Mark Fleischman: Former Studio 54 club owner dies by assisted suicide at Dignitas

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Fleischman, owner of legendary New York nightclub Studio 54 in the 1980s, has died by assisted suicide in Switzerland, his former business partner has said.

M. Fleischman, 82, took over the club in 1980 and managed it until 1986.

He first fell ill in 2016 and has was unable to walk or do many things for himself, but said doctors were unable to diagnose his condition.

He committed suicide on Wednesday at the Dignitas Clinic near Zurich.

Daniel Fitzgerald, co-owner of the Century Club in Los Angeles with Mr. Fleischman in the 1990s and 2000, told BBC News: "I guess he was in more pain than we knew."

Image source, Adam Scull/Photolink/Shutterstock

Mr. Fitzgerald hosted a "living wake" for Mr Fleischman last week and had hoped he would postpone the visit to Switzerland.

"I thought we maybe we could convince him not to [leave],” he said. "We threw a really nice party for him and a lot of his friends came, and everyone thought, 'He's going to postpone it for a month and we'll see what we can do'. But he was...