Louis DiBella, 91, whose Peabody nude dancing bar set a precedent
Louis DiBella launched D.B.’s Golden Banana nightclub in Peabody in 1975, sparking years of legal battles with local officials — and eventually Massachusetts Governor Edward J. King — over nude women dancing in cages and nude men dancing on Monday nights.
Mr. DiBella ultimately prevailed in 1984 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that nude dancing was protected under the state constitution’s guarantee for freedom of expression.
A longtime Boston nightclub impresario and wholesale fruit vendor, Mr. DiBella named the club in honor of his status as one of the top banana sellers in the region, according to his family.
“He was the kindest, most gentle man you could ever meet, just a really great guy,” said attorney Joseph J. Machera, who represented Mr. DiBella for many years and considered him “like a second father.”
Mr. DiBella, who lived in Revere and grew up in the North End, died March 12 in Salem Hospital. He was 91.
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