Tommy Curtis lives on new internet tribute page to Yacht Club's famed matchmaker

The recent passing of Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis, legendary captain of the Yacht Club of Bethesda and Hollywood movie mogul, has brought a rising tide of fond memories and tributes. Many of these are now docking at a cyber yacht club website called Tommy "The Matchmaker" Tribute at tommythematchmaker.com.

You can read the tributes posted already. And you can also email your own memories of Tommy, his career, the Yacht Club and more to the webmaster on the page. Your email address will not be displayed on the website. Head over to Tommy "The Matchmaker" Tribute now to reminisce about a time when there was still nightlife in downtown Bethesda.

Bethesda legend Tommy Curtis has died; famous matchmaker of Yacht Club of Bethesda, movie mogul

I had heard from a couple of sources that Bethesda's legendary Tommy Curtis had passed away, and WTOP has just confirmed he died at his Bethesda home on May 5. Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis was best known in our community for his phenomenally-successful Yacht Club of Bethesda singles bar, which was in the lower level of the Holiday Inn on Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda.

Back when there was actually nightlife in downtown Bethesda, crowds would gather on the sidewalk along Woodmont Avenue to get into the Yacht Club. In today's moribund nighttime economy, Curtis' famous lounge space sits vacant in what is today known as The Bethesdan Hotel.

Curtis was also known for his local TV and radio appearances over the decades. But to the nation and the world, Tommy Curtis was also a movie mogul. His production credits included a couple of major 1980s releases with household-name stars: Dreamscape starring Dennis Quaid and Kate Capshaw, and The Seduction featuring Morgan Fairchild.

Plaque above lobby elevator at
The Bethesdan Hotel that still mentions
the Yacht Club of Bethesda, which was
downstairs when it was a Holiday Inn, decades later

I was honored to learn that Tommy Curtis was a regular reader of my blog. He even passed along some tips, and I was able to give readers the benefit of feature stories on some of the many occasions he made news in recent years that he gave me the exclusive first word on. To a lifelong resident of Bethesda in this time period, Curtis was one of the elite celebrities in our area, and I could not have imagined watching the old Yacht Club TV commercials that one day The Matchmaker himself would be following my own creative output.

Tommy Curtis was 75, and his brother told WTOP that he had "a history of heart-related problems." But as recently as a few months ago, he was in good spirits and excited about new projects he was working on both in our area, and in Hollywood. Perhaps some of those will still come to fruition under his associates. And perhaps Curtis is now in a good position to get us some divine intervention to restore nightlife in downtown Bethesda to its former greatness. On that, nobody was a higher authority than Tommy Curtis.

Top photo courtesy of Tommy Curtis

Bethesda's legendary Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis discusses his past, future in new podcast

Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis (left)
with Congressman Jamie Raskin, who
won after receiving Curtis' endorsement

One of the most legendary figures in Bethesda history, Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis, has still got it. His iconic Yacht Club of Bethesda remains arguably the most-missed nightspot in town, and his film production ventures continue full steam ahead. But even in Beverly Hills, like Clark Kent hearing a scream for help, Curtis can't help but turn into Tommy the Matchmaker sometimes. Just ask actor Vince Vaughn.

To hear more about that episode, and many more topics that will be of interest to Bethesda residents, don't miss Curtis' interview on WMAL legend Andy Ockershausen's new podcast, Our Town. Curtis talks about his career from radio to screen, other DC-area notables he's worked with, and - of course - his days as the captain of Bethesda's Yacht Club.

Listen (or read the transcript) and find out about the Hollywood royalty Tommy Curtis is descended from, how he invented the phrase "meetin' and greetin'," his new movie project that will "be the biggest news in cinema for the last year or two if it works," and why you should never eat Thai food before hitting a singles bar.

Never underestimate Curtis, the man who endorsed Congressman Jamie Raskin - - and Raskin went on to beat an opponent who waged the most expensive congressional campaign in history. If you're nostalgic for Bethesda's past, or want to know what Curtis is planning for the future, this podcast is worth a listen.

File photo courtesy Jamie Raskin for Congress campaign

Raskin earns endorsement from Bethesda's legendary Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis (Photo)

Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis with
Sen. Jamie Raskin outside the
Jane Lawton Center in Chevy Chase

It's a great day in Bethesda when you receive an email from the legendary Tommy "The Matchmaker" Curtis. And that's exactly what happened when I opened my inbox yesterday afternoon.

Maryland State Senator Jamie Raskin has just picked up the biggest Bethesda endorsement on the table. Longtime Bethesda resident Curtis, of Yacht Club of Bethesda fame, is back in town raising capital for two motion pictures he is producing. But one other item on his agenda was to endorse Raskin (D-Takoma Park), who's running in the highly-competitive race for Chris Van Hollen's 8th Congressional District seat.

Curtis said his decision was difficult. Another frontrunner in the race is Kathleen Matthews, who in her television days served as a producer for two local-Emmy-winning TV specials hosted by Curtis. Ultimately, he said he was swayed by Raskin's experience in contrast to Matthews and businessman David Trone. "He's ready to hit the ground running," Curtis said of Raskin.

The Raskin campaign, seeking any edge in what could be the most expensive Congressional election in history, was delighted to receive the endorsement of a local icon. "We love receiving the usual endorsements of Jamie's fellow elected officials," Raskin's campaign manager Marshall Cohen said, "but we welcome the support of key figures in the community, and who can be a bigger deal than [Curtis]?" 

Following the announcement, Curtis joked that, "my endorsement might indeed sway three or four single divorced residents out of the hundreds of thousands of singles that live in the congressional district." 

With the old Yacht Club space currently for lease, one could hope Curtis might reopen for business. But he's busy right now at his other pursuit - moviemaking. While most Bethesda residents over the age of 35 can recall Curtis' signature TV sign-off, "Goodnight from the Yacht Club of Bethesda," even they may not know about his Hollywood ventures. 

The Seduction starring Morgan Fairchild, Dreamscape featuring Dennis Quaid, and Hell Nite starring Linda Blair (The Exorcist) and Peter Barton (The Powers of Matthew Star), are among Curtis' co-production credits. He said one of the films he is in town to raise financial backing for is slated to film in Baltimore. Amazingly, the Yacht Club - which had a 17-year run starting in 1989 in what is today the DoubleTree Bethesda hotel - was actually launched well after his Hollywood production career began.

Curtis earned titles like the "Pied Piper of local singles," and "Washington institution" through the success of the nightclub, which was aimed at the over-30 professional single in the region. To Raskin's advantage, the matchmaker still has a strong local following. Five-hundred singles showed up at a Yacht Club reunion at the DoubleTree a couple of years ago. Now Raskin will hope they show up at the polling places. Curtis himself did, posing with Raskin during early voting for what has to be the money shot of 2016 in Bethesda.

Maybe Curtis is just the man who could turn around Bethesda's currently-declining nightlife, following the disastrous Montgomery County Council "nighttime economy initiative." At least nine nightspots closed their doors in the wake of the Councilman Hans Riemer-led "effort."

Photo courtesy Jamie Raskin for Congress campaign

YACHT CLUB OF BETHESDA SPACE FOR LEASE AT DOUBLETREE HOTEL

The future of the former Yacht Club of Bethesda may have just gotten a bit brighter at the Doubletree Bethesda hotel. A long-dormant below-sidewalk-level den once operated by the legendary Tommy "the Matchmaker" Curtis, the space has just been put up for lease by commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

In the last few years, the hotel had considered renting out the space as a self-storage facility. It would certainly be preferable as a nightspot, in my opinion. Currently, that block of Woodmont Avenue is dead as a doornail at night. With life potentially coming to both sides of Woodmont on the next block north, a new dining/nightlife establishment would really help that corridor of the Woodmont Triangle - bigtime. As it is, you have some pedestrian traffic going in and out of the two hotels on the block, and some at Guapo's. But the block is rather lonely after dark, when most businesses there close. It didn't used to be that way, when Tommy the Matchmaker's singles bar crowd lined up outside.

Personally, I would think the spot has a lot of potential. You have a lot of business travelers, and a good bar or nightclub - promoted to hotel guests - could draw in customers who have quite a few options a bit further away. And that would really help to activate that block. Serving food from the hotel's kitchen could also draw more attention to the other dining options the Doubletree has inside the hotel.

As Tommy used to say, "Goodnight from the Yacht Club of Bethesda!"