Family mourns slain owner of Las Vegas beauty salon

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 10:16 a.m.

In just about everything he did, Jack "Fabulous Rick" Lepgold was a perfectionist.

Whether he was operating Fabulous Rick's Beauty Salon in downtown Las Vegas for 14 years, singing with 1950s' Chicago groups that mirrored the legendary Four Aces or just working around his Las Vegas home, where he was killed Monday, Lepgold was meticulous with details.

"My husband never would put something off until tomorrow that he could do today, whether it was fixing a broken sprinkler head the minute he discovered it or running the beauty salon that he loved," Lily Lepgold said.

"In his lifetime, he owned 60 beauty salons. He would buy them, fix them up and sell them. Being precise in his actions was what kept him going."

Lily discovered her husband's body in the living room of their tree-lined home near Washington Avenue and Jones Boulevard. He was 69. Metro Police said he suffered a gunshot wound following an apparent break-in. No arrests have been made.

Services for Jack Leslie Lepgold will be 11 a.m. Monday at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Sunday at Palm Mortuary-Jones.

"He had a beautiful singing voice but he decided not to pursue that career because he wanted to be a hairstylist," said renowned hypnotist Michael Dean, a longtime friend of Lepgold. "He entertained his beauty salon customers by singing and telling jokes. He knew how to have fun and how to get a lot out of life."

In the 1950s Lepgold -- his stage name was Rick Leslie -- and Dean formed the Dean Leslie Trio, which gained popularity in Chicago nightspots like the Hollywood Show Lounge, where they performed Four Aces tunes.

"He used to sing the Al Alberts (Four Aces lead singer) part and I used to do the Dave Mahoney (Four Aces tenor) part, and we sounded a lot like the Four Aces," Dean said, referring to the group that recorded more than two dozen songs between 1951 and '59, including the 1955 No. 1 single "Love is a Many Splendored Thing."

Lepgold also recorded "Why Did You Leave Me?" The record label lists Rick Leslie and Rita Leslie, Lepgold's first wife, as co-writers.

Born Feb. 27, 1930, in Milwaukee, Wis., Lepgold was the son of barber Manny Lepgold, who also performed as comedian Manny Gordon. His mother was ballerina Margaret Leslie Warschauer.

After serving in the Army from 1948-52, Jack returned home and followed in his father's footsteps in both careers. His dad had gained fame in the Chicago area for writing more than 500 song parodies. Gordon still resides in Chicago.

While performing in several bands, playing guitar and singing, Jack Lepgold attended the Mary Lane School of Beauty in Chicago and graduated on Oct. 22, 1955. In his first job Lepgold worked with another hair stylist named Jack, so he became Rick to avoid confusion. He later became Fabulous Rick because it was a colorful nickname.

Lepgold met Lily, his second wife, in Arizona and the couple moved to Las Vegas in 1985, the year they opened the original Fabulous Rick's at Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway, where a Walgreen's drug store now stands. In the mid-1990s Fabulous Rick's moved to its present location, 729 Fremont St.

In addition to his wife and father, Lepgold is survived by three sons, David Leslie, a hairstylist in Mesa, Ariz., Michael Lepgold of Williams, Ariz., and Jeff Lepgold of Palmdale, Calif.; two stepsons, Mario Herrera, a barber in Phoenix and Ray Herrera of Tucson, Ariz; three daughters, Ellen Krause of Lake-in-the-Hills, Ill., Lori Galloway of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Heidi Lepgold of Phoenix.; a stepdaughter, Edwina Herrera of Phoenix; a sister, Harriet Kremen of Lincolnwood, Ill.; 12 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.