Club Bagdad was known as Rhode Island’s “smartest supper club” according to its advertisements. The facility, located in the Lakewood village of Warwick, once hosted banquets, bachelor parties, dances, dinners and shows during the 1930s.

The club wasn’t always the backdrop of celebration, however. Legal chaos and tragedy would eventually connect itself to the business. During the summer of 1937, the owners of Club Bagdad engaged in a courtroom battle with actress and singer Belle Baker. The famous New York vaudeville star known for her love ballads and the radio show she hosted, was accused of failing to abide by a contract she had signed.

Four months later, 22-year-old Antoinette Cortez – another famous singer of love ballads and a resident of the Bronx, New York – was in the process of fulfilling a contract at the club when she plummeted from a second-story window in the building at 337 Warwick Avenue where the club’s guests and employees stayed. She was transported to Rhode Island Hospital. Her piano accompanist, who was also her husband, was held at the police station for questioning. He was released only after Antoinette, who suffered a broken right arm, assured them that he did not push her out the window.   

In November 1937, the club hired 22-year-old Hungarian gypsy dancer Estelle Lintz of Boston to perform at the venue for three weeks. Like the other performers who came to Rhode Island under contract to perform at Club Bagdad, Estelle was provided temporary residence in one of the furnished rooms only one block away from the club. The final day of Estelle’s performance was to be Dec. 17. The night prior, she retired in a room not far from the rooms of 36-year-old Joseph DeBattista and 71-year-old Constante Peduzzi. DeBattista was employed as an electrician at Club Bagdad while Peduzzi worked there as a chef.

In the cellar of the structure, someone had removed the gas meter. A contraption was then rigged in its place by using a two-foot length of cut-off garden hose to fill in the gap where the gas line should have been. Known as a “jumper,” the make-do line had deteriorated to the point where illuminating gas – used for lighting the building – was seeping out.

Estelle awoke, feeling very strange. She went to the room of DeBattista and unsuccessfully attempted to wake him. She then went into Peduzzi’s room. He couldn’t be roused either. Estelle soon passed out.

The trio was discovered during the afternoon of the following day. The two men had expired. Estelle was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital where she was revived with an inhaler. Released from the hospital later that day, her brother came and took her home to Boston.

Legal issues continued into the next year when the owner of Club Bagdad was accused of serving alcohol past 1 a.m., which was unlawful. Before long, Rhode Island’s “smartest supper club” closed its doors.