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Larry Levenson

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (1935-January 23, 1999)
    Born in the Bronx, New York
    Founded the New York City swingers’ club Plato’s Retreat (1977)

Why he might be annoying:

    To avoid homosexual activity on the premises, only straight couples or single women were allowed into Plato’s Retreat.
    He opened a ‘Plato’s West’ in L.A. that folded in six months (1979).
    He abused cocaine and poppers (amyl nitrate).
    He was convicted of tax evasion (1981) and served three years in prison.
    ’Screw’ magazine publisher Al Goldstein, who had known him since they went to high school together, said, ‘He was shallow intellectually. He never read a book, never went to a movie.’
    He wound up driving a cab after Plato’s Retreat was closed down during the AIDS epidemic (1985).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He had no problem with lesbians at Plato’s Retreat.
    Village Voice reporter Howard Smith said, ‘He added a friendly touch to the place.’
    In addition to a 60-person jacuzzi and a ‘mattress room,’ Plato’s Retreat also offered… a backgammon lounge.
    He won a bet with Goldstein that he could shoot his load fifteen times within 24 hours.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 64 Votes: 45.31% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 43 Votes: 53.49% Annoying