WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS: THE HEADLINERS THAT DEFINE VEGAS
 

By Howard T. Brody

From the very beginning, hotel owners knew that they would need more than craps tables, roulette wheels and slot machines to draw patrons to their casinos. With Los Angeles, and more specifically, the stars of Hollywood just a few hours away by car and less than an hour away by air, the glitz and glamour of Tinsel Town was imported to the small desert community and helped transform Las Vegas into the entertainment capital of the world.

While Sin City has played host to every top name performer who ever sang a song, danced a number, told a joke, or made something disappear, there are some on that very long and prestigious list who stand out more than others when it comes to Las Vegas, for they are the acts that genuinely helped define our city when it comes to entertainment.

Although lists are highly subjective, here are our picks for the Top 10 Headliners that Defined Las Vegas entertainment. 


10. Folies Bergere
From 1959 to 2009, this was the show that created and defined what a Vegas showgirl was. Without Folies Bergere, there would be no Jubilee!, Crazy Girls, Fantasy, Sexxy or any of the other shows that came after it. Inspired by the Parisian cabaret, Folies had one home, the Tropicana. They were an over-the-top exotic and naughty French-style variety spectacle that included singing, dancing, comedy, elaborate sets and topless showgirls, lots and lots of topless showgirls, often gliding across the stage wearing large, cumbersome headdresses. It was this production and its kick-line “Can-Can” finale that helped turn the showgirl into a Sin City status symbol.

9. Louis Prima
In late 1954, jazz musician and trumpeter Louis Prima was hired by the Sahara to be the Casbar Lounge’s late-night act. Prima, along with his then-wife Keely Smith and New Orleans saxophonist Sam Butera and his backing musicians, “The Witnesses,” created one of the first late-night attractions on the Strip. Prima didn’t redefine lounge entertainment in Vegas; he defined it. His show was often referred to as “The Wildest Show in Las Vegas,” as Prima’s hyperactive stage presence and fierce horn playing was leveled by Smith’s calm and collective behavior. The trio became the hottest ticket in town and ultimately led Prima to sign with Capitol Records in 1955. The act performed regularly in Sin City for the rest of the decade. Prima passed away in 1978 at the age of 67.

8.  Redd Foxx
There were a lot of comedians who owned Las Vegas, but none did it quite like the man who was born John Elroy Sanford (and now you know where the title of his popular TV show comes from). Not only was Foxx one of the first black comedians to weave salty, if not taboo language into his stand-up routine, often describing sexual acts and encounters in very graphic detail, but he was also one of the first black comedians to integrate race relations into his act and do so on the Strip for mostly white crowds. That not only takes a massive set of balls to do, but it takes a lot of talent to pull off and be accepted in doing it. Foxx loved Las Vegas so much that he had two TV specials taped on location here, and when “Sanford and Son” finished its run, Foxx moved to Sin City. While the often controversial comedian passed away in 1991 at the age of 68, it is rumored that his spirit remained behind and currently haunts his former residence.

7. Phyllis Diller
While Moms Mabley is credited with being the first female stand-up comedian and the female comedy pioneer, Las Vegas, as it was at the time, didn’t give her and her dirty, old woman character a chance to have the freedom on stage as she did in New York and elsewhere. However, there was one female performer who was able to break the Las Vegas stand-up stereotype, and Phyllis Diller was it. Discovered on Groucho Marx’s game show “You Bet Your Life” as a contestant, Diller would go on to become one of the most prolific comedic performers of her time and was said to have influenced the likes of Joan Rivers, Roseann Barr, Ellen DeGeneres and many others. Recognized for her overdone makeup, outlandish outfits, wild hair, cigarette holder prop, outrageous cackling laugh and a back story designed to suspend reality, Diller played the character of a hapless housewife but in real life was a Midwestern housewife who transformed herself into the world’s first white female stand-up and a household name. Diller made her Vegas debut in November 1964 at the Flamingo and returned regularly. She was relentlessly self-deprecating and undeniably old-school but was the only female stand-up of her age to rise to stardom in the ‘50s and ‘60s. In May 2002, the Suncoast Showroom hosted Diller’s last live performance, filmed for the 2004 documentary “Goodnight, We Love You.” She also appeared in Penn Jillette’s comedy documentary “The Aristocrats” and attended the 2005 CineVegas Film Festival’s Las Vegas premiere. Diller passed away in 2012 at the age of 95.

6. Don Rickles
His raucous, insult comedy shows earned him the nicknames “Mr. Warmth” and “The Merchant of Venom” for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and walks of life. With the help of none other than Frank Sinatra, who had seen Rickles in Miami and had been insulted by him, Rickles began headlining Strip venues in 1959 and before his death in 2017 at the age of 90; he continued to perform with Vegas always being on the schedule. His live shows featured lightning-fast crowd work, sharp, cutting insults and sarcastic, contemptuous comebacks. Sinatra, whose pet name for Rickles was “bullet-head,” liked him so much that he encouraged other celebrities to see Rickles’ act and be insulted by him. Sinatra’s support helped Rickles become a favorite headliner in Las Vegas. Other supporters of his included Dean Martin, in which he was a regular on the celebrity roasts, which were taped in Las Vegas, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jerry Lewis and others. Thanks to websites like YouTube, fans today can catch a glimpse of Rickles on a number of his many memorable talk-show appearances, especially “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.” Rickles also portrayed Billy Sherbert, the manager of the fictional Tangiers (based on Murray Ehrenberg, the real-life manager of the Golden Nugget and Stardust) in Martin Scorsese’s film “Casino.”

5. Siegfried & Roy
While there have been other magicians from Lance Burton and David Copperfield to Criss Angel and Penn & Teller to call Las Vegas home, there have been none to do it with more flair, showmanship, or Vegas razzle-dazzle than Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn. Debuting in 1990 and lasting until the production was forcibly closed in 2003 due to Roy’s career-ending injury at the hands of one of their tigers, Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage Resort and Casino was regarded as the most visited show on the Strip. The duo brought the ubiquitous wow factor to their shows that included tigers, lions and elephants that were made to disappear from inside draped cages; women who were sawed in half; and the pair often vanishing and rematerializing amid thunderous flames and puffs of smoke. Their dedication to their show and their animals set them apart from the myriad of magicians who came after them on the Strip. As one newspaper article described their iconic status, “their act fit snugly into the Vegas aesthetic like a neon bug in a sequined rug.”

4. Wayne Newton
Originally part of the Newton Brothers act that performed at the Fremont Hotel, “Mr. Las Vegas” broke out on his own in the 1960s and with more than 30,000 Vegas shows under his belt, Wayne Newton has played every major hotel and casino in the city – many of which have long since been imploded. Known to fill in for Sammy Davis Jr. at the Sands when Davis called in sick, which was often, all the while headlining at the Frontier, Newton frequently played multiple showrooms in different hotels in a single evening. While his voice is all but gone today, Newton still performs from time to time. With his stylish, noble demeanor, he is considered the unofficial ambassador of the Las Vegas Strip and the face of the city’s rich entertainment history. So famous was Newton’s presence in the town that even his home, known as Casa de Shenandoah, reached celebrity status as many tourists would stop by and take photos in front of the estate’s sign.  

3. Liberace
Many will argue that the man born Władziu Valentino Liberace (“Lee” to his friends and “Walter” to family), deserves to be in the number one spot as the act that defined Las Vegas entertainment for he stood alone as the greatest Vegas headliner of his era Liberace gets the number three spot. At a time when classically trained pianists performed in black tuxedos with tails, “Mr. Showmanship” decided to go for handcrafted suits and capes adorned with sequins and jewels and wearing adorned with sequins and jewels and wearing giant, flashy diamond rings. Did you really think Elton John invented that look? And why play a black piano when you could have one fitted with mirrors and rhinestones? Forty years before Cirque acts were the Vegas norm, Liberace soared over the stage and audiences like a sequined Peter Pan while supported by thin cables hooked to his lavish costumes. He understood staging and pacing as well as any performer and was a master of the grand entrance and stunning exit. He was the first to bring the glitz of Vegas to national TV with his own variety show, and he had regular televised specials from the Las Vegas Hilton that featured many of the era’s top performers. At his peak, Liberace earned a staggering $50,000 a week at the Riviera (about $330,000 in 2020 dollars), a pretty hefty figure even by today’s standards. Liberace passed away in 1987 at the age of 67.

2. The Rat Pack
You had a 50/50 shot at guessing who would be in the top spot, and it was going to be one or the other. Individually, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford were all celebrities that stood on their own accord and headlined shows wherever they went. But together, they caught lightning in a bottle and tapped into something so special that even today, almost 60 years after first appearing at the Sands’ Copa Room together, their presence and impact is felt. While Sinatra, Martin and Davis were considered three of the greatest entertainers of their time on their own, as part of The Rat Pack they surpassed their own individuality and even performed in movies together. Backed by arguably the best band in the world at the time, the Count Basie Orchestra, their crisp, funny and hip stage banter echoed their real-life fun as they not only smoked, but they rolled a portable bar onto the stage and drank. While they often made off-color jokes on stage, Martin famously said, “I want to thank the NAACP for this award” while holding Davis in his arms, behind the scenes the Rat Pack led the effort to integrate the Strip. While as a group, their act only lasted five years together at the Copa Room, the Rat Pack not only drew celebrities of the day and the wealthiest high-rollers but even with their passing, their everlasting style, swagger and panache of years gone by continuing to impact Vegas today.

1. Elvis Presley

We can almost hear him say, “Thank you. Thank you very much,” for the honor of being given the top spot in our very selective list. Four years after starring in the iconic film “Viva Las Vegas,” Elvis began his residency at what was then known as the International Hotel (later renamed the Las Vegas Hilton and today known as the Westgate). More than 2,000 fans turned out for that opening night, and between July 1969 and late 1976, Elvis had 837 consecutive sellout performances. His shows were not so much concerts as they were “happenings” as the most well-known celebrities of the era would be in the audience for his shows as well as his legions of fans, all who clamored for a piece of the King. While the King passed in 1977 at the age of 42, the Elvis persona lives on in Vegas today through the many impersonators and tribute artists who keep his name alive. From those who portray Elvis Presley in shows to those who perform wedding ceremonies at Elvis-themed chapels, to those who imitate him on the Strip or at the Fremont Experience, the King has turned into a pop culture icon that even after 40 years continues to rock our world.

While it’s very true that what happened in Vegas often stays in Vegas, in this instance, What Happened in Vegas as far as entertainment is concerned happened for a reason and its impact not only influenced and defined what Vegas is today, but has had a lasting effect on entertainment as a whole.