Steve Banerjee

Somen Banerjee was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India on October 8, 1946 to Bengali parents. He moved to the United States, anglicising his name to Steve Banerjee, where he operated a Mobil gas station and afterward a failed backgammon club. Banerjee bought a failed Los Angeles club named "Destiny II" and turned it into a nightclub that featured female mud wrestling and a "Female Exotic Dancing Night." The 1979 addition of a male stripper dance troupe performing to target female audiences was the first of its kind in the United States. Banerjee married his accountant, Irene, in the 1980s. They had two children — daughter Lindsay and son Christian.{{cite news |last1=Lieberman |first1=Hallie |title=Steve Banerjee's Son Christian Wanted to Launch His Own Chippendales |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-stripping-scion-of-chippendales/ |access-date=27 December 2022 |work=vice.com |date=September 13, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914122628/https://www.vice.com/en/article/88n7v3/the-stripping-scion-of-chippendales |archive-date=14 September 2021}}

Banerjee was charged with enlisting the aid of Ray Colon, a former Palm Springs police officer and lounge room entertainer, to commit the murder of show producer Nick De Noia in 1987, and in 1990 and 1991, a plot to kill Michael Fullington, a former Chippendales dancer and choreographer, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, who Banerjee felt were competition to the Chippendales franchise.Reeves, Phil. [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/cyanide-in-the-beefcake-somen-banerjee-inventor-of-the-chippendales-stands-accused-of-much-more-than-driving-women-crazy-did-he-not-hatch-a-plot-to-leave-blackpool-strewn-with-dead-adonises-phil-reeves-reports-1467195.html "Cyanide in the beefcake: Somen Banerjee, inventor of the Chippendales, stands accused of much more than driving women crazy. Did he not hatch a plot to leave Blackpool strewn with dead Adonises?,"] The Independent (December 13, 1993).{{Cite web|date=2018-03-08|title=Strip Club Horror: 5 Shocking Facts About The Chippendales Murders|url=https://www.oxygen.com/mysteries-scandals/crime-time/strip-club-horror-5-shocking-facts-about-the-chippendales-murders|access-date=2021-08-20|website=Oxygen Official Site|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Weinstein|first=Henry|date=October 7, 1993|title=Chippendale's Owner Indicted in Choreographer's 1987 Slaying: Crime: Somen Banerjee is accused of arranging the unsolved killing. The charges are part of an expanding investigation in the murder-for-hire case|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-07-me-43088-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times}} He eventually pleaded guilty to attempted arson, racketeering, and murder for hire. He entered into a plea bargain that would have led to 26 years in prison, and loss of his share of Chippendales.{{fact|date=October 2022}} Irene had frantically managed to organize a group of character witnesses for him. She hoped it would sway the judge to reduce Steve’s penalty of 26 years.

In the early morning of October 23, 1994, hours before he was due to be sentenced, Banerjee was found dead in his cell, having hanged himself. Reports stated that while he was depressed, it was not thought he would take his own life. When Banerjee died, Irene inherited the entire Chippendales outfit, including money, properties, and associated assets. She herself died February 8, 2001 from breast cancer.{{Cite web |last=Mehrotra |first=Kriti |date=2022-11-22 |title=Irene Banerjee: How Did Steve Banerjee's Wife Die? |url=https://thecinemaholic.com/irene-banerjee-how-did-steve-banerjees-wife-die/ |access-date=2022-12-27 |website=The Cinemaholic |language=en-US}}

Banerjee has appeared in the following fictionalized portrayals:

• The 2000 television movie The Chippendales Murder, portrayed by Naveen AndrewsBianculli, David. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120403122434/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-11-07/entertainment/18162540_1_steve-banerjee-strip-club-usa-network "Murder Most Banal: Chippendales reveals little,"] Daily News (November 7, 2000).{{Cite web|date=9 September 2016|last=Dasgupta|first=Priyanka |title=Salman: 'Steve' Job: Bengali diaspora reacts to Salman's biopic on LA's male stripclub owner|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Steve-Job-Bengali-diaspora-reacts-to-Salmans-biopic-on-LAs-male-stripclub-owner/articleshow/54207585.cms|access-date=2020-10-14|website=The Times of India|language=en}}
• The 2002 direct-to-video movie Just Can't Get Enough, portrayed by Shelley Malil
• The 2022 Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales, portrayed by Kumail Nanjiani.{{Cite web |last=Canfield |first=David |date=2022-08-04 |title='Welcome to Chippendales': Inside Kumail Nanjiani's Male Stripping Empire |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/welcome-to-chippendales-first-look-kumail-nanjiani-murray-bartlett-hulu |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=Vanity Fair|language=en-US}}

Notable other attempts to film Banerjee's life story include by director Tony Scott in 2009,Brunton, Richard. [http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2009/10/tony_scott_filming_chippendale.html "Tony Scott filming Chippendales biography,"] Filmstalker (Oct. 31, 2009). by Trisha Ray and Salman Khan in 2016, and by director Craig Gillespie and actor Dev Patel in 2020.{{Cite web|last=Kroll|first=Justin|date=2020-10-13|title=Wild True-Story Tale Behind 'Chippendales' Murder Saga Gains Momentum As 'I, Tonya' Director Craig Gillespie Boards|url=https://deadline.com/2020/10/chippendalesi-tonya-director-craig-gillespie-boards-1234596840/|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Deadline Hollywood|language=en-US}}

Banerjee has also been the focus of several true crime and documentary series:

• The 2001 episode "Backstage Murder" (Season 3, Episode 13) of The FBI Files{{Cite web|date=2020-10-15|title=Chippendales murder movie casts first lead role: Dev Patel plays Somen 'Steve' Banerjee|url=https://newsabc.net/chippendales-murder-movie-casts-first-lead-role-dev-patel-plays-somen-steve-banerjee/|access-date=2021-08-20|website=NewsABC.net|language=en-US}}
• "The Chippendales Murders", the season 45 (2021) premiere episode of ABC's 20/20{{cite web|date=October 8, 2021|title=The Chippendales Murder - The 20/20 Event Special airs Friday at 9/8c on ABC|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/chippendales-murder-2020-event-special-airs-friday-98c-80414395|access-date=2021-10-08|website=ABC News|language=en}}

• The first episode of Welcome to Your Fantasy, a 2021 serial podcast telling the Chippendales story.{{Cite magazine|last=Syme|first=Rachel|date=March 29, 2021|title=Welcome To Your Fantasy|url=https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/podcasts/welcome-to-your-fantasy-03-29-21|access-date=2021-08-20|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.diasporic.com/articles/steve_banerjee/ Biography of Steve Banerjee]
• [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-916074.html/ Obituary of Steve Banerjee]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Steve}}

Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople

Category:American people of Bengali descent

Category:American people of Indian descent

Category:1946 births

Category:1994 deaths

Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes

Category:20th-century American businesspeople

Category:Indian emigrants to the United States

Category:Suicides by hanging in California

Category:Nightclub owners