Bar strip’s Mr VIP hangs up his suits
THE Glitter Strip’s longestserving nightclub promo boss Jimmy Ozturk has hung up his dapper suits after 35 years’ working doors of city bars.
The Turk, who moved to the Gold Coast after marrying Rhonda – a local he met in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul – worked as a model then a VIP nightclub host.
He became a bar scene icon, and in more than three decades worked for most of the major players on the Gold Coast hospitality scene including former nightclub kings Billy Cross and Jamie Pickering.
Mr Ozturk fronted The Penthouse, Rose and Crown and Bourbon Bar plus existing venues Shooters, Cocktails, Central and Players.
His final gig has been at Orchid Ave strip club and bar Hollywood Showgirls where since 2004 he has manned a street post five nights a week, from 8pm to 3am.
At 69, he said it was time to spend more time with his three grandkids and do more travelling with Rhonda, an English lecturer at Griffth University who he cheekily refers to as “the professor”.
“I’m going to miss all the good people and friends I made. But I need a rest brother,” he said yesterday while relaxing poolside at home.
He was famous for an impeccable dress sense and snappy suits, while those in the industry who know him say he was never one to back away if disrespected.
Mr Ozturk said he had his share of scrapes but was never badly hurt: “You just try to be nice to people, be humble but stand up for yourself. When the people respect you, you respect them back.
“And mind your own business, that’s what I learned. You go to work, go home and take any secrets with you.”
Mr Ozturk said he had seen the city’s young bucks – including Mayor Tom Tate, his Hollywood boss Craig Duffy and Candyman Travers Beynon – go from young club-goers to adults.
DJ Craig Pesco told the Bulletin last year when his “street hustler” mate retired it would be the end of an era.
“He’s the last of an oldschool street promo guy.”