Sinatra honored with special day and new slot machine

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 | 9:27 a.m.

For a day, the Sinatra name was back on top of Las Vegas.

Proclaiming Dec. 12 as Sinatra Day, Mayor Oscar Goodman gave Tina Sinatra a key to the city, and she gave International Game Technology her blessing to use the image of her famous father, Frank, on a new celebrity slot machine.

In ceremonies during Goodman's weekly press conference, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released a tribute CD to Frank Sinatra and announced a free Frank Sinatra Jr. concert on Tuesday at the MGM Grand.

The late Frank Sinatra, the singer and actor whose exploits with is colleagues in the "Rat Pack" made the Strip famous, would have celebrated his 86th birthday on Dec. 12.

"He's the icon that symbolizes Las Vegas. I can't think of it any other way," Goodman said. "Without him, Las Vegas would not be what it is today."

Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey also made proclamations on behalf of the governor's office and Clark County, respectively.

Hunt, who recalled bouncing Tina on her knee, said, "Your father put Las Vegas on the world map. Prior to that, we had dude ranches, dusty towns with cowboys and one-story buildings."

Kincaid-Chauncey said she, too, was a great fan, even if she hadn't met him.

"I have all his records," she said, "but they're played on a record player."

For her part, Tina said she decided to help with the campaign because she wanted to make her dad "part of the healing process" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It's clear that's what he would have done," she said. "Dad would have done whatever was needed."

The Sinatra slot machine will be IGT's 17th themed machine in Nevada. Sinatra will join Elvis Presley, Regis Philbin, the Addams Family and the "I Dream of Jeannie" celebrity machines.

The machine will sing snippets of four songs : "My Way," "Fly Me to the Moon," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "My Kind of Town."

"But when it's in jackpot mode it will continue to play," said Jane Vozzi, director of MegaJackpots for IGT. "And when Frank sings to you, that means something. It means money."