Las Vegas Gambling Stars
Las Vegas the ‘Sin City’ is not only famous for the spectacular casinos, nightlife and entertainment which is beyond one’s imagination and truly awesome, but is also the home of renowned celebrities of today and also those who starred in the 1950 – 1960’s.
For those of you who remember the famous ‘Rat Pack‘ which included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis (Junior) Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and Humphrey Bogart who started their career in top casinos in Vegas as singers, dancers and later on performers! Let’s go down memory lane and have a look into their lives, what they did to survive, how they performed and finally how the Rat Pack era ended.
Frank Sinatra was born in New Jersey and was believed to be friends with guys in the Mafia. He sang, danced and also starred in a number of movies and started his singing career at night clubs and is known as the best 20th century lead singer. While Dean Martin was born in Ohio, and known to be a man who wanted to make a joke of everything that came his way, and having fun was his only objective in life. He was a great singer in his time and he and Frank had made an excellent pair while singing together.
The other member was Sammy Davis who was born in New York who was a great singer and performer. A near fatal car crash left him with just one (right) eye to manage for the rest of his life, but his zest for life and singing talent had kept in going, such that he hardly felt his handicap and made the most of life. He featured with the other Rat Pack members in 1960 in a series of films which included ‘Ocean’s Eleven’.
The interesting Peter Lawford who was born in England was the next member of the Rat Pack. Having married Patricia Kennedy (JFK’s sister) in 1954 he was the connection between JFK and the Rat Pack. Joey Bishop was born in New York and being a Friend of Frank Sinatra joined the Rat Pack group and was a comedian by nature. Humphrey Bogart was the last member to join the team, and was the one to be instrumental in bringing the Rat Pack together and after he died, Frank Sinatra took on the leadership.
The Rat Pack sang and performed together and also starred in movies and helped in the election of John F Kennedy in the 60s. They started in Las Vegas helping it to become popular and famous as it is today, and though they each possessed their own CDs, they sang some of their songs together. They featured in three movies namely Ocean’s Eleven in 1960, Sergeants Three in 1962 and Robin and the Seven Hoods in 1964. They were so much part and parcel of the JFK’s election campaign and Frank Sinatra’s ‘High Hopes’ formed JFK’s campaign song.
The Rat Pack was often seen at the famous Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas, the Vegas craps casino, where they enjoyed a game of dice which was the first of the games that was introduced around 1945. They also visited Sahara Hotel and Casino where over a period of time other casino games were introduced. They danced, dined, stayed and performed at these splendid locations, and even till date are fondly remembered by those who visit these spectacular locations.
They had such an impact on society and helped the Civil Rights Movement, they also brought about a bond between entertainment and politics and actually changed the way people listened to music, and changed the way music was written, recorded and even performed.
The Rat Pack Era started falling apart in 1961due to difference of opinions between Peter and Frank on account of Frank’s mafia connections and the JFK’s family objecting to it, which ultimately broke the long lasting friendship between the two. The Rat Pack is fondly remembered and there will probably never be another reincarnation of the Rat Pack in this era!
