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Transcript of interview with Corinne Entratter Sidney by Claytee White, June 5, 2007

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2007-06-05

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Interview with Corinne Entratter Sidney by Claytee White on June 5, 2007. In this interview, Sidney talks about growing up with privilege in California, where her father served as the attorney general. She attended school at UCLA and took acting classes and signed with United Artists. She met Jack Entratter in Los Angeles and moved to Las Vegas and worked as a Copa Girl. She discusses Jack Entratter's generosity and influence in town, and his style, and their lifestyle together. She mentions the likes of Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne and Sammy Davis, Jr. and her extravagant life living at the Sands. After Jack's death in 1971, she moved back to Los Angeles, returned to acting, and wrote a newspaper column. On a visit to Las Vegas with George Sidney after Sidney's wife Jane died, Corinne and George began dating and were married shortly after. They moved back to Las Vegas together for a slower pace. She describes her love of Las Vegas and its continued growth.

Corinne Sidney's life story makes for fascinating reading. She was born in 1937, the daughter of Alice Polk, former Ziegfeld showgirl, and Carl Kegley, an attorney. She attended U. of C. Berkeley, transferred to UCLA, and was spotted by a talent scout who convinced her to enter a Miss USA contest. Corinne's runner-up status in the Miss USA contest led to job offers in acting, so she decided to study acting. This, along with her childhood lessons in ballet, piano, singing, tap dance and horseback riding, led to a contract with United Artists, freelance work, television parts, and plays. Around the age of 18, Corinne met Jack Entratter. Their relationship brought her to Las Vegas, where she worked as a showgirl at the Sands for a few months, and where she married Jack a few years later. They lived a fabulous lifestyle which included travel, beautiful homes, and friendships with noted celebrities. Corinne went back to acting in Los Angeles after Jack passed away, but then segued into writing a gossip column and hosting a television show. She reconnected with an old friend (George Sidney) by writing the obituary for his wife, and within a few months they were married. The Sidney's moved back to Las Vegas, where Corinne still makes her home today.

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jhp000162
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Corrine Sidney oral history interview, 2007 June 05. OH-01697. [Transcript]. Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/d1gh9fb71

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AN INTERVIEW WITH CORINNE ENTRATTER SIDNEY An Oral History Conducted by Claytee D. White The Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas i ?Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2014 Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV - University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcriber: Kristin Hicks Interviewers: Barbara Tabach, Claytee D. White Editors and Project Assistants: Maggie Lopes, Stefani Evans ii The recorded Interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish. The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews with permission of the narrator. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project. Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas iii PREFACE Corinne Sidney's life story makes for fascinating reading. She was born in 1937, the daughter of Alice Polk, former Ziegfeld showgirl, and Carl Kegley, an attorney. She attended U. of C. Berkeley, transferred to UCLA, and was spotted by a talent scout who convinced her to enter a Miss USA contest. Corinne's runner-up status in the Miss USA contest led to job offers in acting, so she decided to study acting. This, along with her childhood lessons in ballet, piano, singing, tap dance and horseback riding, led to a contract with United Artists, freelance work, television parts, and plays. Around the age of 18, Corinne met Jack Entratter. Their relationship brought her to Las Vegas, where she worked as a showgirl at the Sands for a few months, and where she married Jack a few years later. They lived a fabulous lifestyle which included travel, beautiful homes, and friendships with noted celebrities. Corinne went back to acting in Los Angeles after Jack passed away, but then segued into writing a gossip column and hosting a television show. She reconnected with an old friend (George Sidney) by writing the obituary for his wife, and within a few months they were married. The Sidney's moved back to Las Vegas, where Corinne still makes her home today. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Interview with Corinne Entratter Sidney June 5, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada Conducted by Claytee D. White Preface iv Corrine born, April 13, 1937, daughter of Alice Polk and Carl S. Kegley; attended Girls Collegiate School in Claremont and University of California at Berkeley; acting lessons from Jeff Corey; contract with United Artists; meeting Jack Entratter at 18 1-3 Moved to Las Vegas to be close to Jack Entratter; worked 3 months as showgirl at the Sands; married to Jack in'65; mention of Frank Costello, owner of Copacabana; Jack escorting Lena Horne into Sands Hotel; friendship with Frank Sinatra; mention of stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Count Basie 4-10 Description of showgirl's life; buying makeup at White Cross Drugs; fabulous life as Jack's wife: playing tennis, ordering meals from top chefs, flying anywhere on private jets; Frank Sinatra's "Summit", which brought friends to Vegas to work with him, friends like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Lucille Ball, Eydie and Steve; description of showgirl's makeup 11-13 Mention of Jack's relationship with Hank Greenspun; Jack's death in '71; Corrine's return to L.A.; acting, writing a newspaper column; reconnecting with friend George Sidney; marriage to George; return to Las Vegas in '91 14-20 Dinner parties with the Sidney Sheldons, Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Warren Cal; friendships with Tony Curtis, Phyllis McGuire; mention of the George Sidney Award at UNLV; further mention of Hank Greenspun and the printing press; anecdote about Barbara Greenspun; finding a home in Las Vegas; George Sidney's influence on Frank Sinatra's career 21-24 Volunteer work with children; recounting Steve Wynn's childhood encounter with Jack Entratter; comments and opinions on the future of Las Vegas; mention of Howard Hughes and changes at the Sands; discussion on downtown and the need to cater to locals; closing comments regarding shopping on the Strip; Jewish influence in theater, nightclubs, vaudeville and restaurants; Clint Holmes; first black showgirl; maintaining personal integrity despite privilege and power 25- 32 v It is June 5th, 2007. This is Claytee White. And I'm with Corinne Sidney in her home in Las Vegas. How are you today? I'm fine. How are you? Fantastic. Now, these first questions are just going to be some information for our biographical sheet. Could you give me your mother's name? Alice Polk. Would you spell her last name for me? P-o-l-k. I'm a great-great-grand niece of President James Knox Polk from Tennessee. Oh, wow. Did your mom work outside the home? Not when I was a child. She was a valedictorian at Columbia College and she got a scholarship in New York to Columbia College. She had to support her mother and sister because her mother was a widow. She was extremely beautiful, and she became a Ziegfeld showgirl. Then she went with Eddie Cantor in "Making Whoopee." See, there's a picture of her. Oh, that's beautiful. Oh, she's a beautiful lady. And she then was put under contract with Paramount Studios where she met my father, who was an attorney. And what is his name? Carl S. Kegley, K-e-g-l-e-y. And he was also another brilliant person. Graduated high school at 16. Then went to Stanford and became president of his class. And then he went to Berkeley at Boalt Hall to take his law degree. He was attorney general of the state of California for nine years. I remember growing up, just riding around in state cars with troopers behind us and troopers in front of us depending on what criminal case he was handling for the state then. My mother, when she got pregnant with my older sister, stopped working in movies and just took care of us. I was born with a platinum spoon in my mouth and I've been choking on it ever since. When were you born? I was born April 13th, 1937. So that makes me 70 today, I think. But I can't count on my fingers that far. 1 Yes. That's right. Seventy this year, a few months ago. What year did you arrive in Nevada? Well, that's a long story. Why don't you tell me about your education after high school. Oh, I went to Girls Collegiate School in Claremont. I was class president and house president. Then I went to University of California at Berkeley. I had an A-minus average. I was always a very bright girl. But our parents were so bright that my sister went to Stanford and I didn't want to go to Stanford. I wanted to go someplace where my sister wasn't. I would always follow her and they would say, Oh, you're Josephine's sister. Oh, well, come up here and sit up here. And I was kind of a class clown. But, no, I was -- but my parents because they were both so bright, they were worried that we'd be nincompoops. That was that thinking in the 50s. Anyway, then my mother got sick. So I transferred down to UCLA. And while I was at UCLA, a talent scout saw me on campus -- he was from RKO Studios -- and asked me to enter a contest, a Miss USA contest, which is the trophy over there. I was runner-up in 1956,I think. I continued at UCLA, though I didn't like it as much as I liked Cal. I loved Berkeley. Then I started getting job offers because I was runner up to -- this was a big thing in those days. So I'd go to night school at UCLA and pretty soon I was acting, not because I had any talent, just because I was so pretty. I was just God-given pretty. Then I thought, Gee, I should get serious about this and start studying acting. So I went to a private coach, Jeff Corey, who was very, very famous, Stanslavsky method. Could you describe that? Well, first of all, Stanslavsky always believed that it's not so much you in the art, but the art in you. In other words, it's what you bring to show business. I mean if you have talent, it's going to -- but I was -- I had ballet lessons. I had piano lessons. I had singing lessons. I had tap dance lessons. I had everything that a young debutante in Brentwood is supposed to have. Horseback riding - I could do anything. But it wasn't to be in movies or anything. It was just that's what young debutantes did in the 50s. That's where their mothers took them, from this to this to this. 2 The studio system was pretty well going out when I came in. I was under contract with United Artists. Then I did a lot of freelance. I had a lot of television work. I did a lot of plays. And I was just lucky. When I look back at it, I was lucky. I met Jack Entratter in Los Angeles when I was living at the Hollywood Studio Club. I went with Miss Universe and the runner-up to Miss Universe, Miss Sweden. And the three of us went to the movies up on Hollywood Boulevard. It was safe then, you know? We went to the movies and afterwards we felt like having pizza. So we went to the Villa Capri. We all had money. So it didn't matter. But in those days three girls walking into a restaurant alone was -- and pretty spectacular, three really spectacular women -- And we're talking about tall, statuesque women? Oh, yeah. Miss Universe was no slouch and neither was Miss Sweden. They were under contract to Universal and I was under contract at United Artists. Anyway, getting to the point, there was a gentleman from Universal Studios who came over to the table and said to Carol and Ingrid, who were under contract to Universal, "You have to come over and sit with us at the table because there are some very important men who would like to meet you." Me and my mouth, right? I said, "No, we don't." I was pretty lip. "No, we don't. They're under contract I think from nine to five. They're not under contract when we're sitting here having our pizza." And the girls got scared. And they said, "Oh, my God, we'll lose our contract. What have you done, Corinne?" And I said, "Not to worry." I said, "Tell them we'll come over and have coffee after we finish our meal. But thank you very much. It's very nice. But we'll sit here and have our pizza." Well, after our pizza -- oh, then the check was picked up. I had never had that; powerful men pick up the check, my God. So we went over to the table. And there were about four men in one booth. They were booths, like almost church pews with a table in front of it. It was a very famous restaurant. The Villa Capri was a place where Frank Sinatra hung out and he had on his records at the Villa Capri or this or that. We didn't know that at that time or didn't know consciously. 3 Anyway, and I saw this one man with gray hair and beautiful blue eyes. I took one look at him -- now, I'm 18 years old or something like 19, 18. I took one look at him and he looked at me and it was just -- bong. It was a bong moment, you know. And he said, "Would you like to sit down?" I said, "Yes!" And the girls sat down and then we left. That was Jack Entratter. He took me to lunch the next day. He picked me up at the Hollywood Studio Club. He had a driver. But it was really strange because I had been in limousines. But he had a driver in a new Chevrolet, a very nondescript car. And I said, Is this your -- we went to lunch. And he said, "I want to keep you." I looked at him like -- and his driver drove us up and down the flats of Beverly Hills, all those beautiful houses. He said, "Pick a house, any house. I'll buy you anything you want." I said, "I just moved out of a house like that in Brentwood. Why would I want a house in Beverly Hills?" I always thought Brentwood was better than Beverly Hills because it had less smog. And he finally understood I was just not one of these Hollywood girls. Anyway, I was madly in love with him from the minute I saw him. And that began a relationship. It ended when he died in 1971. So I moved to Vegas. I would come in and out of the Vegas to see him from that time on. And then finally it dawned on me -- oh, and he'd come to L.A. to see me. And he had an apartment in L.A. I finally decided to move to Vegas. I was either going to get him in my system or out of it. So I moved here. I moved right next door to Jeanie, in the same apartment building on Spring Mountain. Jeanie is your girlfriend? Jeanie Garder, yeah. I didn't even know at the time she was in the line at the Copa. See, the Copa girls were a real elite group. Every showgirl in town, and dancer, wanted to work at the Sands because, A, we worked for a minute and a half, two shows a night, three minutes. Three minutes. And we got paid this extraordinary salary of $175 a week. My God, I thought I was robbing a bank, and it was steady work. I mean after what I had been through in Hollywood, this is steady work. I can't believe it. How did your parents feel about Jack Entratter? Well, that was really something because Jack was Jewish and president of the temple. And in 4 those days interfaith marriage was frowned upon. But I remember my father saying, "I don't like what you're doing, but I like the way you're doing it." What did he mean by that? He didn't like me being in show business. He didn't like me practically quitting school at that time, though I went on later and finished up everything and ended up with two more degrees. I've constantly been going back to school. I was supposed to be hanging out at the L.A. Country Club and joining the tick-tockers and being on social sets and things like that. I didn't like that. I said, I'm not going to end up in a beauty shop wondering what I could've done. But I'm very proud of the way I did my career because it's the way I did it. Sure, I got asked to go out with producers and directors. And, sure, I was asked to go out on dates or less flattering things. And I'd say, Hey, I'm here to work; now, I'm not going to do two jobs. So they would fall over with my humor, right? And I ended up mostly with comedy. I ended up in a lot of comedy. I think that's one reason Jack Entratter respected me so much and so did George Sidney. I worked in a George Sidney movie. He never made a pass at me and I never knew he was crazy about me. See, he and Jack were best friends. So you never know what's going to happen to you. Oh, that is exciting. So when you decided to move here, did you move into a regular apartment? Back in the 60s? Yeah. And Jeanie and I worked in the line. I think I worked about three months as a showgirl. But in those three months, I was nominated "the most beautiful showgirl." And, of course, being an actress I used to just walk out and go, Eat your hearts out, you know, because I had such stage presence at that age. I think I was about 24 or 25 when I moved permanently to Vegas. Then I remember my being in a picture or standing on a ladder in front of the Sahara hotel picked as "the most beautiful showgirl." And Jack got mad. He said, You should be standing in front of the Sands. I don't want you standing -- I said, You had nothing to do with this. I got this on my own. But now, when you first came here, it wasn't permanent. So you went back to L.A. at some point? 5 Oh, I always kept a house in Bel Aire or in Westwood. So now, at that age how did you keep a house there? Well, I was a native of southern California and I had my own income. And I was acting. I mean I remember on my wedding night to Jack there was this huge table of people in the Sands and everything. And I got up from the table and I said, "You guys will have to excuse me. I have to go star in a television show called The Monkeys tomorrow. I've got to be on the set at Columbia at 5:30." And I flew in a private plane and flew back home. So you had your own income that was substantial enough for you to live in two places even at that time? Yeah. Well, you know, and Jack was very generous. In those days Jack always kept two pockets. He'd have one for people he would help and one for himself. I can remember a cocktail waitress came up to him once and said her son was in the hospital, she had no insurance and she didn't know what to do. And I remember Jack paying for the whole hospitalization. Many, many of the bosses, they were all like that. They had two pockets, one with cash and the other one for themselves to give away. I've heard people say the truth of that. I heard a woman say that when she was in social services -- she worked in the office -- but whenever a catastrophe would happen -- someone would lose their home, it would burn down -- they would call some of the casinos. They would all take care of each other. Because that would be faster than going through the social service network. Yeah. And there wasn't much social service. I can tell you after I married Jack and quit as a showgirl I used to go down and teach downtown. Edythe Katz Yarchever -- I said, "I've got to do something, Edythe, it's driving me crazy being Jack's -- I'm sitting here like Caesar's wife," because Jack ran the town. Trust me, he ran the town. What do you mean by that? Explain that. Example, in front of the Venetian today, the old Sands, there is a signal across from the Mirage, which was also owned by the Sands. It was called the Castaways Motel. And Jack decided one night -- we were driving out. And he said, "I can't get across the street. I want a signal here." I said, "Well, Jack, why don't you just call and get one." He said, "I think I'll do that." The next 6 day there was a signal right there in front of the Castaways and the Sands. Now, that's power. Yes. Now, tell me how the marriage came about. We were just madly in love with each other. I've always said to shrinks that say, "Well, how come you always marry men older than you?" I said, "I have a father complex. Aren't I lucky?" Well, it drives them nuts. What was the age difference between you and Jack? Twenty-six years. And George and I were 21 years apart. Now that I'm a widow and a widow, I look back at it and I go, Well, was that so wise to be alone in my older age? They had the advantage, for God's sake. But that was my particular -- my father was powerful. My father didn't have a lot of time for me. My father was wealthy. I mean you could go right down the list and say, yeah, she's got a father complex. I married a man who was younger than me after Jack. I was so upset. I never wanted another person that I loved to die on me. It was devastating. I think it took me 20 years to get over Jack. I really do. It was such a fabulous life I had with him. I mean we'd just pick up in two hours and say, Let's go have dinner at Claridge's. Let's leave for Plaza Anthony. Let's spend a couple of weeks there. And traveling then was fabulous, fabulous. Describe it. Well, for example, Jack was a very meticulous New York dresser. He had all his suits tailored, everything, and his shirts. He'd have two suitcases, a shirt for every day, that were like stacked, leather stacked suitcases, and one for every day he was going to be away, a new shirt, clean shirt. I mean we would land at the airport. And nine out of ten times, you know, if we went to Israel where he had orphan homes that he totally supported -- never asked a friend to help him with it. In fact, he got Frank Sinatra involved in Israel and they helped a great deal to bring the awareness. And he was the first of anybody on the Strip to raise money for the Six-Day War back then. He was very giving. Well, any way, so we'd travel with a limousine in front. Nobody ever carried their own luggage then. Oh, no. That was tacky, tacky, tacky. That's a wonderful way to travel. That's what I hate about traveling now. 7 And the cab would follow with all the suitcases. I wasn't as bad as Elizabeth Taylor. She had a convoy with luggage. But hey. I used to say, If Jackie Kennedy knew how I was living, she would shoot herself in the foot. I mean when I would walk out of the Aqueduct at the Sands -- we lived in the Sands -- I'd have two guards following me at all times. No matter where I went, no matter what I did, I'd have two guards following me. I always felt safe. I wanted a mink coat because it was cold here. It was a lot colder than southern California. So I said, "Jeez, Jack, I've got to get a coat, a warm coat." He had the furrier come over and lay out six coats on the floor, all different colors, and said, "Pick what you want or take them all." I said, "I can only wear one at a time." So I picked the one that matched the dog, the white lab. So I figured they could see both of us. But that's the way. What a wonderful way to live. As showgirls -- well, I don't know if it happened to other showgirls. But I can tell you that in the Copa Room there would be long-stemmed roses. And we would always look in the box. We'd shake it to hear if there was jewelry in the box. They always sent jewelry in the -- And who is "they"? Stage door Johnnies. They'd see these gorgeous women. There were no more gorgeous women than the Copa girls. And the Copa girls did not have to go out with any customer ever. Did you have to decorate the casino? No. We were told that until two o'clock we should stay in the Sands if we were going to stay up. And if we stayed up, they would like to see us in the lounge mixing. But we did not have to stay there. We could go home. But they didn't want to see us in other casinos. That was part of being a Copa girl. I can remember many -- some that you've interviewed -- many girls getting fired because they would use being a showgirl as a front. I don't know what their circumstances were and I certainly don't judge them. But if Jack found out that you were hooking on the side, you couldn't be a Copa girl. So now, which year did you come here to work as a Copa girl the first time that you arrived? Well, I was supposed to open the Tropicana for Monte Proser and Jack tore up the contract. Just tore it up. He said, "I'll tell Monte about it tomorrow." 8 I'm trying to think. I married him when I was 28. I think I came up here when I was 25, 26. He said, Why don't you come up here and let's -- I said, I can't deal with the long distance relationship. That's very hard to do. And it had been on again, off again, on again, off again. And then I married him, divorced him, then remarried him nine months later, and then we got divorced again. And then we couldn't live with each other. It was Frankie and Johnny. And I didn't want to marry him a third time because his daughters, who were very close to my age, were just pains in the neck when I was married. They were very nice to me when I wasn't married to him. So I didn't want him to suffer. He had diabetes and ulcers and he wasn't well towards the end. Supposedly, he died of a brain concussion. He fell off his bike when he was riding at the Sands. I wasn't there. I was in L.A. having my eyelashes put on. In those days we had eyelashes put on. Can you imagine the vanity? Anyway, and then I got a call. And then someone told me he was pushed from his bike. Hey. George flew up. George Sidney flew up the day of the funeral. Howard Hughes had offered to have Jack flown to UCLA, which was much better than Sunrise. And Jack's daughters, because I wasn't married to him at the time, said, Oh no, let him die here, quote, unquote. There was nothing I could do about it. But George flew up. He was married to Jane Sidney then. We went to the funeral. And he said, "I want you to pack your bags. You're leaving here after the funeral, today." Leaving Las Vegas to go back to Los Angeles? Yeah. He said, "You cannot stay here. You know too much." Now, what did he mean by "you know too much"? Oh, I knew too much. There's nothing like pillow talk. I knew too much. And those are things that you cannot share on tape? You can read them in most any book if you do your homework. But people would ask me, Why don't you write a book? I said no. I spent most of my life in the powder room. When the Kennedys were here, I'd get up and excuse myself. One of my best friends was a lady in the powder room. We'd see each other for hours. Jack always said, I don't want you to -- what you know might hurt you. 9 See, Jack worked for a man by the name of Frank Costello, who owned the Copacabana. And Jack managed the Copacabana with Monte Proser. They decided to send Jack -- when I say they, the Frank Costello group decided to send -- it's much like "The Godfather" -- out to Las Vegas to manage the Sands because Jack had all the stars then. And you might see it on videotape. It is on videotape. Associated Press took a picture of Jack escorting Lena Horne into the front door of the Sands. And that was the first time that blacks were allowed to walk in the front door. They could come in through the kitchen. They could stay down at the Moulin Rouge. Jack and Nat King Cole were very close friends. And, of course, Jack stood up for Sammy Davis, Jr., to be Jewish right here at the temple. This is a very segregated community. They were going to keep it that way. But Jack broke down a lot of barriers. And I must say he was encouraged, certainly by Frank Sinatra. Frank was very, very -- I'll tell you Frank was very interesting. Catholic he was born, right? But he would celebrate Hanukkah and Easter. Whatever holiday it was, he celebrated it. It made no difference to him what you were, as long as you had one capital "T" called talent, and no matter what you did. If you were in baseball, you better be really talented. If you were a musician, you better be really talented. I mean those musicians for Tony Morelli's orchestra at the Sands were the top musicians of all time. Can you imagine -- he had Ella Fitzgerald in the lounge doing eight shows a night -- that talent? Can you imagine what I had just sitting there, you know, whittling away the time? It was unbelievable, unbelievable. We had Louis Prima and Keely Smith. We had everybody. Everybody was there. Count Basie. Jesus, Count Basie was incredible. I used to go to the rehearsals just to listen to him. Fabulous, fabulous. I was very lucky. Tell me about the life of a showgirl prior to your marriage, the hours, putting on the makeup. Give me a day in the life of a showgirl, a Copa girl. Now, you've got to remember I was the boss's girl. So I was kind of like that joke of Billy DeWolf -- boss's girl. But I wanted to earn a living. I said to Jack, "If I don't work, you'll never marry me." And he said, "I'm not getting married. What made you think I'm getting married?" I said, "Well, you're going to marry me." And sure enough, I only worked for three months. What I learned about showgirls was I was really outside the box. I really observed. 10 Now, Charlotte was a great showgirl, lead showgirl. And before I came to the Sands everybody danced. I didn't want to dance. I wanted to walk. And I didn't want to be in the same costume as anybody else was. That was a priority to me. My mother had taught me you don't do that. You have your own gown. So I demanded my own gown. (End Tape 1, Side A.) So I demanded my own gown because I didn't want to look like anybody else. And I never wanted to be in a line. I had strict rules. And, of course, I got whatever I wanted. The showgirls stopped dancing. We just posed and walked. And they all had individual gowns because of me. What else? See, between shows we'd go to dinner, at least I did. And whoever was headlining we'd usually go with if they wanted to because Jack was "America's Host" I used to call him. And you would go to dinner in the Sands? Oh, in the Sands or the Villa Capri, which is now Piero's. Where else did we go? Oh, there were some great spots. The Leaning Tower of Pizza, if we felt like going for pizza. In those days we wore fur jackets and we dressed up in gorgeous gowns. There was only one place you could buy a gown here and that was Joseph Magnin's. I didn't like their clothes, so I had Michael Novarese's, a very famous designer in California, that I had modeled for. And I used to say to him, "Well, I need 12 dressy outfits for the next two months. Just send them up." He'd have my measurements and sent them up. I mean it was astounding the way I lived. You've got to remember Jack had a barbershop and a dentist shop. And they would fly in Jay Sebring to cut everybody's hair. I used to have Jean Shako fly up to do my hair. I used to have my manicurist, Ernestine, who's the most famous manicurist in Beverly Hills. I still talk to her. And she used to fly up, have a whole weekend free of charge, have a wonderful time, bring her girlfriends, just to do my manicures. I mean it was incredible. That's why I say if Jackie Kennedy knew how I was living...And you couldn't really find a good hairdresser here in those days. Whatever your little heart desired. I could pick up a phone and talk to three different chefs and just say, "Well, I'd like to rack of lamb over at the apartment tonight at 7:30, 8:00." We lived like bats though I've got to tell you. What does that mean? 11 It means I never saw daylight, only when I was going to bed. We'd get up about twelve o'clock. We'd go to White Cross Drug for our makeup. We never bought food. We always ate at the hotels. The Sands had the best Chinese food in town. Jack had imported his chef from New York, his Chinese chef for the Garden Room, which was very famous. Whatever we wanted we had. It was awesome, awesome. It was like living like a princess. So how did the other girls feel about you and your relationship with Jack? Oh, I don't think they were too thrilled. I mean imagine your boss going with the chancellor. I mean it was second to that I would suppose. But I never misused that. I had power of the pencil. I could sign for anything I wanted. I had credit wherever I went. If I went to Caesars Palace with my niece to buy her outfits, I'd just sign for it and they'd send the bill in care of the Sands. So tell me about your marriage. I'm sure you got married in the Sands. The first time we got married in the temple with a rabbi and breaking the glass and everything. The second time we got married by a justice of the peace in the Sands. Jack's apartment is shown in all those pictures of Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra getting married. His apartment was there. It was probably about 5,000 square feet. It was not just a little -- with a guest house, a teahouse, a coi fish pond, and a pool. I wanted to play tennis. So he built six tennis courts across from the house. That's how the tennis courts got into the Sands. Is that how you stayed in shape? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And we all burned ourselves to death with the sun. We were all stupid. What else? People say they liked the good old days here. The good old days were great, but it was like show business. Either you were on top or you were down below. When you're on top, there's no better life. And only two places to be in show business, the top or the bottom. There's no middle ground. It's not a fun place to be in the middle. I mean I wished everybody could live like I did. But it was a time -- the reason "The Summit" took place. Okay. Tell me what you mean by "summit." That was what Frank Sinatra decided; that he wanted "The Summit" because he was doing two shows a night and he didn't want to work that hard. And Jack said, "You've got to work two 12 shows a night, Frank. That's the deal." Frank said, "I don't want to do two. Why can't I have Dean or Sammy come up and help me with a show?" He said, "Call them. Call them. You want them to come, they'll come." So that's how it started. They loved getting up on stage. Then Johnny Carson would come. Don Rickles would come over from the Sahara. Then they had Lucille Ball up on stage and E