Everything about Roosevelt Zanders totally explained
Roosevelt Zanders (1910 – 1995) was a pioneering
African-American owner of
New York City limousine service Zanders Auto Rental Service. Starting out with a USD $3000 Cadillac, his fleet grew to 16 cars, including three
Rolls-Royces. After establishing the company in
Harlem in 1946, he kept the offices and garage in the same neighborhood, even as his client roster began to represent the elite of
Fifth Avenue.
Early life
Zanders was born in
Valdosta, Georgia in 1910, to the Reverend Arthur Zanders and his wife, Ethel Smith Zanders. During his childhood, he won a
marbles shooting championship in Georgia and often competed in official games. When he was still a child, his family relocated to
Youngstown, Ohio, where Zanders attended the public schools. When his parents died, leaving behind four children, Zanders took a position as a locker room attendant at the Mahoning Valley Country Club to help support his siblings.
Career
Zanders was working as a construction engineer on the
Alcan Highway in Canada when he developed the concept of offering combined limousine and concierge services, based on his difficulty in obtaining simple things that weren't readily available.
His fleet of vehicles consisted entirely of Cadillacs until
December 14,
1958, when Zanders' custom-built Rolls Royce arrived from the factory. Only he drove it. "His helpers drive the Cadillacs," said
Gay Talese. In 1963, he appeared in an
Ebony magazine article featuring client
Muhammed Ali and a New York Life Insurance ad featured in the same edition.
Famous clients
Zanders' first notable client was
Gertrude Lawrence, the
British actress who spent her later years in
New York City. A neighbor of Zanders worked as a maid to Lawrence's attorney; it was through this connection that she first hired him. Zanders had a large host of famous clients included
Margot Fonteyn Dorothy Kilgallen,
Ethel Merman,
Margot Fonteyn,
Winston Churchill,
Eleanor Roosevelt,
Harry S. Truman,
John F. Kennedy,
William Holden,
Red Skelton,
Clark Gable,
Lana Turner,
Danny Kaye,
Eddie Fisher,
Nat King Cole, and
Aristotle Onassis. to sending two tiger cubs to the President of Panama.
He once produced a pair of elephants to appear at a political rally for an anonymous client.
Later years
Zanders retired and sold his business in 1985.
According to Zanders' widow and daughter, he penned an autobiography a few years before suffering a debilitating stroke in 1993. They claimed the manuscript, which contained anecdotes from driving Nixon and other clients, was stolen from their Harlem home before any publisher could read it. Zanders also was survived by a brother, Ralph, who worked in the Zanders company.
When Zanders died in 1995, his
New York Newsday obituary was bylined
Gay Talese.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Roosevelt Zanders'.
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