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Bill Cosby, Sidney Amber, and Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Photo courtesy Sears Fine Food |
At the time of his death
on November 17, 1995, Sidney Amber was the oldest San Franciscan.
Celebrated for his longevity, Mr. Amber appeared on The Tonight Show and
Letterman, in addition to numerous other national programs. Born in San
Francisco on January 26, 1886, Mr. Amber was 20 years old during the 1906
Earthquake and Fire. His family was displaced from their home at Post and
Leavenworth on the second day of the disaster. Among his careers, he was
an amateur boxer, a tuxedo salesman, sign painter, display artist and manager,
retail wrapper, graphic artist, and shopkeeper. The active, vital centenarian
even worked as a maitre d' at Sears Fine Food
during the last of his many experiments with retirement. Mr. Amber lived
for many years at 2002 Pacific Avenue with his
second wife, Ruth, before the Ambers moved to the Broadmoor,
a retirement hotel on Sutter Street, in 1982. Mrs. Amber died in 1992 at
the age of 97. Mr. Amber credited his longevity to daily doses of Worcestershire
sauce. Tony Perez, a former room service waiter at the Broadmoor, remembers,
"I used to ask Sidney Amber what was the secret to living so long. He said
he didn't know, that he used to drink, smoke, gamble, and chased women for
40 years before he cleaned up his act."
(Along my travels and travails, I also worked briefly as a room service waiter at the Broadmoor. Mr. Amber was a lovely, lively guy. Heaven help the uninitiated waiter who failed to bring Worcestershire sauce at the start of dinner! The Broadmoor is a storied place that has shed its skin more than once. Esther Williams lived there when she performed with Johnny Weissmuller in the Aquacade review in the 1940s. San Francisco was a big swim town then. In her memoir, Million Dollar Mermaid, Williams says Weissmuller bedded all the girls at the Broadmoor, but not her. HD) |
Copyright 2003 Hank Donat |