At the time of this oral history, Meyer Lansky II had found a sentimental attachment to his namesake, Meyer Lansky, his grandfather. Though it was considered against Eastern European Jewish tradition, Meyer II’s parents had named him after the grandfather.
Richard Francis or Dick Franco, his stage name, by which he is more commonly known, has been juggling for over 50 years, having learned the art while he was still in high school. Taught by prominent juggling legends in Vaudeville and Las Vegas, Franco would go on to perform all over the world. He began as an opening act with the Harlem Globetrotters in the US, but would go on to perform throughout Europe and was featured in variety and production shows in Blackpool, London, Monte Carlo, Berlin, and many other cities.
Born and raised in Palm Desert, California, Cynthia Leung is the first Chinese-American woman elected as Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge; she was the only Asian child in her elementary school, and she grew up surrounded by the arts. She was the younger daughter of a Chinese brush artist mother and an architect father, and her older sister went to The Julliard School to study piano.