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Sammy Davis Jr. restarted the concert
The four of them had come to the show together: the woman, her husband, and his business partner with his wife. She had stepped out to the restroom just before the concert began, and by the time she came back the lights went down and Sammy was into his first number. In the dark she couldn't see which table was theirs.
As she stumbled between the tables, she started calling, "Vic, where are you?" It wasn't long before Sammy stopped the show completely and asked from the stage, "Vic, babe, where are you?" She made it back to her table, and Sammy started the concert over again from the very beginning.
The family heard the story in 2006, when the father died and his business partner's wife told it. The mother died later that year, and at her remembrance her son told it again and added that he could imagine her arriving in heaven and asking, "Vic, where are you?"
How did Davis become a Vegas headliner?
Davis began performing as a small child in vaudeville, joining his father, Sammy Davis Sr., and family friend Will Mastin in the Will Mastin Trio. In 1954 a car accident cost him his left eye. His Broadway show Mr. Wonderful opened in 1956. By the early 1960s he was performing in Las Vegas alongside Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as part of the Rat Pack.
Why did casinos pay for star headliners?
After World War II, Strip resorts such as the El Rancho Vegas and the Flamingo built showrooms and booked well-known singers and comedians. Shows were often cheap or bundled with dinner, because the real revenue came from gambling. Headliners drew visitors who would then stay and play at the tables. By the 1950s the model had made Las Vegas one of the country's biggest live-entertainment destinations.
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