Louis Armstrong Gets Arrested on Rampart Street
Little Gem Saloon, 445 S. Rampart St.
One of New Orleans’ most famous residents got into some trouble near the Little Gem Saloon on New Year’s Eve 1912. Only 11 years old at the time, Louis Armstrong was outside the saloon and fired a pistol into the air to celebrate the New Year. He was arrested for the incident and was sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. While the arrest probably wasn’t the highlight of Armstrong’s life, he did join the band at the Waif’s Home, and most significantly, learned to play the cornet.
Nicolas Cage Makes a Scene at Stella!
Stella!, 1032 Chartres St.
If you’re going to have a rough night, you probably shouldn’t do it when the editor of a national magazine is sitting near you. When GQ editor-in-chief Jim Nelson witnessed a night of odd behavior from actor Nicolas Cage at Stella! in February 2011, he wrote about it for GQ in May ’11. “We were seated within wine-spitting distance of the bar,” Nelson wrote, “and could still see Cage literally bouncing off the walls, spilling vino down his sleeve, as if he were performing Leaving Las Vegas: The Musical for some perverse dinner theater.” Cage later broke a glass door panel and was escorted out by police.
Cuba Gooding Jr. Gets in a Fight on Bourbon Street
The Old Absinthe House, 240 Bourbon St.
A lot of people make interesting choices on Bourbon Street, and it was no different for Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. when he stopped by the Old Absinthe House in 2012. According to a press release from the New Orleans Police Department, the actor “allegedly pushed a bartender” around 3 a.m. July 31, ’12. The charges were later dropped, but part of the scuffle was caught on tape and the story was a popular piece of entertainment news.
