Sun entertainment columnist Delaney dies

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Joe Delaney wrote thousands of entertainment columns in his 35 years at the Las Vegas Sun, produced thousands of hours of local radio and TV talk shows and produced and narrated documentaries on both his ancestral Ireland and celebrities.

If he never had done any of that, he could have been a successful lawyer or a record producer. He graduated law school and served as a member of the Louisiana bar for 49 years, and early on he produced the first stereo album released commercially and produced albums for some of the biggest stars.

But Joseph P. "Joe" Delaney did all of those things and so much more in a career that began as a young jazz trumpeter and ended more than a half century later as the dean of Las Vegas entertainment writers.

He died this morning at Valley Hospital from complications of a stroke he suffered Saturday. He was 80.

"Las Vegas has lost a big slice of history," Sun Publisher Barbara Greenspun said today. "He was a wealth of knowledge of all of the big stars and the not-so-big stars -- a walking encyclopedia and a wonderful friend."

Greenspun, who was born and raised in Ireland, said after Delaney "came back from his many trips to Ireland he would talk of how he was absolutely enthralled by what he saw. He loved Ireland."

There will be no local services for the Las Vegas resident of 40 years, his family said. A private service will be held in Ireland.

Delaney was hailed as a clear and unique voice in Las Vegas, known not only for his work in the industry but his work for charity.

"Joe was a pioneer in Las Vegas entertainment coverage who was there in our beginning in Las Vegas and has been there along the way with his thoughtful insight and constructive criticism," magicians Siegfried and Roy said through their manager Bernie Yuman.

"He was the first guy on the phone when there was a charity in need, asking if we could help."

In 1999 University of Nevada, Las Vegas, upon honoring Delaney as the William F. Harrah College of Administration's Tourism and Convention Industry Leader of the Year, estimated that in his many years of work with local charitable organizations he raised more than $5 million.

Yuman, a friend of 27 years, said Delaney had the foresight to write about Siegfried and Roy when they were a closing act in "Hallelujah Hollywood" at the old MGM Grand in the 1970s, at a time when other major entertainment writers were covering just the headliners.

"Joe didn't blow smoke -- he wrote about what he saw and he was relentless in both his job and his charity work," Yuman said. "Joe's actions spoke a lot louder than his words, and those actions benefited a lot of people in the entertainment industry and a lot of charitable organizations."

Delaney wrote in the mid-20th century newspaper style that employed the heavy use of ellipses separating short choppy phrases -- a style that allowed a writer to report a lot of "items" in a short space.

Even when he was running late and on a busy schedule he always found time to talk -- one of his favorite subjects was jazz -- to people who stopped him just to shoot the breeze. And he was constantly sought after for advice.

Peter Anthony, a performer and friend of more than 40 years, said entertainers who wanted to go places followed that advice.

"When Joe told an act to turn up their mike or turn it down, or the lighting should be this way or that -- he knew what he was talking about," Anthony said.

"When I was playing at the Bonanza (now Bally's), they knocked out the walls of the lounge and you could hear the slot machines. I didn't know what to do. Joe gave me the single most important piece of advice I ever received. He said 'Use it to your advantage.' That's how the Peter Anthony style evolved. I would just jump on whatever was going on around me."

Nevada Deputy Attorney General Kathleen Delaney, the youngest of Joe's five children, called her dad, "just an ordinary guy who did amazing things."

"He never talked about why he did so much to help so many performers or charities, that's just what he did and who he was," she said. "He believed he had to be active in so many things to feel a sense of fulfillment."

Longtime friend and Las Vegas newswoman Myram Borders called Delaney "the loudest and most constant voice that Las Vegas entertainment has or ever will have."

"He was an advocate, a mentor and a critic of stars and those who wanted to be stars," she said. "In his newspaper column, many radio shows and TV shows, Joe was never shy about expressing his opinion. But you always knew he wanted entertainers ultimately to succeed and wanted Las Vegas to lead the pack."

Phyllis McGuire of the McGuire Sisters said Delaney possessed a wealth of knowledge of the business and had great compassion for stars whether they were on the rise or past their glory days.

"None of us stay on top in this business forever, and Joe, in his column, urged smaller resorts to provide places for fans to go to see their favorite Las Vegas acts that are no longer on top," said McGuire, who performs a few engagements each year with her sisters at The Orleans.

"Joe convinced those hotels that there is a big market of locals who want to see these performers."

Entertainer Buddy Greco, a friend of 50 years, said, "Joe was one of the few people in the business who knew what he was talking about."

Comedian and singer Nelson Sardelli, a friend since 1965, said, "There are certain people that, if you have any conversation with them, you never walk away not learning something new. Joe was one of those people."

Comedian and musician Pete Barbutti, a friend since 1960, said Delaney exemplified the meaning of the word integrity.

"Joe wrote the truth about the celebrities on the Strip, no matter how big they were."

So much so, Barbutti said, Delaney often angered executives of several Strip hotels for what he wrote.

"Huge hotels threatened to pull their advertising," Barbutti said. "But (late Sun Publisher) Hank (Greenspun) would stand behind Joe because of Joe's integrity."

Comedian and singer Sonny King called his good friend Delaney "part of the beginning of Las Vegas. He grew with it. He was quite a character."

"Hank would say Joe could review a show and hit you with a hammer and make you feel like you were hit with a powder puff," King said.

Employees at the Sun today were crestfallen over the news of Delaney's death.

"A true friend is among those you can count on one hand -- Joe was a true friend," said Sun administrative assistant Cindy Robinette. "He was a wonderful, caring and gentle man."

Other employees remembered Delaney's many life experience stories such as the time he was at Yankee Stadium for the last game of the 1961 season and watched Roger Maris hit home run No. 61 to break Babe Ruth's single-season record.

After what he described as an "early retirement" as a jazz musician, Delaney went to New York City as a recording executive. He created the Coral label for Decca Records in the mid-1940s and the X label for RCA in the mid-1950s. He also worked for Audio Fidelity, Bethlehem and Elektra labels.

At Audio Fidelity, Delaney helped produce the first stereo album released commercially for the Dukes of Dixieland, a jazz band he took over as manager while he was a law student at Tulane University in 1951.

The band eventually moved to Las Vegas, where its record-setting engagements included a string of 64 weeks at the old Thunderbird hotel.

In the late 1950s, Sidney Frey of Audio Fidelity Records, looking for a band he could feature on his new standard of recording called "stereo," saw the Dukes perform in Las Vegas and eventually brought Delaney and the group to New York.

The album, "The Dukes of Dixieland," helped the small label beat the major record companies in introducing the recording system that would revolutionize the music industry.

Delaney also produced records for such jazz legends as Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Al Hirt, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and many others.

By the time he permanently relocated to Las Vegas in 1962, Delaney was such a big name in the entertainment industry, performers sought him out to help boost their careers.

He joined the Sun as columnist and critic in 1967 and, at his peak, wrote five columns a week.

Between 1967 and 1993, Delaney also was active on local radio and television. He wrote, produced and hosted 15 hours of talk radio a week. As a television producer, director and host, he did an estimated 1,500 hours of live TV during his career.

Born Jan. 9, 1922, in Philadelphia, Delaney was orphaned at age 4 when his parents were killed in an auto accident -- a factor that contributed to his efforts to raise money for local charities such as St. Jude's Ranch for Children and other organizations that helped disadvantaged children.

He was raised by a grandfather and later by neighbors, residing as a teenager in Italian and Jewish households.

Delaney graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in 1939 and from Tulane Law School in 1953. He was planning to attend his 50th class reunion at Tulane next year, his family said.

Delaney served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was honorably discharged at the rank of master sergeant in 1946. Delaney worked for Decca from 1946 until 1951 and at one point headed London Records for British Decca.

Starting in the late 1940s, he was a frequent visitor to Las Vegas. In his first year as a resident, Delaney, a Democrat, worked on Sen. Howard Cannon's successful campaign for re-election in 1963.

Delaney early on became involved with the fledgling UNLV, creating the school's class in hotel entertainment and event management, which he taught for more than a quarter of a century.

Delaney was named a Distinguished Nevadan by UNLV in May 2000. A scholarship in his name has been established for UNLV students studying entertainment.

Jeff Koep, a longtime friend and dean of UNLV's College of Fine Arts, said Delaney was a key thread between Las Vegas' colorful past and its modern image.

"He could talk about classic theater and in the next minute talk about the most contemporary art and then link them together," Koep said. "As a critic, he had a great eye for identifying what was underneath, and then worked to help bring out the best in the work.

"Joe was as responsible for the growth of the arts in Nevada as anyone."

Delaney also made yearly ventures to Montreux, Switzerland, to teach at the prestigious International Academy of Broadcasting.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Delaney produced and directed 20 "Nites of Stars" to benefit St. Jude's. Those shows used nearly every major Las Vegas headliner, including Frank Sinatra. Delaney also produced and directed 20 Starlite Parties for Helen J. Stewart School and five Easter Seals telethons.

In the early 1990s, Delaney adapted John B. Keane's book, "Letters of an Irish Parish Priest," for the stage. In 1993, the show, starring Brian Keith, was produced before six sold-out crowds at UNLV.

Delaney also wrote, directed, produced and narrated six one-hour documentaries on Ireland that have aired on PBS. He also produced and directed documentaries about Paul Anka, Milton Berle, Bill Cosby and others.

He has been featured on numerous cable television shows as an entertainment historian, profiling such stars as Wayne Newton and Anka, and on a history of Las Vegas show that aired on the History Channel.

Delaney was active on numerous nonprofit organization boards, including serving as chairman of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. He also was active in the Variety Club. He portrayed St. Patrick at several local St. Patrick's Day parades over the years and directed numerous Mariachi Festivals.

In addition to his daughter, Delaney is survived by his wife of 37 years, Roberta Delaney of Las Vegas; a son Shay Delaney of Atlantic City; another daughter, Megan Aldridge of Las Vegas; two stepsons, Brad Azbill and Scott Azbill, both of Las Vegas; and a granddaughter, Caitlin Aldridge of Las Vegas.

The family said donations can be made in Delaney's memory to Catholic Community Services of Southern Nevada.

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