Thursday's Spotlight on Tom Sweeny, San Francisco's Doorman

Ask anyone on the street to name a famous San Franciscan.  They may come up with a Willie Brown or a Joe Montana, but not the name Tom Sweeney.  Then ask that person if he knows the Beefeater-clad doorman at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and his answer is an emphatic yes!  In fact, for many decades he was the most famous person in the city and my old colleague.

Tom Sweeney was the legendary doorman at what was then the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, now called the Bacon Grand, for 43 years.  San Francisco has many hotels with doormen, but few had one anyone remembers. But his Tower of London-Beefeater outfit was unlike the traditional admiralty-themed uniforms common in the profession.

It wasn't the uniform which made Tom Sweeney the most famous man in the city, it was his personality that everyone remembers.  And he seemed to remember every person he met.  I had the good fortune of snagging a bellman's position, thanks to my old bell captain from the Carlton who then moved to the Drake.

Everyone who worked in the San Francisco hotel business knew Tom, and when I first met him, I was a little intimidated.  He already stood four inches taller than me, and the Beefeater uniform added extra bulk.  But within three seconds I found he was not just super nice but Minnesota nice.

Just standing on the street with him, I witnessed a no shortage of fans, friends, and a phalanx of shuttle and taxi drivers attempting to curry favor with him.  He seemed to know all their names and stories and had a rapid rat-a-tat delivery when he could convey a lot of information in a compressed verbal data stream.

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And he was down-to-earth.  We actually lived in the same neighborhood, and I would occasionally see him on the bus.  Yes, the bus.  I asked him why he wouldn't go with one of the plethora of transportation options offered to him daily from the aforementioned phalanx. 

In his unassuming sincerity, he simply said, "If I said yes to one, then I would have to owe that guy a favor. I work with a lot of drivers; it would be bad karma."  So, he rode the 38 Geary Line just like everyone else.

Being an icon of the city was not the path he initially chose.  When he applied for what he thought was just a summer job, while job he was waiting on his application to the police academy and the fire department, turned into a 43-year career.  He had the uncanny ability to halt a conversation in mid-sentence and later remember it exactly, even if that conversation was picked up hours later.

Over time, new mayors and other local politicians would get elected, and I would ask Tom for his opinion because he had met them all.  But he was too professional for that and would never talk about politics or indicate which side of the political fence he fell.  He would only comment on trivial facts, such as that Senator So-and-so had a firm grip when they shook hands, or that Mayor So-and-so wore a strong cologne.

He was also proud of his photos with celebrated figures from British Prime Minister Tony Blair to San Francisco football legends Joe Montana and Dwight Clark, who took the 49ers to their first Super Bowl win. He also has a small snapshot of himself with actress Sharon Stone. 

Sweeney ran the Bay to Breakers race in his 40-pound uniform. In fact, he has completed 32 marathon runs inside and outside the U.S., including Boston, New York, Alaska, Hawaii, Vancouver and London.

He may have not been destined to patrol the streets of San Francisco, but he once stopped a crime in progress.  As the story goes, a purse snatcher ran by him. Without missing a beat, he chased down and caught the perpetrator, in full Beefeater uniform regalia.  That must have been something to have witnessed.

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