Movie Gigs &
Celebrity Friends

Judy Tenuta

I was ambivalent about Judy's talent, but I love entertainers. I was doing some sewing & designing at that time. One of my projects was a collection of g-strings, including glow-in-the-dark variety and his & hers silver lamme' sets. Judy T. did fat jokes, so I decided to make her a giant g-string. One night I saw her outside the show room at the Sahara on my day off. I gave her this mondo thing and shocked her, which was fun because most of her schtick was shock gags.
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Showgirls

I got called as an extra for this movie in '95. The first scene was a halloween party. I figured, why cover up your face with a mask (like the other extras did) if you want to get noticed for future acting work? So I got dolled up in a big blond curly wig and freckles, plaid shirt & overalls - like a country girl - and boogied on down to the set. It was fun. The next scene was me & a dude walking past the front entrance of the Stardust hotel carrying suit cases. They didn't have a prop for me so we borrowed a REAL suit case from some tourist hanging around. My suitcase felt like it weighed 50 pounds while the dude walking with me was toting this empty, light-as-a-feather prop. We did take after take & my arms started to ache. I wore a bright red satin cap so you could see me. The third scene I was in - I drove my car by the hotel. I got $20 extra for using my car. This really was a crap movie - but has become some sort of cult classic.
Gosh, I love show biz!
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Sergio - What's His Name

This guy is in love with himself, but he put on a pretty good latin show at the Sahara where I worked for 7 years. His main dancer, Marguerite and I got along real well. After my shift one night Sergio tagged along with me & my daughter, Angela to my favorite after-hours sleeper lounge -- known mostly to locals and show people -- called "The Peppermill". I know he had mother-daughter fantasies running through his little brain the whole time. I gotta say, Sergio was one of my most regrettable encounters ... but oh well. He was one of very few regrets so my ratio is good.
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Cook E. Jarr

I first met these guys in 1986 when I had just come to Vegas for a weekend, or so I thought. Never dreamed I'd end up living here for almost 20 years. These guys were the most popular local Vegas house band at that time. They played at the Maxim on Flaminigo Road - the first lounge I went to. Over the years, they played at the Silver Slipper, Castaways, and probably just about every joint in town. He always drew a crowd. Those were the days of the Pointer Sisters, Patti LaBelle (who I saw in concert at Caesar's Palace) and Whitney Houston. Gosh .. so many fun times and memories. He covered all the popular contemporaneous music and loved to mimick James Brown with the fancy footwork and throwing away then retrieving the microphone stand. Once someone in the crowd asked him to sing some blues. His reply was, "It's kinda hard to sing the blues when you're wearing $85 thousand dollars worth of jewelry."   That is so him.

I got to know Cook E. Jarr & the Krumbs pretty well over the years. In 1989 I got hired at the Sahara. Part of the 21 pit faced the lounge & stage so if you got assigned to one of those tables, you could watch the show, and sometimes the performer came to your table & interacted with you. Cook E. Jarr liked to do this with me. We'd sing together & shamelessly flirt, especially if I had a dead game (no players). I had to be careful with the bosses when I had players, but he was cool about it so we got away with it and it did break up the stress on swing shift, and the monotony on graveyard.

He was cool .. . until he wasn't. After the millenium, this guy - real name Dwayne something or other - (Italian guy) aka. Cook E. Jarr, took the band's music tracks & backup tapes, dumped his bandmates and went solo so he could keep all the money for himself. He banked on the huge popularity the band had built for over a decade. He stiffed his long-time bandmates, just as he was known to do with waiters at 4-star restaurants. Tourists would party hearty at his gigs, but those who knew him, lost all respect. Not many of the honest ones have anything good to say about him anymore. Like many performers, once you get to know them, you love the act but despise the person.   I must say, my time as a neophyte in Vegas in the late 80's were spent putting down anchor & getting my bearings, but the roaring 90's were raucous coke-fueled days where I partied with quite a few celebrities!

Judy O'Dea

I met Judy through a web client around 2003 or so. They were diving buddies in SoCal. She is veddy British and has a same-sex partner. Judy is extremely fit and outdoorsey. Judy played the lead role, Barbara, in the cult horror classic, Night of the Living Dead. I have done a couple evolutions of her website for her. Check it out if you have time.
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Rich Little

I had bright red hair back then and always looked glam 'cuz that's how you made the best money as a dealer. Rich saw me and made a bee line over to my table to get acquainted. I liked him well enough, but he had just broken up with Melinda, a blond Magic Show girl who left him moping with a broken heart. They also had some drama over a hidden video camera in his bedroom. I saw the red recording light when I was with him, but could never find the camera. I got to tour his mansion & indoor movie theater along with his Hollywood memorabilia. That was cool.
After we quit dating, if I asked him for comps to his show for my friends, he always gave them to me. I have to count him as a good guy for that.
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Casey Kasem

Caasesy Kasem was a mega-celebrity DJ doing the top 40 countdown. His voice was iconic since early 70's. He was also the first voice for Shaggy Rogers, the guy in the cartoon "Scooby Doo". I dealt to this guy. He & his wife Jean-with-the-rooster-hairdo walked through the Sahara like typical celebs all full of themselves and getting royal treatment & fawning by casino pit bosses. I came back from a break & Casey was sitting at my table playing black $100 cheques. He stiffed me (never tipped) & his ego triggered me. So when I had an ace showing and called "Insurance" - giving players a chance to make a side bet whether or not I had a "10 in the hole" blackjack, he wasn't paying attention & I zoomed right past him. I flipped my cards over showing a blackjack. He lost the hand, which was a net $150 if he'd have taken the insurance bet. He was pissed. I was stoic and just kept going. This is the power of a dealer, as opposed to a cocktail waitress who just has to smile while their stomach churns with disgust.
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Frank Gorshin

After my shift at the Sahara (in the 90's) one night, I saw Frank sitting at the front bar so I sat next to him & struck up a convo. He was so cool. We hit it off right away. Went to his room and had a blast. What a fun guy. And sensitive and sincere. We dated for a short time. One night I was to meet him for dinner at Vegas World after his show. I sat with a couple of his friends and after a while asked what was taking him so long. They said he was upstairs in his room brooding because he didn't think he did a very good job. But I have fond memories of that guy. Really sweet, he was one of my favorite dates.
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Martin Short

I noticed Martin & Paul Shaffer heading for the lounge. I was just about to get off shift and wanted to meet this very cool little guy Martin. Paul Shaffer hit me the opposite - I just wanted to spit on him. But I slipped into the lounge & knelt in front of them at the back in the shadows. I had a brief conversation with Mr. Short, who really was very short, and he gave me his autograph. We enjoyed each other for a moment then I completely ignored Paul Shaffer, got up to my feet, and walked away all smiles. I made my point. One of these guys was a gracious cool dude. The other was a weirdo pr*ck.
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Jackie Mason

I can't remember how I met this little troll. Maybe at the back bar of the Hilton where I liked to go after hours. I'd just plant myself there and see if magic would happen. Never know. Maybe some high roller would invite you to gamble with him just for company. Or you might meet entertainers who also liked to hang out there. Those things happened to me a lot. OK - so I end up having dinner with Jackie Mason & his manager. I'm looking at dried up hair dye on his forehead, and listening to this wretched little man talk about nothing for an hour or two. I knew he was hoping I'd go to his room with him. To sort of test him out, I told him that some old family friends were coming to town & asked if he would give me 2 comps to his show for them. He said, "They're your friends, not mine. They can pay like everyone else." Wow. So that's the kind of asshole he is. After dinner, we ended up in the gift shop. He never offered to buy me a single thing. When I said I was going home, he said, "You mean you're not attracted to me?" I said, "Not in the least - see ya." Ewww. I just wanted to take a shower and get his nasty energy off me! Look at his pic -- you be the judge whether he's a troll or not.
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James Brown

And then there's James Brown. This is the short version of that story - I could go on for hours talking about my time with him. One night at work a dickhead pit poss who liked to bust my chops, banished me to the Big 6 wheel which was located at the front end of the 21 pit. It's a game none of us liked. It was so boring - like standing in the corner with a dunce cap on. There was little to no supervision for this game, so you could get away with stuff llike chatting with customers and giving out your phone number or making plans to meet up after work - all punishable offenses that could get you fired at a regular blackjack table, especially if it was high limit action. I saw James and his enterage coming toward me & called him over. He took one look at me and had a sense of destiny. He knew we'd be together. I didn't. But I ended up not only dating him, I moved to Georgia & lived with him, toured Europe with him, sang in the show, and almost married him. What an experience.
We did a cameo shot in Dick Clark's Son Duane's movie called "Soul Mates" ... Here's a clip.
This is the picture James wanted me to remember him by. He signed it, "Hey, I love U ... to 'Di' from James."
See my photo album HERE
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