Dan Tana’s has been a favorite of Hollywood celebrities since 1964. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

Dan Tana, a Serbian-American restauranteur who founded the namesake Italian restaurant at 9071 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, died on Aug. 16 at the age of 90. According to his family, the cause of death was cancer.

“The great Dan Tana has passed on. We all know that he created a very magical place. Our beloved little yellow house will forever feel his presence,” a statement from the restaurant’s staff read.

Tana was born Dobrivoje Tanasijević on May 26, 1935, in Belgrade, which at the time was part of Yugoslavia. Much of Tana’s early life was spent playing his favorite sport – soccer. As a teenager, Tana was a member of the junior squad for Red Star Belgrade, a professional football club. However, by the 1950s, Tana’s time on the team had come to an end by way of defecting from Yugoslavia. Tana then briefly played in a German league, before accepting a contract with the National Soccer League in Canada.

In 1956, after winning big on a poker game, Tana moved to Los Angeles, where he would chase his dream of becoming an actor.

Like many struggling actors in Hollywood, Tana found work in the restaurant industry. He packed tuna in the Star Kist Tuna Factory, washed dishes at Miceli’s, became a maître d’ at Peppermint West, a popular nightclub, before working at La Scala, The Villa Capri and Le Petit Jean.

In 1964, Tana opened his own business, an Italian restaurant bearing the stage name he adopted after he moved to America.

The small bungalow restaurant with red and white checkered tablecloths, leather booths, dim lighting and Italian red sauce staples quickly became a sensation following a positive review in the L.A. Times. The restaurant was beloved by both neighborhood regulars and famous clientele, including Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Joe DiMaggio and the Rat Pack. Many attribute the restaurant’s success to Tana’s dedication to personal service – always visiting customers at their tables and establishing close relationships with regulars.

“He was a go-getter,” said Deanne Mencher, who helped Tana open the restaurant. Mencher and her then-husband Maurice Seiderman, the makeup artist for “Citizen Kane,” were close friends of Tana and his then-wife Andrea Wiesenthal.

“He was 24 hours a day working to make that place successful,” Mencher added. “That was his energy.”

Mencher’s place in Dan Tana’s lore is cemented in the history of the restaurant. Mencher was responsible for creating Dan Tana’s famous cheesecake – listed on the menu as “Cheesecake Deanne.”

“I was a party giver, I started making these cheesecakes for parties,” Mencher, now 93, said. “A year after the restaurant opened, I took one to Dan and Andrea’s apartment on Almont for Christmas brunch, and Dan said, ‘I have to have this at the restaurant.’”

Dan Tana’s popularity only grew over the years, an enduring success in an ever-changing city. In 2009, Tana sold the restaurant to his friend, Sonja Perencevic, who operates it to this day.

“It almost feels like a private club when you walk in. There’s no windows. Time sort of stands still when you walk in. It could be 1964, it could be 2025. It hasn’t changed at all,” Los Angeles historian Alison Martino, a Dan Tana’s regular, said. “With everything changing so much in Los Angeles, there’s something about Musso and Frank, there’s something about Taylor’s, there’s something about Dan Tana’s – when these restaurants don’t change. We don’t have many of them left, that look like they did when they opened. It’s a landmark.”

Tana is survived by his wife of 19 years Biljana Strezovski and daughters Gabrielle and Katerina.

Dan Tana, left, and longtime bartender Mike Gotovac are pictured at the restaurant in 1968. (photo courtesy of Dan Tana’s)