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ent001210-041

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ent001210-041
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    University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

    FREEMAN COMPANY pub/ic/sts 5 - Mr. Entratter Is responsible for the fame of the CopaGlrl, just as ZIegfeld popularized the "Ziegfeld Girl?╟Ñ -- and has sent more than 75 girls on to Hollywood for contracts and screen work. Such stars as June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, Olga San Juan and May Wynn were started by Entratter as GopaGlrls and given their chance for Hollywood through his contacts. Ezio Pinza, among others, presented a special problem at the Sands* Jack has made It a rule to discourage his stars from playing at the hotel, even though their presence at the tables Invariably attracts huge crowds. "If they lose In my place,1' he says frankly, "they might go away hating me, and I wouldn't be able to sign them again." But Pinza wanted to play, so Jack confided that there was one particular nickel slot machine geared to pay more than the others, and that only Pinza would know which one it was. "Another thing," he said, "people sometimes leave money in the slots, and if you search each one late at night, you're apt to find quite a few coins." Pinza went for the suggestion, Jack recalls, and for the next two weeks hotel patrons were treated to the unique spectacle of the world's highest paid basso Intently playing one nickel slot machine, and surreptitiously salvaging a few forgotten coins from a hundred others. Jack Entratter has had this sort of uncanny affinity for show people since the day he lumbered into the French Casino at Missal ?╟÷ he was then only 19 years old ?╟÷ and got a job as a reservations clerk. When the season closed he followed the emigrants to New York and became a floorraan at the French Casino there. (A floor- man is one who yanks you off the floor and throws you out Into the street.) He was still In his early 20's when Sherman Billingsley made him host at the Stork Club, and eventually he wound up as a co-owner of the Cop scab ana. During these insomniac years, Jack met and conquered, as it were, the top personalities in the entertainment business. He was among the first to predict better times for some young unknowns named Peter Lind Hayes, Johnny Ray, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Frankie Lalne. He had such a sharp eye for feminine beauty that 78 of his CopaGlrls -- June Allyson and Lucille Bremer among them -- were inveigled into motion pictures. - more - 9 50 8 WILSHIRE B L V D. ?╟≤ B E V E R L Y HILLS, CAL. ?╟≤ B RADS HAW 2-8611