Transcript of interview with Emilio Muscelli by Claytee D. White, November 25, 2008

An Interview with Emilio Muscelli An Oral History Conducted by Claytee D. White The Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas ©The Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2007 Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV - University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Editors: Barbara Tabach and Gloria Homol Transcribers: Kristin Hicks and Laurie Boetcher Interviewers and Project Assistants: Barbara Tabach and Claytee D. White ii The recorded interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of Dr. Harold Boyer and the Library Advisory Committee. 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 the university 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. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Additional transcripts may be found under that series title. Claytee D. White, Project Director Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University Nevada, Las Vegas iii Table of Contents Preface vi Interview 1-22 Index 23 -24 Appendix Photos from Mr. Muscelli's collection include: Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Raquel Welch, and a group shot with Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Lauren Bacall. Las Vegas Review Journal articles about Mr. Muscelli: "Sand maitre d' remembers when mobsters made Las Vegas what it is," John L. Smith, March 29, 2009. "The Good OF Days," Norm Clark, September 26, 2008. iv Preface Emilio Muscelli was in his mid-80s when he sat for this oral history interview. With a thick Italian accent he recalled his career as a Las Vegas maitre d' that spanned decades of Strip history. Emilio arrived in America in 1948, landed a job at the Copacabana in New York City. His boss was Jack Entratter, who brought Emilio to Las Vegas when he opened the Sands in 1952. Over the decades he has witnessed the ups and downs of Las Vegas economy and has befriended many celebrities along the way. He reminisces during this interview about his friendship with singer Bobby Darin, actor Cary Grant and meeting a laundry list of others. He fondly speaks of those he worked for and their contribution to the growth of Las Vegas. ORAL HISTORY RESEARCH CENTER AT UNLV Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project Name of Narrator: Name of Interviewer: Use Agreement EWiuo (Wrr-£ 7} j/j/f//7£ We, die above named, give ro theyOral History Research Center of UNLV, the recorded interview(s) initiated on II/.JOY!^ as an unrestricted gift, to be used for such scholarly and educational purposes as shall be determined, and transfer to the University ol Nevada Has Vegas, legal title and all literary property rights including copyright. This gift does not preclude the right or the interviewer, as a representative of UNLV, to use the recordings and related materials for scholarly pursuits. Hiere will be no compensation for any intern ^ Signature of Narrator Library Special Collections 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 457010, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-7070 (702) 895-2222 This is Claytee White. It is November 25th, 2008. And I'm in the home of Emilio Muscelli. Would you spell your name for me, please? M-U-S-C-E-L-L-I. Thank you. We're in his home here in Las Vegas in the Las Vegas Country Club. So tell me about your early life growing up. Did you grow up in New York? No. I grew up in Italy. Wonderful. Tell me about growing up in Italy. I was in the war in Italy. And I was very fortunate to come out alive. And then I was finishing my studies at Rome University in economic and commerce, in Italian called (Italian). And I was in my fourth year of the university of when an uncle of mine died in New York City. He was 53 years old. He was a single person. He had no relatives in the United States of America. And he had some property over there on Staten Island, two houses with bars and small restaurants over there. So the public administrators of New York State were looking to solve this estate in Italy. So they contact us in Italy. And my family sent me to New York. Well, it was very difficult to resolve this, to finalize this estate, this transition. It was very difficult. So I had to stay in New York for three years before anything happened. In the meantime, I had no means to live. So I had to go to work. My first job in the Bronx was as a dishwasher in a coffee shop. My first week's salary was $32 a week. But was that a lot of money back then? Well, at that time it was money. It was not much money, but it was a job. In the summertime I was fortunate to be introduced to some people and I went to work as a busboy in the Catskill Mountains of New York City, which it was a very, very fine hotel, a summer place for a lot of elite people of New York. I was fortunate that I had been - even if I didn't speak English at that time, I used to present myself well and I leam fast the America type of life, American way of life. But still my savoir-faire was European. And that opened many doors for me in my relation with people. At this place in the Catskills, I met a very, very fine couple. He was a doctor, Dr. and Mrs. Goodman—they fell in love with me. I fell in love with them. They were nice people. They were Jewish people because the place was an exclusive Jewish hotel. The elite of the New York was 1 there in that place. So when the summer season was over, he says I will give you a job in a nice place in New York City if you want to go to work in the fall. And he did. He put me to work in a restaurant as waiter across the street from the Copacabana in New York. And when I was working as a waiter in this place, Jack Entratter (the manager/director of Copacabana) used to come over in this restaurant for lunch. And over time I got friendly with him. And he used to like me, also. And one day I heard that they used to make good money at the Copacabana. The Copacabana at that period was the best nightclub in New York. And everybody used to play over there - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and Lena Home - many, many performers, top performers at that time in the United States. He said, yes, anytime you want to start it. Come over tomorrow. And I went to the Copa. I was a captain of the waiters (there). And I had to work my way through and become food supervisor - one of the food supervisors. I wasn't the only one. In the meantime, without me knowing this, Jack Entratter got nominated to be the general manager at the new hotel that they were opening, the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Well, I was Jack's boy, man, you know, in the place. I was his protege. I owe my life to him. Naturally, I'm very grateful to his memory anyhow. Well, I ask him --1 want to leave New York. New York was too big for me. It was a big city. So I said to Jack, Can I get a job with you over there at the Sands? I asked him this and he says, sure. So before we get to the Sands, tell me more about the Copa. What it was like and what an evening at the Copa is like. At that period in the late 40s and in the 50s, you know, Friday and the weekend, Friday night and Saturday and Sunday night, especially Friday night everybody used to go out. They used to work all week and Friday they would go out; so many used to go out at the Copa. But the Copa wasn't only for the weekend people. It was a hangout of many, many rich American people. That was the Copa. That was nightclub like (indiscernible) in London, one at the Palms with all the stars, something like that. That was the Copa. And the Copa was known all over the world. And I got to be a captain over there. At that time I was introduced to the first guys. They used to play in show business. That's where Peggy Lee used to play over there. I knew her very, very well. Joe 2 E. Lewis used to be there. He was a comedian. Lena Home used to work over there. Many, many others. Danny Thomas work over there. So what was Jack Entratter's role at the Copa? Jack Entratter started - this is before me - as a bouncer at the Copa. He was promoted to be the general manager after Monte Proser. Now, remember this name Monte Proser because that's the guy that got in the show business at the Tropicana, brought the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana. But he didn't open with Folies Bergere. They opened with all the stars. That's all. But Jack was the general manager at the Copacabana. But without me knowing, I know they used to — the boys, Italians, Jewish — Did they own the Copa? Yes, they did. But I don't know anything. When I went to work over there, I don't know those things. As far as things done, it was none of my business. That's all. And I used to take care of many of them over the months especially when I become food supervisor. I was the guy that used to handle them at the Copa. People like Frank Costello used to come over together with his wife. I see him many times on Sunday night he used to come over there and I used to take care of them. Explain to me what it means when you take care of those special customers. Well, see, at the Copacabana they had two shows every night. The first show they served dinner. And I mean very, very good food that they used to have over there. And also see the show, the first show. The second show was after 12 o'clock. It was drinks only. But also they used to serve Chinese food late at night at the Copa. If you have somebody that want something to eat over there, it was only thing they serve for second show. Did they make the Chinese food there on the premises? Oh, yeah. Oh, they have a beautiful kitchen over there. The first show was very, very, very popular over there at the Copa. Many people, they used to go over there on Friday night on weekends and used to spend ~ a weekend in New York at that time people used to go out. How did they dress? Well, always with jacket and tie. Nobody used to go over there at the Copa without any tie. Many restaurants in New York City even after they used to have a tie. It was required for everybody to have a tie on. 3 And women, how did the women dress? Elegantly, evening dress. It was elegant. Wonderful. Did they have dancing? Yes. Between shows they used to dance. Sounds like an exciting place. It was a nightclub. They didn't have that many seating people. I don't think. That picture, it was — no. I didn't have any pictures of Copa. No. A few minutes ago you said that Jack Entratter was nominated to come to Las Vegas. What does that mean to be nominated? They nominated him to be the general manager. So the boys nominated him? The general manager. They were all boys. The head of the casino was more powerful than the general manager. The general manager used to handle all the service, the food and beverage operation. That means the cook, the chefs, the dining rooms and the room service. They're all food operations under the general manager. And the general manager took care of the hotel? And the hotels, the rooms in the hotel. And the performance. And booking the performance was an important thing. Over there later the Rat Pack came in. Take your time. It's no problem. [Refers to articles written about him. See Appendix.] Money magazines said, Emilio Muscelli, 82 years old, was once maitre d' at the Sands Hotel, the sin city's first casino. And they're talking about the tips in the United States, the power of taking it. They call it crazy. That's part of it. This is a good size you can see right there. But stuff right now like Norm Clark, the writer, he's nice to me. There's been a couple of articles about me. There's another one inside. This one over here. Yes, I have that one. I think I do. Judy Garland. You imagine some of the things I've seen. Mr. Muscelli arrived in 1952 with Jack Entratter from New York Copacabana, brought him for the opening at the Sands. Right. I have that one. So — Well, and then when we came in to Las Vegas, I had to be the one to hire all the waiters and the 4 busboys, oh, everybody in that period over there for the operation of the Sands Hotel. We had two places, a showroom, which we served dinner. So was that the Copa Room? At the Copa Room. I put the first tables over here. I made the menu. Now, who named it the — Not me. It was the chef, also. It wasn't me. Who named it the Copa Room? The Copa Room was taken because we used to work ~ some of the captains — I used to work over there. And Jack Entratter was in charge of the Copacabana. So we named it the Copa Room. That's why that name come in. Yeah. And my first lodging in Las Vegas, we used to live across the street from a place called the San Souci, which (indiscernible) become involved with the San Souci, me and A1 Freeman. A1 Freeman was publicity agent. We used to be roommates. We used to share an apartment, a small apartment at the San Souci. And all the showgirls used to be at our apartment at San Souci. It was a little town at this time. It was a glorious town. And the Sands opened with Danny Thomas was the first and then many — oh, the main guys over here. I mentioned to you Lena Home. Oh, she was a top performer. Do you remember opening night? Yes. Danny Thomas was there opening night. He played it for opening night. And who else was there? Well, you know, Jack Entratter through the William Morris Agency, which William Morris Agency is a company, he was very good friends of the fellow Abe Lastfogel, which is the fellow that used to own that agency. They used to book everything over there. And it was very important, you know, because it also was influenced by the boys from New York City, you know, that thing over there. That's why we used to get the good shows, all the performers, you know, not the movie actor. But on the weekend at the Sands Hotel the elite of Hollywood used to come over and stay and have a good time in Las Vegas on some Friday night where at the Sands Hotel I remember the thing like now. You know, Sinatra at that period over there, he was done. You know, the Sands made it 5 back (indiscernible) in a way. And then there was Ray Cohn (Harry Cohn) — what was the name of that? — used to have Columbia Pictures. They made that movie "From Here to Eternity." He didn't like Sinatra. But Jack Entratter think (indiscernible). But they get Mr. Cohn « what was the name? I don't remember. About to get Sinatra to get that part over there, which he the won Best Supporting Actor. And he started a new career as a big ~ forever after that he had no more problems until he died. But Sinatra also later on become one of the owners at the Sands Hotel. But the Sands Hotel was completely owned by the boys. They had a front man called Jackie Freedman. He was the president at that time over there. And Jackie Freedman was a figurehead like Wilbur Clark was at the Desert Inn. There used to be a name of the boys that used to control the place — own completely the place. So how did Frank Sinatra become one of the owners? Well, Sinatra was connected with the boys. The William Morris Agency was owned almost by the -- really was influenced by the boys. You see what I mean? Because it's out of New York, isn't it? What? William Morris. No. Hollywood. But they still owned it. It still has a big name. So it didn't start in New York. It started in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, yeah. But they used to control a lot of the performers. See, the way they used to do it is you used to sign up with the agency. They used to do it. They used to - Control your career. They used to control your booking and they used to have, you know, the contract with a starting date. Cosby, he used to go through the William Morris Agency. He used to sign up with International Hotel. So the Sands Hotel was the most beautiful hotel or the most famous and the most ~ it's the place to go at that time in Las Vegas. But Las Vegas - wasn't that many people coming into Las Vegas at that time. The majority of the people were from California because if they come in from New York with a propeller airplane it would take ten hours. So people didn't come over here to 6 spend a weekend over here, a Friday night. Ten hours on a plane and ten hours to come back Sunday night. It was a difficult thing to do. Now, from California you come over here with the airplane. By jet it takes 40 minutes to Las Vegas, 40 minutes to go back. You know, its different. So the attendance wasn't that big. But I remember people when we opened the Sands. The big guys that I remember Kerkorian at that time. Kerkorian was not the big man at that time when he used to have one airplane. I wasn't friendly with him at that time. I don't know. But, see, their maitre d'had a job. He was the public relation man between the client. Many, many of our clients used to come over and they used to call me and say, hey, I'm coming over. Can I get a room? So I used to go to the front desk. Like a concierge used to do. Through the showroom they used to come over to see the show. And the first part of that time ~ and I wasn't sitting in the room because I was full from nine o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the morning to run all the rooms, all the services over there in the place, the lounge. The lounge was a very, very big part of entertainment over there in the hotels. As a matter of fact, later on, late 50s and 60s, that's when -- you know, at the Sahara they used to have ~ Don Rickles started over there. Louis Prima work over there at the Sahara. We used to have stars over there at the Sands. Shecky — no, Shecky Greene don't work over there. The lounge was an important part. When the showroom was not in operation, the lounge used to have some entertainment. They used to have jazz. Sammy Davis, Jr., with his father and uncle, started in the lounge of Las Vegas at the Frontier. Then they went to the showroom. I remember the day when the accident happened to him. He lost his eye. Oh, you remember the accident? Well, I remember the accident. Everybody knew Sammy Davis because at that time he was a friend of Sinatra, you know, with that clique. Then after that become the Rat Pack. Yeah. After the movie. See, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis used to work at the Sands. But they used to be together at the Sands basically. After that played — I think that happen in 1956 ~ I don't know ~ '56 or '57 when the Rat Pack started and they got together. But Jerry Lewis was not there. That's right. 7 Dean Martin was by himself. He used to perform at the Sands. And from there ~ so nighttime after we closed the showroom, naturally the fun used to come out for the working people, you know, the show girls, all the show people. Dorothy Dandridge -I told you this - only then did she ask me to take me over there. She was a beautiful little girl. I never had anything to her personally. Anyway, because she married another maitre d' in town over that after that. But Jack Dennison was her husband. But it wasn't me. What did Las Vegas look like to you that first day getting off that plane? Get off the plane it was 4:30 in the morning. It was dark. So I had somebody waiting for me. They had a motel next to the Sands Hotel. So I went to the room and went to sleep. About 9:30, 10 o'clock in the morning I wake up and went outside. It was a sunny beautiful day and warm, no jacket. I said, boy, look at the street. It was so clean. There was no pollution in Las Vegas at that time. Clark County had 67,000 people. The Desert Inn opened 1950. Now, the Sahara opened October 1952. Two months after the Sands Hotel opened in December 1952. So how did you compare it with New York? When you saw this nice sunny day, but this little town of only 67,000 people? The town was like living with a family in a small town. You just know everybody in town over there. Naturally, the construction of the town was still the Old West. We used to have an apartment there. Now you would not live over there. No human being would like to live over there. But that's the only way --1 remember this place across the street from us, the San Souci. I married the daughter of the owner of this San Souci and we had a son named Perry Muscelli, who now is a businessman in town. They live in town. It's a real estate, very successful. Kerkorian was there at that time when we were over at the Sands Hotel. But I don't know anybody that's still alive. Maybe — yes, somebody else. There was — later was involved with the Riviera Hotel and downtown at one of the hotels downtown is Eddie Torres. I don't know if you know. He was part owner of the Riviera Hotel and the Fremont. He started actually at the Fremont. But he was connected with the Sands Hotel. Then he got in an argument with Jack Entratter. And he lost the argument with Jack Entratter. So he left the Sands Hotel. And then in 1955 - no -- 1957 when they opened the Fremont, he went to part owner of the Fremont. He used to be connected with the boys - a bookmaker in New York at the Copa. 8 But in the 50s, every single hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, was controlled by the boys. They're the ones that built this town over here. Now, the only place honestly that was not was the old El Rancho Vegas in which I worked as a maitre d' over there for a short period. And the El Rancho Vegas burned down in June 1960. Now, before we get there, when you said that all of the hotels, you're talking about those on the Strip? On the Strip. Now, downtown was never connected. Well, at that time they didn't have any hotels downtown. Well, didn't they have those places like — The Apache Hotel was owned by a family in town, the Silvani family. Olivia Silvani is still alive. She's quite old. She's still alive. But at that time she used to be one of the chorus girls in town and she married one of the Silvani brothers. And the old man, Pio Silvani, used to own the Apache Hotel. And Benny Binion was the owner of the hotel over there, the Horseshoe. The Horseshoe Club, yes, was the only hotel over there. Then they come in and Steve Wynn took the Golden Nugget. It wasn't the building it is now with the rooms and everything like that. Steve Wynn got the money through Michael Milken. And Michael Milken was the engine that came up with the junk bonds. That's when Steve Wynn got introduced to Wall Street. And that's the way he got the money to build all the other hotels. So Steve Wynn's money came from Wall Street rather than — Wall Street. That's right. Yes. So tell me about the connection with the Moulin Rouge. The Moulin Rouge - well, I know some. I know the guy who used to own the Moulin Rouge. His name was Lou Rubin. I was there the opening night. I went to the opening over there. But I used to be very good friends with some of the performers, the black performers. They used to be over there in town. There was - I don't remember the name now. But he was a very, very good singer. He was a golfer. Well, it will come over to me. During the conversation I will remember. Joe Williams? 9 Yeah. Oh, I know Joe Williams. Joe Williams come in after. He didn't open the place over there. He didn't work over there at the Moulin Rouge. How did the Moulin Rouge compare ~ because you saw it opening night. How did it compare with the hotels on the Strip? Well, it prominently was in a black section of the town. There were quite a few. It was the accent over there. But many people that weren't staying over there, they used to go over there because it was run ~ they used to have their own shows with the showgirls and everything like that. It was built on the Westside. Right. But what I'm trying to — when you compare the way it looked and the way it was run, can you compare it to the ones on the Strip? Well, more or less the same way it was run on the Strip because the man that was the owner or the front man of the place over there name was Lou Rubin. He was connected with the same boys at the Sands Hotel. As a matter of fact, when they closed ~ they didn't last too long — when they closed the Moulin Rouge over there, Lou Rubin come into the Sands Hotel and work over there at the Sands Hotel. Now, I don't know the relation, if he had any money or anything over there. That was not under my knowledge. But I know he was connected. So how did it work? So you're connected. How does the whole thing operate? The old town ~ I repeat it again — in everything hotel, the Flamingo Hotel, the Sands Hotel, the Desert Inn Hotel, now, was a group. The group from the Desert Inn, it was the Cleveland boys, Italian and Jewish. At that time the frontmen were all Jewish. The reason why is because it was politically incorrect to go against or to do anything against the Jewish. That's the truth. So every hotel was owned by the boys, but they were all Jewish, the majority. They were gentlemen. They never did — I never saw them do something improper in those hotels. I never saw. If anybody got caught stealing, a group there, a group here, a dealer stealing over there, they take him in the back, break his arms, get out of town, never come back. Wow. How were they in the — But they never used to kill anybody. What was their role in the Las Vegas community? It was a long time. 10 I mean did they give to charities? Did they go to church? Did they give to hospitals? Yes. It was Catholic and Jewish over there. And the Catholic Church over here on Maryland Parkway, the one over there, on Christmas Eve it was full ~ it was more Jewish people inside the church, and Catholic outside the church over there. And so I was invited every single year for the Seder. I was invited. But it was a family. It was a family. That's all it was. That's the feeling you had in town. You knew everybody. A woman told me at one time that she worked for social services. And she said if a family would come in and they had lost their house in a fire or something like that, she said she could get something for them by calling one of the casinos faster than she could through the bureaucracy. Well, maybe she knew them. Yeah, they were nice people. But the food was important over there because we used to have ~ I told you. We used to have from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock in the morning, we used to have a buffet dinner. Every hotel had a buffet dinner for a dollar and a half. But they used to have filet mignon. They used to have lobster. They used to have prime rib. Whatever you can think for a dollar and a half, whatever you wanted. That lobster sounds good. Now, that lasted until — the food was an incentive to attract people in the hotel, and drinking. See, many people used to go — after the hotels used to close over there, all the workers — because they used to have three shifts. The first shift is from the morning until when the day shift come in. And then they had the graveyard shift over there. It was a 24-hour operation. Every eight hours was one shift. The one in the graveyard, after the show over there, all the show people, all the people I used to work in the dining rooms and everything like that, they used to go relax. They used to live Las Vegas life. It was a family. You used to know everybody. That's great. Many of the guys that used to work, we used to go down to see Louis Prima and Keely Smith over there. That was very, very popular in the Sahara lounge and those guys over there. And Don Rickles work over there and Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, you know, the comedian. They wound up to work, many of them, in the lounge. At the Silver Slipper ~ I don't know if you've ever hear of the Silver Slipper. 11 Of course. It was a hangout more than anything else. They used to have a sloppy show, you know, but it was a show. They used to perform and the strip teaser, the comic and skits over there. You used to see it of there and like behind you was Sinatra. Not only that, Nat King Cole was sitting at another table. Everybody was there. One of the waiters was in over there. It was a family that we used to work with at the hotel. You don't have it ~ you don't have that feeling anymore about Las Vegas. But in the 50s and the 60s you did over there. It started to change now in the 70s when, well, the Caesars Palace opened in 1965. They called me. They wanted me to be the maitre d' over there. I didn't want to go because I don't like the uniform that they wear over there. But then I already had the job at the Flamingo. Also, my boss was at the Flamingo was Meyer Lansky. There was a connection over there a little bit. So those days were just completely different from the corporate days once everything became corporate? Completely, completely different. See, the food and beverage was an attraction to the place. So if somebody didn't have anything to eat — you never see any homeless and stuff in town. But the eating and everything like that. You see a lot now. They don't — the food was an incentive to come over. I never paid for any checks or for anything while I was over there. Beside the hotels over there, the restaurants, private restaurants -- like there used to be one or two restaurants. We had one Chinese food. Fu Yung was the name of it? What's the name of it? It was on Charleston ~ no. It was by the post office was Chinese food. I don't remember exactly the name now. Fong? Fong Garden. Sorry. That was the name, yes. And then they had Luigi's. That was an Italian name. That was the restaurant in town. Everybody would go over there. It was a very, very good restaurant. Steaks and chops and some Italian food they used to serve. Then 1960s they opened the Copa Lounge. Where was the Copa Lounge? The Copa Lounge was -- well, that shopping center on the comer of the Strip and Convention Center Drive. It used to be right over there, the Copa Lounge. And The Flame was right next to 12 the — What about The Peppermill? It was there. The Peppermill, they open up when they opened up those motels, the (Domini) Brothers I think. That's the Domini Brothers. They're over there on the right side in the same section over there. (Indiscernible) anymore because it was a big hotel with all the shopping center where the Venetian is and the Palazzo is. In that zone over there, that property. Also, four o'clock in the morning a lot of the showgirls, a lot of the guys are over there, you know, we used to go to the lake four o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock. I used to have a boat over there. Nobody used to wear clothes. But that was a time. That was unbelievably magnificent. It was a family. I never felt — you don't feel that thing over there about Las Vegas anymore. And I was very fortunate to be there at that period. That's right. You were. I'm extremely lucky. I had lots of luck. The maitre d' at that time from the 50s until the end of 1979 was, I think, one of the most prestigious jobs in town. And I never got fired. That's wonderful. So you started at the Sands. The Sands. You went to the Dunes for a little while. And then back to Sands. Back to the Sands. And then I went in business for myself. That didn't last long. At the San Souci. San Souci. That didn't last long. I was the maitre d' at the El Rancho Vegas in '58, '59 and part of '60. The El Rancho Vegas burned down June of 1960. So at that time, the summer of 1960, the boys took back the Flamingo. See, after the Flamingo closed, you know, was sent ~ one person was sent, put by the boys over there. I don't remember the name it was at that time. Well, A1 Parvin took over. So that was after Bugsy? After Bugsy. Gus Greenbaum took over the Flamingo. And Gus Greenbaum died. He was killed in Phoenix, Arizona, not in Nevada. After that A1 Parvin took over. After A1 Parvin, the guys who used to own some of the hotels in Miami Beach ~ it was Morris Fansburgh and Sam Cohen. That's when they call. Two months after the El Rancho closed I got the job as the maitre d' at the 13 Flamingo. I was at the Flamingo until '