Roosevelt Zanders
Chauffeur & Concierge To The Elite
Roosevelt 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 Ma honing Valley Country Club to help support his siblings. Zanders served in World War II, where he achieved the rank of captain in the U.S. Army.
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. He reasoned that travelers would find themselves in a strange environment and need someone to help obtain things they wanted, as well.
Move To The Big Apple
He moved to New York and in 1946, he borrowed $3,000 to buy his first Cadillac, through the next four decades, his fleet grew to 16 cars, including three Rolls-Royce.
Early Life
Career
Later Years
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. Ms. Lawrence's connection to Zanders was also mentioned in a 1959 New York Times profile of the limousine owner written by Gay Talese. 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. Ms. Lawrence's connection to Zanders was also mentioned in a 1959 New York Times profile of the limousine owner written by Gay Talese.
Zanders had established his limousine service and was gaining prominence with his concept of personal service by the mid-1950s and was noted to go beyond expectation to provide what amounted to a concierge service to his clients.
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 employees 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
According to Talese, anyone who could pay Zanders 150 dollars a day was eligible for an entire day of his services. Zanders served as chauffeur to Fidel Castro during his April 15–26, 1959 visit to the United States. Castro insisted upon staying in a Harlem hotel and blamed the neighborhood's poverty on American capitalism.
At one time or another Mr. Zanders client list included Ethel Merman, Margot Fonteyn, Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, William Holden, Red Skelton, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Danny Kaye, Eddie Fisher, Nat King Cole and Aristotle Onassis.
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 was survived by his second wife Barbara, his only child a daughter, Roxanne Zanders the mother of his two grandchildren and his nice Ellena L. H Zanders-Ginigeme. Roosevelt Zanders died in 1995
Roosevelt Zanders's custom built Rolls Royce to be auctioned.
A portion of the proceed will go to charity.
Design And Published By
Zanders fleet of luxury vehicles consisted of 13 Cadillac Limousines and
3 Rolls Royce
If you put a small value on yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price---Anonymous
Click Link Below For NBC's Coverage Of The Auction
