Johnny Gold

Jesse John Gold (25 June 1932 – 7 October 2021) was a British nightclub owner and operator. After studying at Brighton College and National Service with the 6th Royal Tank Regiment, Gold worked briefly in his father's bookmakers. He moved to London in the mid 1950s and was hired by Oscar Lerman to run the Dolly's night club. In 1969, along with Lerman and Bill Ofner, he founded the nightclub Tramp. Although, Gold thought the club might survive only 2 to 3 years, it became popular with celebrities. He sold his stake in 1998 but remained until 2003 as "greeter-in-chief". Gold retired to the Bahamas.

Early life Jesse John Gold was born on 25 June 1932 in Stamford Hill, London. He was the son of Sam Gold, a Jewish bookmaker and former milliner. At the age of seven, Gold's family moved to Brighton, Sussex. He attended the private Brighton College from 1940 to 1945 as a boarder, rather than a day boy, because he "wanted to feel more part of it". He performed poorly in academic subjects, preferring field sports and boxing. After school he spent 1950–52 on National Service in Germany with the 6th Royal Tank Regiment. On returning to England, he worked in his father's betting shop.

By the mid 1950s, Gold had moved to London to work in the clothing industry. He frequented the Nightingale and Crazy Elephant clubs where he met American actor John Wayne who helped him to pick up women. He met Oscar Lerman through his attendance at clubs. Lerman had founded the Ad Lib Club in 1964 and subsequently hired Gold to run his Dolly's club despite his lack of experience. Dolly's became fashionable and was frequented by some of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kray twins, David Bailey, George Best and Keith Moon.

Gold usually returned home from the club at around 5.00 am to take his two Alsatian dogs for a walk. In 1995, Gold attended the funeral of Gordon White, Baron White of Hull in his capacity, The Times said, as an owner of one of "London's most fashionable nightclubs for the outrageously rich". In 1998, he sold his stake in Tramp to Edinburgh-based property firm Caledonian Heritable. He continued as an employee of the club for five years as "greeter-in-chief", as he was the only person who knew all the club's members personally. There was some concern among members ahead of the 2001 publication of his memoir Tramp's Gold but he maintained his discretion and it caused no scandal. The foreword to the book was written by Tramp member Michael Caine. Gold explained that his secret to success was "to treat the celebrities as ordinary people, and the ordinary people as celebrities".