Joe Delaney remembers 1956: The King at the New Frontier

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 8:42 a.m.

Elvis Presley was red hot on records with "Heartbreak Hotel" and a sensation on the Ed Sullivan CBS show in 1956, but his Las Vegas debut at the newly renamed New Frontier Hotel, as an extra-added attraction, was a dud. Col. Tom Parker took him off to Hollywood for low-budget films with high grosses, returning in late 1969 at the International, now the Las Vegas Hilton. Comedian Shecky Greene carried this show and later "saved" the Tropicana and made the Riviera lounge as important to the casino as the showroom in the 1960s and 1970s. Freddy Martin and his orchestra was not an entertainment factor.

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