Studio 54's Anniversary: Iconic Pictures (PHOTOS, POLL)

To celebrate the anniversary of New York's legendary Studio 54 (it opened April 26, 1977), LIFE.com takes a look back at the wild scene at the club: the crazy crowds outside, the decked-out disco dancers, and, of course, the stars (Cher, Woody Allen, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Suzanne Somers, even Betty Friedan). Text and captions by LIFE.com; for more photos go to LIFE.com.

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The Crazy Scene at Studio 54

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If you were living in New York in the late 1970s and aspired to be one of the elusive "beautiful people," chances are you stood outside Studio 54 — a boogie wonderland of sex, drugs, and disco located on West 54th Street in Manhattan — and hoped you'd be chosen to party with the odd mix of artists, writers, actors, dancers, singers, and memorably nutty "nobodies" inside. "It's the place where my prediction from the sixties finally came true: 'In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes,'" Andy Warhol, a regular patron, once said of the club, which packed in 700 people on peak nights. "I'm bored with that line. I never use it anymore. My new line is, 'In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous.'" In honor of the anniversary of the Studio 54's opening (April 26, 1977), take a look back at the interesting folks, some of whom held on to their fame longer than others, living it up at the club. Pictured: Warhol holds court between Liza Minnelli and Bianca Jagger in 1978. In this photo: Bianca Jagger Photo: Ron Galella Jan 10, 1978

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If you were living in New York in the late 1970s and aspired to be one of the elusive "beautiful people," chances are you stood outside Studio 54 — a boogie wonderland of sex, drugs, and disco located on West 54th Street in Manhattan — and hoped you'd be chosen to party with the odd mix of artists, writers, actors, dancers, singers, and memorably nutty "nobodies" inside. "It's the place where my prediction from the sixties finally came true: 'In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes,'" Andy Warhol, a regular patron, once said of the club, which packed in 700 people on peak nights. "I'm bored with that line. I never use it anymore. My new line is, 'In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous.'" In honor of the anniversary of the Studio 54's opening (April 26, 1977), take a look back at the interesting folks, some of whom held on to their fame longer than others, living it up at the club. Pictured: Warhol holds court between Liza Minnelli and Bianca Jagger in 1978.
In this photo: Bianca Jagger
Photo: Ron Galella
Jan 10, 1978

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Comments

[sjpersonal]

11:57 AM on 04/28/2010

Now that is the Michael Jackson that I had on my wall as a teenager. A good looking young black man.

[clawng]

06:50 PM on 04/27/2010

you could only come up with 5 historic pictures from the entire history of S54???

[MsVella]

12:35 PM on 04/27/2010

God I wish I lived in those times.

[LizFree]

12:23 AM on 04/27/2010

Aww, that's the Michael I remember! Rocking the fro, a normal nose, brown skin. Those were the days ...

[americancolonyinhell]

12:10 AM on 04/27/2010

Two of America's greatest entertainers sitting side by side. I wonder if Woody remembers what they talked about.

[getsemaneh]

11:26 AM on 04/27/2010

agreed!!! 2 of the best!

[Shzron1946]

10:28 PM on 04/26/2010

I forgot how really beautiful Brooke Shield was.

[Swami Salami]

02:28 AM on 04/27/2010

she still beautiful...

[MsVella]

12:33 PM on 04/27/2010

Me too. She still is beautiful, but in her younger years she had a simply perfect face.

[veritas88]

09:44 PM on 04/26/2010

i love Michael Jackson. to me he looked perfect and so fine before surgery (and really up until the "Bad" late 80s era). it's too bad his cruel father saddled him with misconceptions about his looks....misconceptions that he just never resolved. MJ had natural great looks! argh....i know this is irrational, but being a HUGE MJ fan, i really h.at.e Joe Jackson and what he did to MJ as a kid.

[WinterParkMom]

09:39 PM on 04/26/2010

Label for the Woody Allen pic: When MJ used to be black.

[LMPE]

09:20 PM on 04/26/2010

Back then, Michael Jackson looked like a human being.

[Two Cents]

09:37 PM on 04/26/2010

. . . and black. (I liked MJ but, boy, he had some baaaad demons.) :o(

[o4tuna]

07:44 PM on 04/26/2010

Wow, 30 years ago. It seems like it was a completely different reality. Some people don't remember the 60's. I don't remember the 80's.

[BlackYowe]

07:25 PM on 04/26/2010

My boss old used to go. It was such a drug den of depravity. Who cares I am glad to forget it! The music of that era was dreadful too!

[bzb]

06:03 PM on 04/26/2010

Those were the days and fun times to.

[Deborah Paley]

05:55 PM on 04/26/2010

It was great.

[T-Faz]

05:46 PM on 04/26/2010

I don't eecognize any if these people.

[BebeLush]

06:00 PM on 04/26/2010

You don't recognize Michael Jackson? On second thought, that's not so odd.

[WinterParkMom]

09:40 PM on 04/26/2010

Well Suzanne Sommers has had so much surgery, it's probably natural that you don't recognize her without any.