The Famous Door

The Famous Door was a popular Indianapolis entertainment venue that inspired future LGBTQ+ bars and clubs in the city by bringing the city’s drag scene to widening audiences and communities. The club provided an upscale environment and high-end performances, and, unlike many of its peer businesses of the era, it catered to a clientele that was diverse in terms of race, gender, and sexual orientation. The venue used the same name as an earlier Indianapolis business that “Maurice Britches” Brown, Forest McBain, and Ernest “Rip” Brown owned on Indiana Avenue, though it was a separate business unconnected to that establishment.  

In 1968, The Famous Door opened at 2226 N. Meridian Street, former site of the defunct Clover Club Bar and Dining Room. Within a year, the club’s owner, Max Hansbrough, relocated to 252 N. Capitol Avenue, the former home of another cabaret and drag bar, the Pink Poodle Tavern and Lounge. Hansbrough transformed the space into a fashionable cabaret club, with leather booths lining the interior and a dress code mandating formal attire. Here, drag performers experimented with burlesque, vaudeville, and comedy performances. Many well-known drag performers began their careers at The Famous Door before appearing at newer clubs. The performer lineup was interracial, featuring Black drag artists such as Sasha D’Or, Angel Foster, and Star LaSalle, and white drag artists including Tonya Terrell, Tracy Adams, and Jeanetta Williams. 

In 1969, Christine Jorgensen, a trans woman and LGBTQ+ activist who had gained widespread name recognition in the early 1950s for undergoing what is today known as gender-affirming surgery, performed at the club in one of its first large events at the Capitol Avenue location. Several challenges from 1979 to 1981 led to the demise of The Famous Door. In July 1979, the Indianapolis Star published an inflammatory piece about local drag performers, while specifically highlighting The Famous Door as a favorite hangout for “female impersonators.” That same year, city officials used eminent domain laws to force The Famous Door to move to make way for a government employee parking lot. The bar moved to the old Ritz Theater at 3430 N. Illinois Street, in the Crown Hill neighborhood.  

Drag performances continued at the new location; however, the club owner filed for bankruptcy in December 1980. The club’s possessions were sold at auction in February 1981.