Las Vegas Weekly

April 30, 2009 · 7:32 AM

Wayne Newton to mark 50th showbiz anniversary — once he pinpoints the date

By Robin Leach

Wayne Newton.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

How do you honor an icon? How do you mark the status and achievements of a legend? Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, wrapped a run of his current shows at MGM last night, and I checked all my files only to discover that sometime this year, it has to be his 50th anniversary in showbiz!

I called Wayne to see if he could pinpoint the date for me, and the message came back, “You’re right. It is this year, but I haven’t given it a thought until you brought it up. Now I have to look back and find the exact date.”

Wayne remembers it was somewhere around 1958 to 1959! “You did your homework well, Robin; now I have to do mine.” Wayne says once he’s pinned down the actual time frame, he will celebrate it properly and in fine style. “I’ll plan something special when we work out the exact date.”

Born in April 1942 in Norfolk, Va., Wayne remembers being moved to a home near Newark, Ohio, as a child where he learned to play guitar and piano by age 6. He performed in local clubs and theaters there, but because of his asthma, the family moved to Phoenix in 1952.

Photo: Harrah's

Wayne Newton.

He and his brother landed a local TV show there while Wayne was ending junior high and were spotted by a Las Vegas booking agent in 1958 when he was just 16. By 1959, 50 years ago, Wayne had signed a two- week downtown Vegas booking that ran for five years performing six sets a day! At just 20 years of age, he’d been booked on The Jackie Gleason Show and was such a hit, he had 12 follow-up appearances within two years.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Known as Mr. Las Vegas for his extraordinary contributions to our city, Wayne succeeded Bob Hope as chairman of the USO military tours and was seen most recently partnered with Cheryl Burke on Season 7 of Dancing With the Stars.

Somebody at our Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority or Las Vegas Events should organize one of the biggest parties Vegas has ever thrown one individual -- but once we all find out the exact date!

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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