At the epicenter of the glitter and the glamour

Back in 1964, for the Beatles, Miami was paradise.  Today, at the Deauville Beach Resort,
it still is.

The Deauville Beach Resort has a glittering, all-star past, starting with its distinctive MiMo architecture.  The Miami Modern movement, which has recently come to be know as MiMo (pronounced My–moe), was pioneered by a group of architects who, during the post-war building boom in Miami and Miami Beach, moved away from the Bauhaus esthetic and the dictum of its star, Mies van der Rohe, that “less is more.” Instead, they embellished the modernist aesthetic with curved surfaces, bright colors, boomerang angles, concrete cantilevers, bean poles at all angles and walls with circular cut-outs resembling Swiss cheese.  Spearheading this movement of homes, hotels, motels, and commercial buildings throughout the city were architects Morris Lapidus, Norman M. Giller, Igor B. Polevitzky, Kenneth Triester and Melvin Grossman. 

The completion of the Deauville ushered in the swinging, glamorous 60s era of Miami Beach.  This was a time when the top TV show in the country was Surfside 6, whose hip detectives resided in a cool houseboat on Indian Creek.  Miami Beach was also home to Jackie Gleason who in 1964 had moved his hit television show from New York.  He opened each show with the famous words "From the sun and fun capital of the world, Miami Beach, it's The Jackie Gleason Show".

Miami Beach was favorite haunt for the Rat Pack, and the Deauville was where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop liked to hold court.

 At the height of the all glamour, February of 1964 stands out in Miami Beach’s entertainment history. On February 16,1964  pop history had been made at the Deauville, when The Beatles appeared in their second US performance ever, broadcast live on the Ed Sullivan Show, direct from the hotel’s famed Napoleon Ballroom. They opened with She Loves You, followed by This Boy and All My Loving, and returned later to close the show I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You and I Want to Hold Your Hand.

So it came to be, that day in jammed-packed ballroom at the Deauville, that Beatlemania descended on America.