Chippendales was created by Steve (Somen) Banerjee. An Indian immigrant who moved to California to start a business. Steve learned about business from his father, who operated a print shop. His father urged him to relocate to the United States in order for him to achieve success. Steve had low beginnings when he arrived in Los Angeles. He bought a struggling nightclub called “Destiny 2” after selling his unsuccessful gas station. He tried a few different things to market the nightclub before settling on a male review show. Chippendales became the club’s new name, and the rest is history.

Dan Peterson, a 21-year-old business major, was employed by Steve in 1981. Dan and Steve became fast friends, talking about everything from the club to everyday life. Dan Peterson was a recent college graduate who aspired to be an actor. Chippendales used his face on everything they did, from calendars to coffee cups.  Steve called Dan “The face of Chippendales”.

Let’s hear directly from Dan Peterson itself.

Interviewer: You were one of Steve’s closest friends back in the early 1980s?

Dan Peterson: I am not sure if I was his closest friend, but we had dinner probably 3-4 nights a week down the street at a diner called Ships. We talked about everything from our personal lives to business.  We didn’t always agree but it was a fun banter..   Steve would always try and advise me about my path forward. I was shy, not outgoing, and being thrown into a room of women with all of this energy was overwhelming.

Interviewer: Was Chippendales Steve’s idea.

Dan Peterson: Very few people  know the true story behind Chippendales. It was Steve’s idea to run with the male show. It is a very interesting story of the real original idea behind Chippendales,  but Steve deserves the credit for making Chippendales alone. There are people who claim they helped start Chippendales, that is not true, not true at all.

Interviewer: Tell us about it.

Dan Peterson: There were no partners that had any claim on Chippendales itself. People have come out of the woodwork saying they helped start it etc .. not true. They have said they helped Steve financially along the way or helped him create the name “Chippendales”, not true. Funny thing is that Steve did use other people’s money for small projects within Chippendales, offering them interest on their money.  But I think that was more to hide his money than anything else. Steve was always flush with cash.

Interviewer: Steve had been quoted calling you “Mr. Chippendales.”

Dan Peterson: Magnum Pi was a hit TV series in the day, and I just happened to have a mustache and dark hair. Steve was always at the club watching different guys’ responses to see what look women liked more. Because of the timing, the products he used me for did well. There was a lot of great looking guys at the club.

Interviewer: Were you a dancer?

Dan Peterson: No, I never danced. I was technically a host. My job was to talk to the women. It was pretty amazing talking to women from all over the world. I learned more about people in my years there than I have my entire life.  I traveled to every state in the USA doing talk shows and interviews and was so lucky to be able to see how we all differ from place to place. Corny as it may be, I think that taught be patience and understanding which helps me everyday.

Interviewer: You were there when it all started to fall apart?

Dan Peterson: I guess when it just started to fall apart. I was there when Steve interviewed and hired Nick De Noia. Nick was an Emmy award-winning director, and Steve was always looking for someone with credits to help legitimise Chippendales. I have to say I didn’t get along with Nick very well.

Interviewer: Why was that?

Dan Peterson: He was an in-your-face type of guy. He didn’t have any particular boundaries. He got into your face when he talked and sort of demanded you do what he wanted.  Steve was funny in the way he wanted to legitimize Chippendales and his thought was to use Nick to give him that credibility and bring him to broadway.  It wasn’t right from the beginning.

Interviewer: You were there when they signed their napkin deal?

Dan Peterson: I was definitely at one of the deals they made. It was one evening after the show.  We were down the street at Ships. Nick wanted to talk about the new show and his ideas.  Somewhere in the conversation Nick brought up that he wanted to bring the show on the road. At the time they spoke about New York and London.  Nick grabbed a napkin and wrote something simple like:  “I have the right to bring the Chippendales show on the road in perpetuity” They both signed it and that was it. The problem was that Steve didn’t really understand what perpetuity meant.  Nick was a choreographer, Steve thought that he could fire him if he wanted and move on to another choreographer if wanted.  That was a huge mistake.

Interviewer: I heard you were shot at by Steve while at a photo shoot for your skin-deep calendar.

Dan Peterson:  That is a good question.  We had just won a lawsuit with Steve, in fact one that Steve sued us on, and we had won. He had just found out that we outsold him in our local southern California stores with our Skin Deep Calendar.  My business partner Wolf and myself were shooting down in Marina Del Rey, way down by the jetty when we heard this wizzing sound go by us.  We weren’t sure what it was and then we heard it again and the sand by us popped up. It definitely threw some adrenaline into our veins.  We both jumped behind the trash cans and waited for probably 30 minutes before moving from that spot. .   I don’t think he was trying to hit us.

Interviewer: Did you call the police?

Dan Peterson: I was called by the FBI about Steve, but at the time, I didn’t want to get involved. We did talk to the police at the beach when we got to our car, but nothing came of it. The murder of Nick was well after I had left.

Interviewer: Did you know it was Steve who killed Nick or had him Killed.

Dan Peterson: At first I didn’t think it was Nick.  Nick was doing a show in Florida and left after a show, breaking his contract with the club because of a money dispute. I was sure it was the club owners that set up the hit because rumours were they were not the type of people you wanted to screw with. But I received a call from Candace Mayron who was the producer for Nick and a good friend of mine. She said from the beginning that it was Steve. She didn’t stop trying to prove it until he was arrested.  She really was a friend to Nick.

Inter: How are you now?

Interviewer: Life has been unbelievable. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Strange how fast time passes by when you are in it, it seems like a typical day in paradise.

This is only a small piece of our exhaustive interviews. We’ll follow up with a series of Chippendale-themed blogs. Keep an eye out for more intriguing surprises.

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