Have you heard? Wayne Newton will be inducted into UNLV's Nevada Entertainer/Artist Hall of Fame in September. He'll join previous inductees George Sidney, Tony Curtis and Phyllis McGuire.
Nothing against Newton, but last week's announcement got me thinking about other deserving nominees. Here are five that the Hall of Fame overlooked:
Shecky Greene: He might be a Palm Desert resident now, but I'll be damned if I don't suggest Shecky Greene for this list. The Chicago native simply has a solid history here. Folklore has it that he "saved" Elvis from a desultory turnout when the King was first booked at the New Frontier Hotel in 1956 and Shecky was an up-and-coming comic on the same bill. He eventually would find a home for his skilled, affable monologues at the Tropicana.
Whenever Shecky appears in specials such as The Real Las Vegas on A&E, his anecdotes will outshine anybody else's with his understanding of the city's splendidly gaudy local color.
Nearly everyone who grew up here has a Shecky Greene story, whether it involves him asking a record store clerk about Yiddish folk songs or shopping for toiletries at Vegas Village. Nearly 30 years ago, I was with my dad in Von Tobels hardware store, and Greene asked us if we knew where the Hanukkah lights were. We have a soft spot for Greene, one of the first and most approachable of local celebrities.
Lola Falana: Lithe, lovely and leggy, this former Sammy Davis Jr. protégé was one of the hottest properties on the Strip in the late '70s and early '80s. She worked at the Sands, Riviera and the old MGM before she settled in at the Aladdin for a whopping $100,000 a year. An all-around entertainer, she was "Lady Vegas" at her prime, and she was an enthusiastic ambassador for Sin City. Sadly, multiple sclerosis shortened her career, and after turning to Catholicism, she now runs the Lambs of God Ministry. Falana still lives in town, and I saw her several months ago at a convenience store. No one else recognized her. The Hall of Fame should.
Nevada Bishop Takes Over World |
Now that she's been voted Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church worldwide, Nevada's Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori is everywhere—CNN, Time, NPR, flying around the globe. We recall when her concerns were much, much smaller than becoming the first female to hold that post and subsequently divide the stodgy international Anglican community : • "When I was growing up, the closest that little girls could come to the altar was singing in the choir," Las Vegas Sun October, 2000, upon being named Bishop of Nevada • "I hope to ... develop God's dream for Nevada."— Las Vegas Sun, 2001 Better amp up those dreams, Bishop. Here's the reaction of Orthodox Anglican Virtue Online to your new job: "[Liberals] voted for her to stick it in the eye of the Anglican community." Give 'em hell, Right Reverend. |
Don Cherry: A resident since 1967, singer Don Cherry graced the stage of every great Rat Pack-era hotel: Sands, Tropicana, Dunes, Hilton, Aladdin, and the Desert Inn. A fine singer with an established recording career before he turned to Vegas ("Band of Gold," "I'll Be Around"), he always talked up Vegas on the chat shows where he was a perennial guest. Cherry, who also had a fine career as a golf pro, can still be seen around town hitting the greens, but it's a shame this dapper performer seems to be a forgotten footnote in the annals of Vegas entertainment.
Redd Foxx: Vulgar, brash and almost poetic in his political incorrectness, Foxx was a great fit for this city. Redd was downright engaging in his shameless self-promotion, whether he was grabbing a photo op at a wedding chapel or posing with his Korean bride—half his age!—on the Strip. You always saw Redd around town, and you know what, the city's was the better for it.
What we appreciated about Foxx was that even when he was starring in his hit series Sanford and Son, he still made Vegas a mainstay, even arranging an episode to be shot here.
Paula Francis: Producer Anthony E. Zuiker, himself a native, knew exactly what he was doing when he tapped Paula for the first of more than a dozen appearances on CSI. Nobody plays a better Paula than Paula. Beyond that, her winning smile and on-the-money dependability have made a her a cornerstone at KLAS-TV for a quarter of a century. What's most endearing about Paula is her reaction anytime the station runs old file footage of her sporting geometrically challenged hairstyles of the time: She laughs at herself.