Friday, Sept. 19, 2003 | 4:24 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: Sept. 21, 2003
Finally, a serious literary look at Sammy Davis, Jr.
Until now, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin have been the most dissected Rat Packers. But on Oct. 21, Gary Fishgall's "Gonna Do Great Things: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr." (Scribner, $26) hits bookstore shelves.
Fishgall, in an interview with VegasBeat, said he wanted to put out an exhaustively researched, concisely written and extensively detailed tome chronicling the amazing life and career of the Candy Man, who was, of course, an integral member of the crew that epitomized Vegas cool in the 1960s.
"I had just finished my Gregory Peck biography and was listening to a CD of 'Golden Boy' (the 1964 Broadway musical that starred Davis) in my car, when it flashed into my head that there had never been a serious biography of Sammy Davis Jr.," Fishgall told VegasBeat by phone from his St. Louis home Friday.
"I thought it was a serious omission."
The book is not a dishy kiss-and-tell, Fishgall said, but an earnest look at his life and career, from the streets of Harlem to international fame.
"If you grew up in the '50s or '60s, like I did, he was really the zenith of entertainment. But when he died he was not regarded with the same universal fervor," Fishgall said. "The book tries to address his rise and fall and place him in a historical perspective.
"I think he deserves a lot more respect than he gets, and maybe this book will help in that regard."
Good friends, good food.
Jill St. John and Robert Wagner and Robert and Vera Goulet all had dinner together Thursday night at Piero Selvaggio Valentino at The Venetian.
Wagner was in town to film a commercial for the Asset Protection Group, a local financial firm.
Celebrity hair care expert William Whatley, who has his own salon on West Sahara Avenue, is pretty busy these days.
"I am in Austin, Texas, right now, doing some episodes of 'Ambush Makeover' (the new Fox network reality program)," Whatley told VegasBeat over the phone Friday.
Then he is off to Florida for the debut of his eponymous line of products on the Home Shopping Network on Friday.
It features a special ingredient called Cactus Complex -- "nature's way of keeping hair strong and moisturized at the same time, no matter where you are," Whatley said.
"You can be in the desert in Las Vegas, on the East Coast caught in a hurricane or a humid Hawaiian island and you'll continue to look fabulous if you use these products. It can handle any kind of hair."
Whatley is well-known in his field for helping make celebrities from Ashton Kutcher to 'N Sync to Jessica Simpson look even better, and he has worked closely with designers ranging from Betsey Johnson to Dolce & Gabbana.
Celebrated New York DJ and personality Mark Ronson is performing in Vegas tonight.
Ronson, whose mother is British socialite Ann Dexter Jones and whose stepfather is Foreigner's Mick Jones, has spun everywhere from Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' birthday party to the White House Correspondents Dinner.
At Light (Bellagio) he'll play tracks from his own new disc, "Here Comes the Fuzz," which features cameos from a wide range of musicians, from White Stripes leader Jack White to rapper Q-Tip.
Elvis Presley famously visited the White House in 1970 and met with President Richard Nixon, who presented him with a badge making him an honorary federal drug enforcement agent.
Well, now there's a new Strip headliner with a badge, and his name is Sheriff Gans.
Mirage headliner Danny Gans has been named a lifetime honorary sheriff for his "continued support of law enforcement in our community" by the Las Vegas Police Protection Association.
Metro detectives Fred Galley, Jeorge A. Martin, David F. Kallis and Michael Gillins presented Gans with his badge this week -- which he immediately took out of its frame and affixed to his belt.
And not that you ever would, but I'd be careful about booing a performer who has so many friends with guns.
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