Wednesday, May 14, 2003 | 11:33 a.m.
VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at [email protected] or at (702) 259-4096.
Frank Sinatra died five years ago today.
But if anyone thinks people will let him rest in peace, they are very wrong.
An upcoming new book about Ol' Blue Eyes, "Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra," which is excerpted in the June edition of Playboy, is full of tawdry stories about Sinatra, his Rat Pack pals and President John F. Kennedy.
It is written by Sinatra's one-time valet, George Jacobs.
Jacobs writes that the president's father, Joe Kennedy, had sex with prostitutes Sinatra invited to parties. Kennedy also told Sinatra he could be the U.S. ambassador to Italy or a senator from Nevada if Sinatra helped get his son elected president.
We were especially intrigued by passages describing how the president was a gossip aficionado.
The book claims Sinatra said President Kennedy "wanted to know all of the Hollywood dirt -- who was a drunk, who was a junkie, who had black lovers, everything ... He read every issue of Confidential magazine. To him, that scandal sheet was a lot better than Foreign Affairs."
The book also claims Sinatra always had sex before a recording session, was a neat freak who showered and changed clothes several times a day and always wore a "good luck" toupee for his opening-night performances.
Footing the Bill
MGM MIRAGE Chairman and Chief Executive Terri Lanni launched into a passionate defense of gamblin' man Bill Bennett at the MGM shareholders meeting Tuesday.
Lanni was asked by Vegas resident Mike Schaefer if Bennett had left any of his admitted $8 million in casino losses at any MGM properties. Lanni told about 500 shareholders in the Hollywood Theatre that he never divulges customer activity.
Then he continued that he was the same religion as Bennett and there was nothing in the teaching of the Catholic faith that prohibited gambling. He spoke for several minutes about how Bennett was a "good and decent" sort.
Sun business reporter Kevin Rademacher said Lanni's comments earned a light scattering of applause from the crowd, which included company investors Kirk Kerkorian, Gen. Alexander Haig, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and Pocket Fisherman creator and wacky gadget impresario Ron Popeil.
Tonic water
Bartenders all over town were a little taken aback this week when a new vodka with a questionable name started to arrive.
EFFEN Vodka is being launched now in Vegas and Chicago before a national push next month.
Jon Deitelbaum, 35, the founder of jstar Brands, the company behind EFFEN, said the word means "smooth" in Dutch besides being a naughty play on words.
Imported from Northern Holland, the bottle is sheathed in rubber, which, besides making it harder to slip out of your hand, keeps it cooler.
The brand is on shelves behind the bar at Light, Rain in the Desert, ghostbar and other selected hot spots.
Overseas gig
Lisa Marie Presley will be following in her father's footsteps when she performs in Vegas next week. She is part of the VH1 "Divas Duets" event at MGM Grand on May 22.
But she achieved a musical landmark that Elvis never did when she played a concert in England on Monday. Presley sang songs off her debut CD, "To Whom It May Concern," at a London nightclub.
The King visited the United Kingdom just once, making a short stopover at Scotland's Prestwick Airport when he was returning home after a military stint in Germany in 1960.
Goin' mobile
KXNT 840-AM morning man Alan Stock goes national Thursday night. He'll appear from New York on Sean Hannity's and Alan Colmes' Fox News Channel television show.
Stock will be in the Big Apple over the weekend for a radio convention.
Next Wednesday evening Stock introduces pal and Washington insider Charles Krauthammer before his address at Temple Beth Sholom at 10700 Havenwood Lane in Summerlin.
Rumors
Steve Wyrick is taking his magic act from the Sahara to the Palms. A Sahara spokesperson said it was news to them ... The new Jerry Herman musical, "Miss Spectacular," starring Tommy Tune, will take up residence in The Venetian in 2004. The hotel is having a press conference Thursday ... E! Entertainment Television is preparing "Nearly Famous 2: More Vegas Showgirls" as the first installment was a ratings success.
VegasBits
Batman: Michael Keaton RSVP'd Tuesday for the opening next week of the new club OPM, located above Wolfgang Puck's Chinois restaurant ...
Vegas on-air: The fall schedules for the TV networks are coming out this week. New on Monday nights starting in September: the drama, "Las Vegas," starring James Caan as the head of a casino surveillance team. Most of the pilot episode was filmed at Mandalay Bay ...
Vegas Ink: Several major media outlets -- from Washington Post gossip Lloyd Grove to MSNBC's Jeanette Walls -- followed up on our item about "Bookie of Virtue" Bill Bennett making an appearance at a Wisconsin casino ...
More Vegas on-air: New KVVU Channel 5 weekend weatherman Gerald Brown is picking up an occasional weekday stint. He's going to go on-air at KNPR 89.5-FM for an opera and classical music gig ...
More Vegas Ink: The Final Fling, a company we've written often about that organizes Vegas bachelorette parties, was the subject of a glowing cover feature in USA Today's Life section Tuesday. The company is owned by Vegas residents Randy Swallow and Kevin Redden.
From Sun wires
Tommy Chong, who played one half of the dope-smoking duo in Cheech and Chong movies, pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia.
Chong also pleaded guilty on behalf of his business, Nice Dreams Enterprises, which made a line of marijuana bongs and pipes.
After the hearing, Chong said he did not use drugs. "I don't smoke; I quit," he said.
Sometimes they come back: Two Beatles fans have returned a diary they stole from Paul McCartney's London home 23 years ago.
The women -- Italian sisters who grabbed the book during a trip to London in 1980 -- showed up Monday at a hotel in Rome where McCartney was staying, a spokesman said.
The women, now in their 30s, had attended his concert outside the Colosseum on Sunday.
The sisters said they hadn't planned to steal from him when they went to see his house. "There was some restructuring work going on, and the gate was open," one of the sisters, Francesca De Fazi, said. "We mustered up our courage and went inside."
Besides the diary, the sisters took a pair of boots and sheet music, then fled. It was unknown what happened to the other items they stole.
Weekend at Rodman's: Wedding bells and birthday cake were apparently in order for former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who married his girlfriend on his 42nd birthday.
Rodman married Michelle Moyer on Tuesday in a private civil ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported.
Rodman met Moyer, 36, in a bar four years ago and they have two children together: a son, D.J., 2; and a daughter, Trinity, 1. They have separate residences two miles apart in Newport Beach and don't plan on changing their living arrangement.
"We won't live together," said Rodman, who's been married twice before. "I like it like that. She and the kids come over on weekends."
archive
