Columnist Jerry Fink: Comedian Allen happy to be 86’ed at Bootlegger

Friday, March 1, 2002 | 9:13 a.m.

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com at (702) 259-4058.

Bernie Allen has made multitudes of people laugh during his career -- but he was brought to tears Monday when hundreds of friends and fans showed up at the Bootlegger Bistro to help the comic genius celebrate his 86th birthday.

"I've been in show business almost 50 years and I have a million friends," Allen said the morning after, when the candles were blown out, the cake eaten and the throng of well-wishers gone.

It seemed most of them were at the Bootlegger, where owners Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and her husband, Blackie, and their close friend Sonny King put together a birthday bash that could easily have continued until Allen's 87th birthday if all of the entertainers present had taken a minute in the spotlight.

One of Allen's primary goals has been to make people laugh -- he was born with an uncanny sense of timing and quick mind that were discovered in New York City in the late '50s by Martha Raye and Rocky Graziano. Then, in 1966, Frank Sinatra saw him perform and sent him to Las Vegas with an introduction to Jack Entratter, entertainment director of the Sands.

Allen has been a star in the Las Vegas entertainment galaxy ever since -- his next performance (an annual affair) will be a week at the Riviera's Comedy Club in June.

Many of the stars who shone with Allen in the early days were at his party -- Freddie Bell, Pete Barbutti, Nelson Sardelli, Buddy Greco, Steve Rossi (who performed with Allen for several years, following Rossi's stint with comedian Marty Allen) and Peter Anthony, to name but a few.

And there were a few relatively new stars, such as Lance Burton and Lezlie Anders (Greco's wife). And some aspiring stars, such as Rose Marie (a blues singer from Belfast, Ireland) and Nick Di Napoli, a former New York City fireman whose singing voice sounds precisely like Tony Bennett's.

Lorraine Hunt, who was a young lounge entertainer in Las Vegas when Allen first arrived in the city, presented the comedian with two proclamations wishing him well -- one from Gov. Kenny Guinn and another from the Clark County Commission (on which Hunt served prior to becoming lieutenant governor).

Rep. Shelley Berkley presented Allen with a congressional proclamation, and Mayor Oscar Goodman presented a proclamation and key to the city.

"To tell you the truth," Allen said the day after the party, "the key to the city didn't mean as much to me as the old clothes people donated."

The price of admission to the afternoon of festivities was at least one article of old clothing to be donated to the homeless -- a cause as important to Allen as making people laugh.

Barbutti, one of more than 30 entertainers who stepped up to the mike and sang or joked (or tap danced), said he didn't have a problem bringing in some old clothes.

"I figured, what the hell, I'd just bring in my regular stuff because none of us are working anymore. I just brought a couple of tuxs and cummerbunds," Barbutti quipped.

Over the years Allen has held several clothes-raising events for the homeless.

"Robin Williams and Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg raised millions of dollars for the homeless," Allen said. "Where's the money? People are still on the street and I want warm clothing for those people."

Allen said he is passionate about his cause because he almost was homeless when he gambled all of his money away in New York City, lost a restaurant he owned and was forced to drive a cab for a living.

"When I was driving the cab I felt like the unluckiest man in the world till I drove down to the Bowery and saw men in the vestibule of an empty store freezing to death," he recalled. "The stench in the vestibule was unbelievable.

"I used to take a few of them to the Lion's House, where a person could get a cot for 50 cents."

Allen says he hopes to live long enough to see the day when there are no homeless.

I'm afraid there will be a lot more candles on his cake before that happens.

Lounging around

Saxophonist George (Moose) Mosse died Saturday following a lengthy bout with pneumonia. The 72-year-old jazzman was a longtime fixture on the local music scene, arriving in Las Vegas in 1965 and performing at almost every major venue in town. I featured Mosse in my fifth lounge column almost a year ago. He was performing with pianist Ronnie Di Fillips, 71, at Swede's Corner as half of The World's Smallest Jazz Band.

Almost $4,000 was raised for dog-attack victim Michael Foley during a benefit last Friday and Saturday at Santa Fe Station. Singer Denise Clemente performs in the Santa Fe's Lizard Lounge, and she is the mother of the 11-year-old boy who was mauled in January by four Great Danes. Almost $3,000 was donated by lounge customers; about $1,000 (revenue from drinks) was donated by the casino's food and beverage department; and more than $100 was collected at the hotel's front desk, where a container has been placed for contributions. Donations may be sent to the Michael Foley Account, No. 3205444, Business Bank of Nevada, 7280 W. Lake Mead Blvd., 89108.

John Earl and the Boogie Man Band, a driving force on the local blues scene, performs 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays in the Blues Lounge at the Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurant at Santa Fe Station. Thursdays are jam nights, featuring special guest bands.

Vocalist Andrew James, accompanied by pianist/vocalist Paul Stevenson, performs at Ferraro's (5900 W. Flamingo Road) 7-11 p.m Wednesdays and Thursdays and 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. James' repertoire includes the standards of Sinatra, Bennett, Bobby Darin and other legendary Las Vegas entertainers.

Guitarist Robby Krieger (of The Doors) will perform Monday night at Pink E's. Call 252-4666 for information.