Marty Roberts, Of Famed Dresden Lounge Act 'Marty & Elayne,' Dies

LOS ANGELES, CA — Marty Roberts, legend of the Dresden Room, died from cancer, his daughter announced Tuesday. The 89-year-old spent 35 years entertaining crowds at the Dresden Room as half of the duo Marty & Elayne.

An LA, institution, the pair was made famous in the 1996 film "Swingers,' but they had a following long before that, becoming known for their famous fans. Tom Petty featured them in his video for “Yer So Bad,” and they serenaded the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts and Leonardo DiCaprio.

But it wasn't their celebrity that endeared them to fans. It was their accessibility. In an ever-changing city, the jazzy duo could be found most nights of the week in their matching jumpsuits performing their jazz take on pop hits at the Dresden for decades.

“We are creatures of the night,” Marty told The Los Angeles Times in 2004. “By the time most people are ending their Friday, we’re just getting up.”

Roberts and his wife played at the Dresden Room six nights a week, with Marty on drums and bass and Elayne on piano and flute.

"He had a joke and a smile (smiling is free, he would say!) for everyone he met and was the kindest, most self sacrificing man in the world," his daughter Hali Gillin wrote on Facebook. "My mom and I are devastated by his loss and there is nobody that could ever take his place."

Roberts met his wife in Los Angeles in 1970 when Elayne was looking for a drummer, she told ABC News. They married four months later and started playing in a combo at the Melody Room on the Sunset Strip. They recorded with L.A. jazz musicians Jack Sheldon, Med Flory, Red Callender and Conte Candoli. They played at venues in Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.

It was at Gene Autry’s club in Palm Springs that Roberts was asked to perform for Sinatra, his idol.

“The owner said Frank had to sit in front, with his whole entourage, and Marty, because he sings like Frank, said, ‘You really put me on the spot!’ Marty worshiped him. But Marty has guts — he was never afraid of anything,” Elayne Roberts told the Times.

Roberts was born on April 10, 1932, in New York City. He and Elayne were married for 52 years. A heart attack and the pandemic silenced their act at the Dresden, but it didn't stifle their creativity.

The couple recorded music from their Los Angeles home throughout the pandemic.

“We recorded a whole bunch of stuff until a month ago, and it was sounding beautiful,” Elayne told The Times.

At a yet-to-be-determined date, the remembrance will be held at the Dresden Room.

Roberts is survived by his wife, daughter and granddaughter, Destiny.

City News Service contributed to this report.