Hollywood Athletic Club
While not strictly a Jewish club, it was Hollywood’s movie industry’s answer to the clubs they were forbidden step into. Even though the membership rolls consisted of mostly men, women and children who were related to members could become members of the club. Initially, membership fees stood at one hundred and fifty dollars for initiation fees with ten dollars per month for dues.
The club mostly served as a social retreat for the Hollywood film industry, and by 1926 it was serving around 1000 members. Some of the members included its founders, as well as Lewis Milestone, Groucho Marx, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford.
The Hollywood Athletic Club also established their own sports teams including baseball, basketball, wrestling, boxing, water polo, track, hockey, and soccer. However, the club was not only used for athletic reasons, meetings, dinners, and other social events were organized. The Screen Writers Guild and the Screen Directors Guild met here in the mid-1930s to discuss studio contracts. Sonya Levien belonged to the Screen Writers Guild, and it would not be surprising if she became a member of the club as well.