Longtime Las Vegas performer Hunt dies

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003 | 11:29 a.m.

Charles "Blackie" Hunt, a musician and comedian in the legendary Las Vegas lounge act The Characters and the estranged husband of Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, died today. He was 73.

Hunt, who also long performed at The Bootlegger Bistro that he co-owned with Lorraine, died this morning at Sunrise Hospital from heart failure. He had been in the hospital for two weeks with a pulmonary ailment, the last week in the intensive care unit.

Services through Palm Mortuary are pending for the Las Vegas resident of 48 years.

"He was a wonderful, underrated musician because he played the funny guy to earn a living," said longtime Las Vegas entertainer Buddy Greco. "As a piano player, he blew me away.

"Certainly when you write the history of Las Vegas The Characters helped put the lounge scene on the map."

Comedian Steve Rossi called Hunt "a good friend and a very talented performer who symbolized the old days as a lounge performer at the Sahara and Stardust hotels."

"My father should be remembered as one of the performers who helped build this town, as far as the lounge acts go," said Kevin Hunt of Las Vegas. "He loved music and he was a very funny man."

Hunt got his unusual nickname in the 1950s from Stan Irwin, who was Sahara entertainment director at the time. Irwin thought it would be funny to give a redhead such a monicker.

The Characters, one of the leading lounge acts at the Sahara's Casbah Lounge, were comprised of the zany Hunt, Carmine "Carmen" Baccari, his brother Freddie Baccari and lead singer Johnny Ricco, now the sole survivor of the foursome.

The Characters played not only every major Las Vegas hotel lounge of their era but also Reno, Florida and Canada and many points in between.

After Carmine left the group to pursue a career as a minister for Jehovah's Witnesses, he was replaced by singer Lorraine Perry, who later married Hunt.

In July, the Hunts separated after more than 30 years of marriage. She was first elected to her state post in 1998 after serving as a Clark County commissioner.

Born Charles Henry Hunsberger on Nov. 14, 1928, in Pottstown, Pa., Hunt began playing the piano at age 7 and also learned to play several horns and the accordion. At age 14 he became an accordion teacher.

He graduated from Pottstown High School and got his professional start with the Mary Johnson Quintette. He graduated from West Chester State Teachers College in Pennsylvania with a degree in Music and joined the Charlie Morrison Group before hooking up with the Characters.

After the Characters broke up, he teamed with Frankie Ross and the duo Ross and hunt appeared on the Ed Sullivan television show in the mid-1960s.

Hunt performed at charity benefits and other shows throughout his life. His last appearance was at The Bootlegger in late October.

The Characters were inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame last year.

The Hunts' Bootlegger Bistro opened on Tropicana and Eastern avenues in 1972 and moved to its current location on Las Vegas Boulevard in 2001. The club, today is a favorite haunt of vintage Las Vegas entertainers, including Greco, Sonny King, Mary Kaye, Marty Allen and Robert Goulet.

In addition to his son and wife, Hunt is survived by a former wife, Kathleen Hunt of Henderson; his mother, Elizabeth Moyer of Pottstown; another son, Ron Mancuso of Las Vegas; a daughter, Jackie Sullivan of Henderson; two brothers, Bill Yost and Tom Yost, both of Pottstown; and three grandchildren.