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The name “Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace” may not mean too much to you, but from 1979 to 1981, the golden-domed roller rink in the heart of Hollywood was the West Coast’s hottest hotspot. Actor Jaclyn Smith described it as, “Studio 54 on wheels.” By night, you could see Cher, Prince, Elton John, or Robin Williams; Nile Rogers had a habit of skating from Sunset Boulevard into the club. By day, it was a family friendly joint where Laura Dern had her 12th birthday party. Its frenetic, memorable three-year run is now immortalized by model Liberty Ross, daughter of the titular Ian “Flipper” Ross, who has released a new book of photos, quotes and interviews documenting the club’s bright blaze, titled Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace 1979-1981.
“He’s called Flipper because when he was 17 he had a car accident and really damaged his leg and he’s walked with a limp ever since,” Liberty says from Los Angeles over Zoom. “I was his fifth child; I was born at the end of 1978. They moved all five of us to Los Angeles from England, and they opened a roller disco. My dad cannot skate, so it’s very ironic. I moved back to LA 16 years ago and honestly every single day that I’ve been here, I meet people with a story and this unbelievable smile when they realize who my dad is.” Since she was a child during the club’s run, she started to interview her parents about what Flipper’s really was. Captivated by the stories, as well as the photos of late ’70s, early ’80s Hollywood, Liberty started thinking of ways to immortalize this cult-favorite institution. A TV show is still on Liberty’s horizon, as is reopening Flipper’s with her husband Jimmy Iovine, but first is a glossy book. Part of the cover’s collage is Jane Fonda, in a sparkly jacket and lace-up boots.
In a way, immortalizing Flipper’s now is timely, though Liberty has been working on the project for years. Roller skating has enjoyed a boom since the pandemic. At one point, there was a world-wide shortage of skates since demand was so high. The freedom and energy that comes from skating has proven infectious—even if you’re just watching TikTok videos of skaters doing their thing.
The book taps into that desire for freedom by providing plentiful visual inspiration: skaters of all ages and races in catsuits and leotards, a woman lacing up her boots and flashing her music note-printed underwear in the process, Cher in a skin-tight red catsuit with white boots. The singer is quoted in the book as saying, “Flipper’s was amazing. All the girls would get into their best bojangles and tightest, smallest cut-off tank top. You could go there and lose your mind in skating. Be free to get out of your own head.”
Dern, pictured in the book with an impressively high side ponytail, was somewhat of a regular during her early teen years. In an interview with Liberty’s brother, Atticus (an Academy Award winning composer and Nine Inch Nails musician), she describes Flipper’s as, “[a] creative space that was safe.” “It really was a huge part of my upbringing, in terms of my thinking as an artist, thinking outside the box, and wanting a boundary less artistic experience; but also in terms of who I surrounded myself with, and the friendships I had,” she says. “It meant the world to me on those levels. That is, culturally: not just as a place to be that was fun, or a spectacle.”
But it was ephemeral by nature. “These things with the biggest impact aren’t able to sustain themselves for too long,” Liberty says, adding that the rink’s legacy falls into the “if you know, you know” category. Flipper likens the last night, Halloween in 1981, to Nero watching Rome burn. “Flipper’s was not designed to crash and burn, but to explode like a rocket that goes up,” he says. “It’s definitely better to burn out than fade away.” The 250 photo-packed pages of Liberty’s book certainly capture that “you just had to be there” feeling (though anachronistic, I got Prince’s “Kiss” stuck in my head while flipping through the pages; that’s how palpable the energy is). It’s available now at Dover Street Markets or online, if you want to capture some of the magic for yourself.
