The Purple Onion was a legendary comedy club in San Francisco. It was a small, basement club that had its heyday in the 1950s and 60s -and helped launch the careers of Phyllis Diller, The Smothers Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, and Richard Pryor.
Opened in 1952, the Purple Onion ran for roughly 60 years before closing its doors in 2012.