William Hillman Shockley was born on September 18, 1855 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to William, a whaling captain, and Sarah Shockley. He had two younger brothers, George and Walter. Shockley graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1875. He worked for a time in Florida and California before moving to Nevada.
Gilbert Shaw, better known as Gil, was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles, California, where he had his bar mitzvah. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the US Navy and became a combat correspondent. The next twenty-seven years was a military career in both the Navy and Coast Guard and included service in both Korea and Vietnam. His training as a journalist and photographer gave him a trained eye on the history around him. This gave him a keen eye on his experiences as a founding member of Las Vegas' first Reform Judaism synagogue, Congregation Ner Tamid.
Danny Cassella was a Las Vegas, Nevada big band performer and orchestra leader from the 1940s to the 1960s. Cassella grew up in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, where he studied violin and drums. It was shortly after he graduated from Newcastle High School that a traveling musical show gave him the opportunity to fulfill his dreams. After gaining experience with the traveling production, Cassella's musical ability was noticed by a number of orchestras. He decided to go to Hollywood. He appeared in the 1933 movie Flying Down to Rio with Fred Astaire.