Five Things You Never Knew About Dale DeGroff

Dale DeGroff rarely needs an introduction, and he’s featured as one of our 25 most influential cocktail personalities of the past century. But aside from the books, TV appearances and countless accolades, here are a few things you might not know about this legendary cocktail ace.

1. “I’m a saloon singer and have been singing with piano player friends in New York City since the early 1970s. But I hate karaoke.”

2. “I started out as an actor—nothing surprising there—but I’ve been on television and radio countless times as a bartender … not an actor.”

3. “I worked at Howard Johnson Times Square at the same time as chef and television personality Jacques Pepin. He was developing recipes and I was washing dishes!”

4. “I was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s driver and personal secretary for three weeks at the Waldorf Towers when she appeared in Forty Carats on Broadway.”

5. “I was a driver for a NYC moving company called Van Gogh Movers—no kidding, that was the name. Our trucks had two guys moving a large ear painted on the side. You can’t make this stuff up.”