Jayne Mansfield and the Racquet Club Of Palm Springs

The Palm Springs Racquet club was opened in 1933 by Charlie Farrell and Ralph Bellamy, two popular American actors who were interested in playing tennis and having the luxury of an exclusive place to go to for breaks with their prestigious and very famous friends. The pair sent out exclusive invitations to their Hollywood friends. With membership starting at $50. When they only received four responses they came up with an idea to make the club seem more popular and in demand, they upped the fee to $75. Every 15 days they would send out invitations to Hollywood starts with the offer of becoming a member and every time the membership fee would up. By 1934 the membership fee was $650. Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey, Katherine Hepburn, Errol Flynn, Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, Kirk Douglas, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Jane Russell and of course the divoon Jayne Mansfield have all been spotted at the Racquet club one time or another.

A family who had the pleasure of living the life and frolicking in the exclusivity that was the Racquet club was the Hinton family. Child stars Daryn Hinton,  Darcy Hinton and their brother Darby Hinton were three youngsters who must have had the time of their lives growing up at the club. According to Daryn she once witnessed Jayne Mansfield have a breeder parade poodles around the pool for her so she could choose her latest pet.



Darby Hinton and Jayne Mansfield at the Racquet Club



Jayne Mansfield and Darby Hinton by the Poolside 1962

If you would like to read more about the Racquet club and the celebrities who visited over the years click on the photographs above or go to the Racquet Clubs homepage;
http://theracquetclub.com/home.html