Howard Solomon, 75; Fought Charges Over Lenny Bruce’s Act

Howard Solomon, 75, a former New York City nightclub owner who fought obscenity charges after comedian Lenny Bruce appeared at his Greenwich Village nightspot, died of a heart attack June 3 in Crestline, Calif.

Bruce was arrested at Solomon’s Cafe au Go Go club April 3, 1964. Vice officers had recorded Bruce performing at the club earlier in the week. Solomon and his wife, Elly Solomon, also were arrested; he was charged with allowing an obscene act to perform in his club.

Solomon pleaded not guilty, but a three-judge Criminal Court panel handed down a guilty verdict against him and Bruce.

Elly Solomon was acquitted.

After being sentenced to a $1,000 fine or 60 days in jail, Solomon took his case to state appellate court, where his conviction was overturned in February 1968.

Bruce also appealed his conviction but died in August 1966 of a morphine overdose. He was pardoned by New York Gov. George Pataki in December 2003.

Solomon sold the club in 1969.

Then he worked in Florida as a real estate developer before retiring to California in the early 1990s.

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Lorraine Willis Gillespie, the widow of jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, died Saturday in Englewood, N.J. She was 84. The couple met in 1937 and were together until the trumpeter’s death in 1993.