A headliner who could not use the front door
El Rancho Vegas hired Sammy Davis Jr. to entertain its customers, then made his act enter through the service entrance and stay on the Westside.
Later, the hotels gave Davis suites and attentive service. His presence brought them valuable business, and he insisted that his guests receive access too.
The Rat Pack’s card games
Gin was part of the Rat Pack’s social life. Shirley MacLaine played regularly with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Gin needs only two players, so a game did not require everyone in the group to join in.
The city changed in 1960
Las Vegas’s key hotel integration agreement came in 1960. Local NAACP leaders, including Dr. James McMillan, pressed for change through negotiations backed by the prospect of a protest.
Before integration, Black entertainers excluded from hotel rooms and restaurants relied on Westside accommodations. Local organizers forced the city to confront restrictions that had kept even its headliners outside.
Your turn at the table
Play gin rummy against Gus. It’s free and requires no signup.
Sources and further reading
- Burt Boyar interview, PBS American Masters, July 31, 2015. Davis’s friend and coauthor recalls early El Rancho restrictions and later hotel treatment.
- Sam Adams’s interview with Shirley MacLaine, The A.V. Club, April 26, 2012. Firsthand recollection of gin with Martin and Sinatra.
- Claytee White, “Integrating Las Vegas and the Entertainers Who Helped It Happen,” UNLV, February 16, 2024. Local history and the 1960 integration agreement.
- Yes I Can (1965), by Sammy Davis Jr. with Jane and Burt Boyar. An earlier autobiographical account for readers exploring Davis’s life beyond this article.