About The Lambs ® - America's First Professional Theatre club

America's First Professional Theatrical Club - Est. 1874

A Brief History

The history of The Lambs ® extends back to early 19^th Century England when a group of lively folk of the theatre and arts frequently visited their friends, Charles and Mary Lamb. In the spring of 1869, a men’s theatrical and dining club was formed in London and named in their honor.
          Christmas week of 1874 a companion club was formed here in New York by one of the London Lambs, Henry Montague: That first meeting was at the original Delmonico's Blue Room on 14th Street (photo right). Portraits of this popular, handsome matinee idol hang in our Clubhouse. The Lambs incorporated in 1877 and began a journey which continues today.
            The motto of the Club is Floreant Agni - "May The Lambs Flourish," which, with many ups and downs, the Club has done for nearly 132 years. Changing times in the early 1970's led to the sale of its landmark building on West 44^th Street. Since then, the Fold has been pleasantly situated here at 3 West. Originally restricted to gentlemen only, today’s club, attuned to modern sensibilities, has emerged and thrived as a society for both ladies and gentlemen.
          The roster of past and living Lambs reads like a Who's’ Who of American Theatre and includes Fred Astaire, Red Barber, Maurice Barrymore, and his sons John and Lionel, David Belasco, Ed Begley, Ralph Bellamy, Edgar Bergman, Irving Berlin, Joe E. Brown, Earl Carroll, George M. Cohan, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Eddie Foy (Sr. & Jr.), Sir Cedric Hardwicke, William S. Hart, Victor Herbert, Bert Lahr, Alan J. Lerner, Frederick Loewe, Ring Lardner, Alan Mowbray, Conrad Nagel, Elliot Nugent, Pat O’Brien, Will Rogers, Charlie Ruggles, Otis Skinner, John Philip Sousa, Fred Waring, David Warfield, Bert Wheeler, Ed Herlihy, James Montgomery Flagg, Gene Autry, Howard Chandler Christy, and Hon. Robert Wagner. A searchable listing of past members is available by selecting the Consolidated Roster from above. The first ever Academy Award for writing was given to a Lamb - Edwin J. Burke.
   The Lambs is proud of its continuing contributions to charitable causes which The Lambs Foundation administers and funds. An early Shepherd of The Lambs was a leader in the founding of The Actors’ Fund of America; a close association between the Fund and The Lambs continues today. Numerous Lambs have served as Trustees of the Fund. Lambs were also instrumental in the founding of The Actors' Fund of America, ASCAP and Actors' Equity Association.

For more information on the history, contact our Historian

A comprehensive monograph on the history of The Lambs has been completed by Lewis J. Hardee, Jr., Historian of The Lambs, and now available for ordering; entitled "The Lambs Theatre Club" and available from McFarland Publishing. Click on the cover to the right to open the publisher's ordering page. A luncheon at The Lambs was held to celebrate this book. Read a report (in PDF format) on the luncheon and the book, written by Gary Shapiro as published in The N.Y. Sun 7/26/06 by clicking here

Pictured above, the USS Lambs, a transport ship named to honor The Lambs contribution to WWI war relief. Built in Kearney, NJ and launched Nov. 24, 1918. Later sold and renamed the Exporter, then resold and renamed the Winona, and in 1945 loaned to the USSR and presumed lost at sea by 1977.

Charles Lamb

The Lambs is a private club for members and invited guests, and not open to the general public. The Lambs is NOT The Lamb's Club restaurant of the Chatwal Hotel.
We are not the Lamb's Theater nor related to the Church of the Nazarene or its Manhattan Initiative, or any other religious organization.
Read our full disclaimer by clicking here.