Steve Ostrow, whose gay bathhouse Continental Baths in New York City had a huge influence on club culture, has died aged 91.
The Sydney Morning Herald announced that he died at a retirement home in the city, where he had moved in the 1980s from his native US.
Ostrow was born in 1932 to Russian Jewish parents in Brooklyn, and had a talent for singing that he developed in performances at his local synagogue. His artistry carried him to work with the New York City Opera, and he married fellow opera singer Joanne King.
He was sexually liberated though declined to define his sexuality, telling the Guardian in 2018: “I am not gay, I am not straight, I am not bisexual, I am not asexual. I am a sexual person … Why give up 50% of the population? I have slept with some of the most beautiful people in the world and I’ve never hid it from anybody, not my wife, not my family.”
He visited gay bathhouses in New York City but, dismayed by their lack of cleanliness, and entertainment other than sex, decided to start his own. He took over a hotel basement to establish Continental Baths, which opened in 1968 with 400 private rooms, a swimming pool and opulent decor. He later described it his memoir as “the first gay establishment to treat gay people as equals and not exploit them”.
By the mid-1970s he had developed a dancefloor and put a DJ setup front and centre on a stage, reportedly the first venue ever to do so. Two DJs who would help kickstart global club culture, Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles, got early gigs at the venue. The stage hosted live performances too, with musicians ranging from Bette Midler to Barry Manilow, Labelle and the New York Dolls.
Ostrow fended off dozens of police raids at a time when homosexuality was illegal, and campaigned for city laws to be changed regarding private homosexual activity.
Gradually the starry guests and clientele – Alfred Hitchcock and Mick Jagger were among the patrons – attracted a straighter crowd. Hard drugs also irrevocably changed the mood of the venue, and eventually Ostrow closed Continental Baths in 1976. He opened a similar venture in Montreal while continuing his opera career, before his move to Australia, where he became director of Sydney Academy of Vocal Arts. During the 1980s he also performed with Stuttgart Opera among other companies.
He also founded MAG, a peer support group for older gay men. MAG president Steve Warren was among those paying tribute to Ostrow, writing: “We are very grateful for the legacy of MAG that Steve left us. Steve’s loss will leave a big hole in our heart but he will never be forgotten.”
Ostrow also took occasional cameo acting roles, playing himself in a 1975 drama set in Continental Baths, Saturday Night at the Baths, as well as Australian crime show Murder Call and the 2006 film Superman Returns.
He is survived by his two children with King, Scott and Maria.
