Pollak, George

George Pollak was born October 31, 1924 and raised in Mattapan, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, the second youngest of five kids. He could listen to a song on the radio and play it on the piano by ear when he was as young as four years old. He had several jobs growing up, including working in a record store and as a busboy. Eventually Pollak and his brother joined a trio with Steve Harrington and performed in clubs. On April 1, 1951, Pollak married his wife, Florence, in Boston.

In 1958, Pollak joined his brother and Paulette Richards in Las Vegas, Nevada where they had a contract to play at El Rancho Hotel. Following the fire that destroyed the hotel, Pollak and his brother parted ways and each pursued their separate interests. In the 1960s, he began playing with the band at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino. He used his background in accounting to do some bookkeeping and payroll for some of the bands as well as income taxes for the guys. In 1979, Pollak began working at the Barbary Coast, which was a non-union casino at the time. When the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino opened, his band began playing there and did so for the next 23 years.