The History of the Las Vegas Strip

The Sahara Hotel History (continued)

Ocean's Eleven was filmed at the Sahara (among other hotels) in 1960. This version starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis and a host of others, is a wonderful time capsule of what the Las Vegas Strip and the hotels in this era looked like.

Eleanor Powell returned to the stage for the first time in 14 years on Feb. 28, 1961. Stan Irwin had worked hard to get her to sign the contract and Powell reportedly worked rehearsed six hours a day, six days a week. She insisted on auditioning for Milton Prell as well. She worked hard and her return to the stage was a success. It was noted that Powell's show received more press coverage than any other before her.

In 1961, Prell sold the Sahara to Del Webb. Webb merged his construction company with the Sahara-Nevada Corporation and became the first publicly traded company to have holdings in a Las Vegas gaming establishment. Also included in the deal was The Mint and the Lucky Strike Club. Frank Schivo, whose idea it had been for the Club Bingo and had worked there from the beginning was promoted from Casino Manager to Vice President. Prell stayed on until 1964 when he moved to Southern California for an investment opportunity in Beverly Hills.

With the merger completed Webb had enough money to do a $12 million face lift on the hotel. On February 9, 1962 groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the new 24-story tower that would 400 rooms to the resort, expanded casino space and a 1,000 seat convention hall, new dining and gaming areas. There would be two additional swimming pools

As part of the renovation/facelift, the Main Lobby was to reconfigured and designed for guest comfort. (What, the first lobby was uncomfortable?). It would be done in a rich color scheme of reds, oranges and blacks complimented with minor accents of brass. The woven carpet would be in a stained glass effect and the furniture would be "colorful". An escalator would lead to the second floor Convention Hall, Executive Offices and then up to the third floor where Don the Beachcomber would be located. The restaurant was slated to open on September 1st but wouldn't open until the following year.

A Keno Parlor was added. This was only the second Keno game on the Strip at the time. Keno was a big draw on Fremont Street and the visionaries on the Strip had taken note. The Sahara had a $25,000 Keno game and added 550 slot machines to their casino. Malacca teak was highlighted through-out the casino.

The Caravan Room was redone featuring a pleasing combination of gold tiles and smooth gold surfaces lending the coffee shop a hoped for majestic quality. (You have to love ad copy.) Individual booths situated on the circumference of the room featured floating grillwork while one of the two island service stations was decorated in the same grillwork with a floating canopy. The wooden blinds and subdued lighting highlighted the "golden touch in dining" (I'm not making this up.)

The House of Lords was set in regal red tones with notes of black and deep wood paneling. Pewter and stained glass fixtures highlight an intimate English atmosphere while heavily carved wood beams and an inlaid wood ceiling, finished in Malacca teak, provided a distinquished background for dining pleasure. The bar-b-que area sparkled with a stainless steel counter, while the bar area, finished in used brick with accents of red velvet blended its reserved touch of dignity to the royal setting, Sinatra, Martin and the Rat Pack had loved the original House of Lords and were often late night diners after they finished their show at the Sands.

Bad news came in October, 1961. Louis Prima and Keely Smith were divorcing and breaking up their incredibly successful act. Smith would go on to have a solo career and Prima, Butera and the Witnesses continued to work together. Prima would marry Gia Maione in 1962 and she would join the group replacing Smith but the group that had done so much to create the lounge scene in Las Vegas would never regain that initial popularity.

Shecky Greene was performing in the Casbar Lounge one evening and felt like nothing was working. He laid down on the stage, stared up into the lights and went on with his act. Buddy Hackett and Victor Borge were in the audience and joined him on stage. The audience went wild.

Elvis Presley was often spotted at the hotel. Colonel Parker and Presley were both friends of Prell. Elvis enjoyed the lounge bands especially Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. According to Bell, Presley would come into the lounge and sit in the back and enjoy the show. He didn't like to be pointed out to the audience but he did enjoy Bell's impression of Presley. Presley and Bell had become friendly when Presley had performed at the Hotel Last Frontier in the 1950s. Bell and the Bellboys were one of the better known lounge acts and Presley heard Bell singing "Hound Dog". Presley would cover the song and make it a number one hit.

In 1962, the hotel opened a new restaurant called Don the Beachcomber, a Polynesian-style themed eatery that was part of the Tiki trend sweeping the nation.

A new promotion, The Shower of Money was quite a success. The winning ticket holder was showered with $100,000 in US dollars and given one minute to grab the bills. The smallest denomination was $5. The winner kept all the cash they could grab. If they were guests of the hotel's they received an additional $100 bonus.

On February 10, 1964 a testimonial dinner was held to honor Milton Prell. Prell was retiring as President of the Sahara-Nevada Corporation (soon to be renamed the Del Webb Corp.) and moving to Southern California. He would retain the title of Chairman of the Board.

Stan Irwin hired late-night talk show host, Johnny Carson, to play the Congo Room in July, 1964. Reservations flooded in from all over the country. Carson set a new record at the hotel with the Congo Room filled to capacity throughout his two week stay.

But the Sahara's biggest coup was for a group that due to ticket demand would not be able to play the Sahara. Stan Irwin and Herb McDonald hatched a plan to bring The Beatles to Las Vegas. Irwin had heard through his Hollywood connections that the Beatles wanted to play Las Vegas but none of the hotels approached so far saw the big picture. Irwin and McDonald did though. The Beatles were the hottest group in the country and Irwin figured that the teenagers would want to see the mop-top boys from England. What he hadn't expected was the overwhelming response from customers in Southern California. Reservations flooded in.

Irwin knew that the Congo Room was not big enough to hold the screaming masses of teenagers clamoring to see the Beatles so he made arrangements for them to stay at the Sahara but perform two shows at the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center in the Rotunda. The Rotunda normally sat 7,000. Irwin reconfigured the seating to accomodate 8,408 people per show. The Beatles would perform at 4:30 and 7:30 pm. The top ticket price was $25. The marquee would read The Sahara Hotel and Stan Irwin present: The Beatles.

About a week before the show the other Hotel Owners and Entertainment Directors began calling to see if there were any tickets left. The high rollers were coming to town and bringing their children, nieces and nephews who all wanted to see the boys from Liverpool. Irwin says he "could have charged $1,000 per ticket and likely still sold out but he wasn't brought up that way."

Irwin made arrangements for the plane to land at McCarran Airport. Two limos with Police escort were there to escort the lads to the Sahara. Teenagers laid siege to the hotel trying to get a glimpse or touch their favorite Beatle. Irwin had planned carefully for the Beatles to leave via the back entrance of the hotel to be taken to the Convention Center. When it came time for the lads to come down, the back entrance was swamped with hundreds of young people. Security, News Bureau photographers and Irwin all locked arms and made a path for the Beatles to dash to the waiting limos. Irwin says "I realized what a surge there can be from a group. If any of our arms broke or we fell down, we would have been trampled to death."

Two acts opened for the Beatles. When they finally took the stage among the screams of hysterical teenaged fans, they played a 45 minute set. Between shows, they were whisked back to their suites at the Sahara.

The Beatles flew out of Las Vegas at 2:00 am. The irony of the whole thing was that the reason they wanted to play Las Vegas was because they wanted to see the town and the sites. All they really saw was the inside of the limos, their hotel suites and the Convention Center.

On August 25, 1964 a fire swept across the roof of the main casino. The fire was extinquished in about 40 minutes but water damage forced the main casino, the Casbar and the Congo Room to be closed for repairs. The showroom was relocated upstairs in the convention facility while the damage was repaired. Irwin had signs put up saying "I've heard of hot dice, but this is ridiculous" and "Dealers and Ladies first". The cause of the fire was a build-up of grease.

The Congo Room reopened on October 1, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson visited the resort in October and stayed overnight in Del Webb's suite.

Irwin made an offer of $75,000 to Colonel Parker for Elvis to play the Sahara. The Colonel said no.

From being the comedian at the Club Bingo to reinventing entertainment on the Strip, Stan Irwin now felt it was time to move on. He gave Del Webb his letter of resignation, effective August 15, 1965. Irwin had brought a number of stars to the Sahara and had his share of firsts. He was the first Entertainment Director to do away with a Master of Ceremonies and turn the showroom into more of a theatrical evening than a nightclub. He was the first to put two names on the bill at the same time. He was the first show producer to spotlight a Late, Late Show (2:30 am) with a different headliner than the Dinner or Late Show. Irwin had trailblazed this idea by hiring Judy Garland. He knew that Garland would have trouble doing two shows every night at 8:00 and 11:30 but she was dynamite, given that she was nite owl, at 2:30 am.

Among the other stars he had hired to play the Sahara: Morey Amsterdam, Ray Anthony, Miss Eve Arden, Tony Bennett, Ray Bolger, Victor Borge, Teresa Brewer, George Burns, Johnny Carson, The Characters, The Crosby Brothers, Miss Marlene Dietrich, Shelley Berman and Sergio Franchi, Connie Francis, Robert Goulet, Betty Hutton, Fernando Lamas, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Donald O'Connor and Irene Ryan, Don Rickles (who went from the Casbar to the Congo Room after subbing for an ill Johnny Carson and brought the house down), Phil Silvers, Kay Starr, The Beatles and Judy Garland.

"I remember how influential Stan Irwin was in getting me to play the Sahara.
In 1965, he moved me from the lounge at the Thunderbird to the main room
where I opened for Judy Garland for her final two week engagement in Las Vegas."

Nelson Sardelli, 2003

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