Somen "Steve" Banerjee (Bengali: সোমেন বন্দোপাধ্যায়; October 8, 1946 – October 23, 1994) was an Indian felon, entrepreneur, and the founder of Chippendales.[1][2]
Somen Banerjee was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India[2] on October 8, 1946. He moved to the United States, where he operated a Mobil gas station and afterward a failed backgammon club. Banerjee bought a failed Los Angeles club named "Destiny II" and turned it into a nightclub that featured female mud wrestling and a "Female Exotic Dancing Night." The 1979 addition of a male stripper dance troupe performing to target female audiences was the first of its kind in the United States. Banerjee married an accountant, Irene, in the 1980s. They had three children — daughter Lindsay and son Christian, and oldest son Jesse.[3]
Banerjee was charged with enlisting the aid of Ray Colon, a former Palm Springs police officer and lounge room entertainer, to commit the murder of show producer Nick De Noia in 1987, and in 1990 and 1991, a plot to kill Michael Fullington, a former Chippendales dancer and choreographer, and two other ex-Chippendales dancers, who Banerjee felt were competition to the Chippendales franchise.[4][5][6] He eventually pleaded guilty to attempted arson, racketeering, and murder for hire. He entered into a plea bargain that would have led to 26 years in prison, and loss of his share of Chippendales.[citation needed] Irene had frantically managed to organize a group of character witnesses for him. She hoped it would sway the judge to reduce Steve’s penalty of 26 years.
In the early morning of October 23, 1994, hours before he was due to be sentenced, Banerjee was found dead in his cell, having hanged himself. Reports stated that while he was depressed, it was not thought he would take his own life.[1] When Banerjee died, Irene inherited the entire Chippendales outfit, including money, properties, and associated assets. She herself died February 8, 2001 from breast cancer.[7]
