, “which permits the freezing of our liabilities from six to eight months. We will continue to operate and hope to come up with plans to pay off the creditors or close down.”

Under Chapter 11, Mr. Dillon said, the Federal. Court prohibits creditors from “getting judgments against the club.” He blamed “growing operational costs” and a declining membership for the financial difficulties.

The Lambs has a member.. ship of about 850. In recent months it has conducted a drive and has succeeded in obtaining 350 additional members.

No‐Women Rule

The club is made up entirely of men, but in recent years women have been permitted to enter its precincts—after 5:30 P.M. and never without an escort. Now, according to Mr. Dillon, it is contemplating recruiting women members.

Mr. Dillon said that the club also was seriously considering renting its 300‐seat theater to Off Broadway producers. The club will reach its centennial year in 1974 and plans are under way to celebrate the occasion. “To have this happen now,” Mr. Dillon remarked, “is at the least frustrating, but we are very hopeful that the court freeze will give us a chance to reorganize and keep going.”

“We are sitting on a very valuable piece of property here,” Mr. Dillion said, adding, “we could sell it and pay our debts but we don't want to give up on what is the world's oldest theatrical club.”

The original club was founded in London in 1873 and takes its name from Charles and Mary Lamb, the 19th‐century literary figures. Club members in the United States gathered in the Blue Room at Delmonico's, and on Christmas Day, 1874, five of them established the American version of the institution. Henry J. Montague was the first Shepherd. In 1905, the club moved into its present six‐story building, which was designed by Stanford White.