The History of the Las Vegas Strip

The Sands Hotel History - The Place in the Sun (continued)

"Liberace would fill a hotel, Sinatra filled the town."

Don Payne, former Las Vegas News Bureau Manager, 2003 interview

In 1960, Frank Sinatra's production company, Dorchester Productions agreed to produce a comedy heist film called "Ocean's Eleven". It was to star Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and Angie Dickinson. Helmed by veteran director, Lewis Milestone, the story involved a group of World War II buddies robbing five Las Vegas Hotels on New Years Eve. Sinatra suggested filming on location in Las Vegas. Thus, the Sands became the base camp for the cast and crew of the hotel.

For three weeks, from January 26th until February 16th, the Rat Pack as they were known, filmed their scenes during the day, retired to the Steam Room for a few hours and then took the stage in the Copa Room for two shows nightly. It was known as The Summit at the Sands and it quickly became the hottest ticket in town.

Audiences were never sure just who would be taking the stage each night and if the rest of the Rat Pack would be there as well. This only added to the excitement. The Dinner Show at 8:00 pm was the tamer of the two nightly performances. Though it seemed as if the boys were ad-libbing their way through the evening, in reality, Joey Bishop was writing most of the material. The bar cart was wheeled on stage and for the next two hours, you were never sure of what would happen next. Film footage shows the five men at the top of their game. Sinatra had recently recorded "Songs for Young Lovers " and those songs became the soundtrack for the era. Martin proved that he was more than just a crooner and funnier than his reputation as a straight man for former partner Jerry Lewis had led people to believe. Davis provided the double whammy of singer and dancer.

After the Dinner Show, they would have a break and then take the stage for the more raucous Late Show. Shirley MacLaine had agreed to do a small role in the film just so she could hang out with the Pack in Las Vegas. Celebrities poured into town to see the free-wheeling, seltzer-spraying shows.

It was one of those defining moments in pop culture and the combination of Las Vegas and the Rat Pack was fused into the country's psyche. They would all play the Copa Room through-out the 1960s as single acts but the memory remains of all of them onstage during the Summit.

After the Late Show, the Pack would retire to the lounge where they would continue drinking and watch the entertainment such as comedian Dave Burton. They would often take the stage and clown with him. Then they would retire, catch some sleep and film the next day.

The publicity the Summit provided the Sands was priceless. When "Oceans Eleven" was released later that year, the Sands figured prominently in the movie.

In May, 1961. Jack Entratter's wife, Dorothy, passed away.

In mid-1963, the Sands opened the Aqueduct wing, a three-story building containing 83 rooms and suites.

In September, Sinatra's Gaming License came scruntiny from the Gaming Control Board. Sam Giancana, a well known Chicago mobster had been seen staying at Sinatra's Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe. Giancana was in the so-called Black Book, the list of excluded people who were not allowed in casinos even as customers. Sinatra surrendered his license and had to also sell his interest in the Cal-Neva and his interest in the Sands.

On Sept. 28th, 1963 President Kennedy stopped in Las Vegas for a speech at the Las Vegas Convention Center. He stopped by the Sands to say hello to Sinatra. Two months later, President Kennedy was killed in Dallas and the Hotel owners dimmed their lights in tribute.

In 1964, Dean Martin was filming a new Billy Wilder film, "Kiss Me Stupid" with scenes filmed at the Sands Hotel. For the film, not only did the marquee have Dino on the attraction board but a color caricature in neon and lights of Martin as well.

By 1965, the face of the Las Vegas Strip was changing yet again. Hotels were undergoing costly, almost yearly renovations to keep up with the visitors who were streaming into town for the great shows and the gambling. The Sands Hotel was no different. In a nod to progress, they hired architect Martin Stern, Jr to design a new high-rise tower that would replace their original building. This new 17-story tower would be a larger footprint than the original building and require that the hotel wings be moved further back on the property. The Wayne McAllister designed original building was, according to author Alan Hess, remodeled into plainer, less elegant facade with a new triangular porte cochere. This new porte cochere would be a free form canopy supported by a single thin pylon.

Stern, like McAllister, was based in Los Angeles and like many had been a sketch artist at a movie studio back in the 1930s. He had apprenticed with Paul Revere Williams and William Gage. By the 1950s he was a successful architect and designing housing tracts, apartments and coffee shops. His Ships coffee shops in Westwood and Culver City were icons of Los Angeles car culture. Like McAllister, Stern contributed to the highly stylized and popular roadside style of architecture with its bold shapes and modern imagery.

To keep the public's eye on the Sands while it was being renovated, the hotel hosted the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention. As part of the convention, a Buick was hoisted high in the sky above the hotel.

Entratter had a publicity plan for the Copa Room as well. He signed Count Basie and his Orchestra to a two-week engagement with Frank Sinatra. Bandleader for Basie at that time was a young Quincy Jones. More than 75,000 reservations flooded into the hotel for the show, more reservations than there were seats. Based on the success of the reservations, plans were made to tape a live album featuring all the talent. Sinatra at the Sands with the Count Basie Orchestra would be one of Reprise Records biggest selling albums.

The Copa Lounge got a make-over and became the Celebrity Theater. Opening headliners included Joe E. Lewis, Keely Smith and Sonny King.

By the winter of 1965, Martin Stern's 17-story tower was opened. With fanciful arches across the crown of the hotel and new flicker-bulb signage atop the hotel, the tower was ready for business.

In July, 1966, Sinatra approached Entratter with a dilemma. Sinatra was in love with a young starlet, Mia Farrow and wanted to marry her. He knew that it would turn into a media circus if not handled properly. Having been through the media burn years earlier when he had divorced his wife Nancy for Ava Gardner, he didn't want to relive that experience. Though single at the time, the age difference between the entertainer and the young star of television's popular night time soap opera, Peyton Place, was enough to raise eyebrows. Could Entratter help?

Entratter immediately said yes and Sinatra and Farrow were quietly married by a Justice of the Peace at the hotel, presumably in Sinatra's penthouse suite. Afterwards the newlyweds met the press for pictures and then were whisked away for their honeymoon.

In 1966, Sinatra hosted a star-studded 25th Anniversary Party for his friend, Rosalind Russell and her husband, producer Freddie Brisson. The lavish affair was attended by the old guard of Hollywood royalty, everyone from Jimmy and Gloria Stewart to Cary Grant and new Hollywood stars such as Kirk Douglas.

Entratter signed Louis Prima, his wife Gia Maione and Sam Butera and the Witnesses to a long-term, $1 million contract to play the Celebrity Theater. Though not as ground-breaking or as popular a show as it had been at the Sahara's Casbar when Keely Smith was with the group, the chemistry between Prima and Butera kept the audiences flowing in.

Howard Hughes had come to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving eve, 1966 and by the end of that year had bought the Desert Inn Hotel. On July 22, 1967 his offer to buy the Sands Hotel was accepted.

For 15 years, the Sands Hotel had the reputation as the best hotel on the famed Las Vegas Strip. The hotel had hoped that no one would notice the change of ownership and the good times would keep roling on. That seemed possible until the early morning hours that September. Sinatra, by many accounts, had been drinking steadily all night. He had a large line of credit with the hotel courtesy of his friendship with Entratter who had been the President of the hotel for many years.

When Sinatra's line of credit ran out, he asked for an increase which soon turned into a large demand. Sinatra continued to be turned down. Furious he went looking for manager Carl Cohen. Cohen was in a booth in the Garden Room when Sinatra found him. Cohen tried to calm him down. Sinatra threw a chair at Cohen. Cohen, in return, punched Sinatra in the mouth dislodging his two front caps.

Sinatra, enraged, walked away. He returned a short time later and drove a golf cart through one of the plate glass windows then headed to the airport and flew back to Los Angeles. He signed a multi-year deal the next dayto headline Caesars Palace. Law enforcement were unable to get Sinatra's statement about the melee with Cohen. Cohen was more than happy to give them his side of the story.

The carefully built myth of the Sands Hotel being Sinatra's private playground and the myth of Sinatra being a caring and just all around great guy came crashing down with that plate glass window. Press accounts were filled with statements from long-time employees regarding Sinatra's ego, his reluctance to tip and his less than generous attitude to any staff member that wasn't a gorgeous Copa Girl or cocktail waitress.

Despite the Chairman of the Board's falling out with the hotel, Dean Martin continued to play the hotel until his contract ran out. He moved over to the Riviera and then he got a better offer from the newly built, original MGM Grand Hotel. Sammy Davis honored his contract until the end and then joined Sinatra at Caesars.

In 1970, Sinatra got into an argument with hotel executive Sanford Waterman. Waterman pulled a gun on the belligerent singer who was demanding more credit. Sheriff Ralph Lamb threatened to throw Sinatra in jail and was quoted "I'm tired of the way he has been acting around here anyway."

Sinatra, unaccustom perhaps to not getting his way, was quoted "If the public officials who seek newspaper exposure by harassing me and other entertainers don't get off my back, it is of little moment to me if I ever play Las Vegas again."

On March 11, 1971 Jack Entratter, who had become the heart and soul of the hotel after Jake Freedman's death, passed away. The town was stunned.

Sammy Davis was quoted "Jack Entratter was more than a friend, more than a boss. He was like a father to me and he will be greatly missed."

An era was coming to an end.

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