The Riviera Hotel and Casino opened in 1955, the ninth resort to do so on the legendary Las Vegas Strip. Mob-owned and Mob-run for decades, it featured top-notch entertainers, and was one of the bigger draws for those tourists who save up their money all year round so they can experience the pleasure of losing it at the tables or slot machines. The Riveria also popped up in movies such as the original Ocean's 11 (the one with the Rat Pack, not George Clooney), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and Diamonds Are Forever. Unfortunately, casinos aren't diamonds. Starting in the 1980s, multinational corporations began buying up most of the rest of the gangland holdings on the Strip, and proceeded to knock down the aging neon towers one by one and replace them with even larger indoor gambling theme parks, the nearby construction of which reduced foot traffic to the Riveria. Ownership eventually passed from the underworld to more legitimate groups of investors, and finally in 2015, the state-run Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Are we talking a unique form of American socialism here? Nothing so provocative, I'm afraid. The Riviera was just bought to be gotten rid of and the whole thing went through a series of "implosions" to make room for some kind of trade center expansion. Before any of that happened, though, there was first a liquidation sale...
...and Las Vegas mainstay Shecky Greene, who had played at that and every other hotel on the Strip, was on hand to salvage what he could.
Here's Shecky at home:
What happens on the Web, stays on the Web.
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| 1926-2023 |
I haven't heard about him in a while.
ReplyDeleteHe made to 97 which considering a few things was quite an accomplishment. From wikipedia... "Greene's career had obstacles due to depression, bipolar disorder, stage fright, gambling, panic attacks, drug abuse and alcoholism."
Also from Wikipedia... "Greene claimed Jay Leno once told him that his all-time favorite joke was one Greene recounted about Frank Sinatra (with whom Greene had a contentious relationship) "saving his life". Offended by a remark made by Greene, Sinatra sent five men to assault him; after some time, he heard Sinatra say, "OK, he's had enough"."
You know, Mike, I tried looking for a video of Greene's Frank Sinatra joke. What I found instead is one of Dustin Hoffman telling the joke (and giving credit to Greene as he told it) during some sort of Q&A session. Now, Hoffman (at least when being himself and not playing Benjamen Braddock) doesn't have anything close to the comic timing of a Shecky Greene, yet he got a laugh, anyway.
DeleteI always wished I had gotten into those vintage hotels before the tear downs,. What a treasure trove. I had forgotten how funny and stream of consciousness Shecky Greene could be.
ReplyDeleteMitchell, we had yet to be acquainted blogwise when I did a post on Robin Williams, but it was grumpily written because although I believed Williams was talented, I didn't want to proclaim him a genius, as others were doing, based solely on a stream-of-consciousness delivery when I'd seen other comedians do the same thing. I had Jonathan Winters uppermost in my mind, but it applies to Shecky Greene as well.
DeleteA legend in his time.
ReplyDeleteAnd his time was long, Debra.
DeleteHello Kirk, I never realized that Las Vegas was disappearing at such a prodigious rate. I know that there are new projects, but I was not away that they were generally at the expense of the "classic" buildings. I have never been there, but if I ever thought of going, it would be to witness the past tawdriness, not the 2000's version of glitz.
ReplyDelete.
RIP Mr. Greene--97 years of a pretty famous life is not bad.
--Jim
Jim, here's what left from before 1970:
Deletehttps://www.casino.org/news/7-places-where-you-can-still-experience-classic-las-vegas/#:~:text=7%20Places%20Where%20You%20Can%20Still%20Experience%20Classic,Steer%206%206.%20Caesars%20Palace%207%207.%20Sahara
My partner has always want to visit Las Vegas. I think I'd prefer to hang out with #45.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, cross Bugsy Siegel with Mussolini, and you might just get #45.
DeleteI have been to Las Vegas once. And while I enjoyed it, it isn't a place that I would choose to go back to. I would if a friend reunion or family reunion would take place but ehhh.
ReplyDeleteYou never know, JM, the Las Vegas you visited has probably been imploded by now and replaced by something else.
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