Today the hospitality world mourns the death of the legendary nightlife impresario, Mark Fleischman, 82, who chose to die by assisted suicide after suffering a six-year-long battle with a mysterious neurological illness that turned him into a vegetable. They sleep there…We've never had an earthquake in New York,' he said, 'But if we did, it would be at Studio 54.'

Thus paving the way for Fleischman to take over the reigns of the most infamous nightclub on the planet.Īndy Warhol once called it a 'way of life.' The legendary nightclub was a glamorous hotbed for debauchery, disco hedonism, a dizzying bacchanal of sexual liberation, outlandish eccentricity and celebrities riding a white frothy wave of cocaine.Īfter 33 months of worldmaking headlines, the club's original owners were dragged off to Federal prison under charges of tax evasion. A temple of decadence, drugs, sex and music - and for five dizzying years, Mark Fleischman served as its ringmaster. Mark Fleischman, 82, the former nightlife impresario who owned Studio 54, has died by taking a lethal dose of barbiturate at a assisted suicide facility in Switzerland (pictured in 2017) Fleischman announced his decision to die through assisted suicide in June 2022, saying that he has 'no regrets' and that 'I am taking a gentle way out.My wife helps me get into bed and I can't dress or put on my shoes,' he told the NY Post 'I can't walk, my speech is f****d up and I can't do anything for myself.In 2016, Fleischman began suffering from an undiagnosed neurological disorder that left him wheelchair bound and a 'vegetable' - he said he tried ending his life two years ago by overdosing on Xanax.'Every night, celebrities and stunning women made their way through the crowd, up the stairs to my office to sip champagne and share lines of cocaine using my golden straw or rolled up $100 bills,' he recalled.Fleischman was the nightlife impresario who took over the legendary Studio 54 from its original owners, Ian Shrager and Steve Rubell after they were sent to prison for tax fraud in 1980.Mark Fleischman, the former owner of Studio 54, has died by assisted suicide at the age of 83.

How a kid from Long Island with a knack for nightlife went on to run world's most famous nightclub Studio 54 where he kept a 'golden straw' for cocaine - before mystery brain disorder robbed him of his life

Studio 54 busboy