Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004 | 1:53 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
December 24 - 26, 2004
Who: Connie Francis.
When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday; 9 p.m. Friday.
Where: Sahara Theatre.
Tickets: $49 to $119.
Information: 737-2515.
Gloria Estefan is expected to produce and star in a future motion picture about the life of former rock 'n' roll superstar Connie Francis, one of the most popular performers of the '50s and '60s.
"I was always interested in her," Estefan told the Sun during an interview last year. "There's so much depth there. I really think she hasn't gotten her due.
"She isn't in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, and yet she was the first pop star worldwide, recorded in nine languages. She has done a lot of things for victims' rights since her rape in the '70s ... There's a major story there."
It is a story filled with success and failure, good fortune and tragedy, happiness and heartbreak.
She was diagnosed manic depressive.
She was raped.
A botched nose operation resulted in her inability to sing for years.
Her brother was murdered.
Francis -- who will perform at the Sahara Theatre from Thursday through Saturday -- was born Concetta Marie Franconero in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 12, 1938, the daughter of a roofing contractor who wanted her to grow up and have her own accordion school of music.
Her accordion playing won her a spot on "Startime," a New York City television series in the early '50s that featured talented children performers. She was on the show for four years.
The show's producer, George Scheck (later her manager), convinced her to give up the accordion for singing.
Radio host Arthur Godfrey convinced her to change her last name from Franconero to Francis.
In 1958 she had her first major recording at age 20 with a version of the 1923 composition "Who's Sorry Now."
She sang the song on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" on Jan. 1, and within six months the recording topped 1 million sales.
During the next five years Francis had 25 records that made the Top 100 charts, with "Where the Boys Are" as her signature song.
Among her numerous rock 'n' roll hits were "Stupid Cupid," "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" and "Don't Break the Heart that Loves You."
During the '60s she starred in four films, including "Where the Boys Are" (1960); "Follow the Boys" (1963); "Looking for Love" (1964); and "When the Boys Meet the Girls" (1965).
In 1967, Francis toured Vietnam, singing for the troops.
Following a November 1974 performance at the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, N.Y., Francis was raped and robbed at knifepoint in her hotel room.
Francis was unable to sing for years after her attack, not resuming her career until the mid-'80s.
Through the years she has performed charity work for organizations such as UNICEF, the USO and CARE.
Her autobiography, "Who's Sorry Now," was released in 1984.
Veteran Las Vegas show producer Bill Moore is bringing Francis, 66, to the Sahara, her first headlining engagement on the Strip since 1989, when she performed at the Aladdin.
Francis (whose opening act at the Sahara will be female impersonator Kenny Kerr) recently discussed her trials and tribulations, her ups and her downs and her movie deal with Estefan during a telephone interview at her home in Parkland, Fla.
Las Vegas Sun: In a career filled with highlights, do you have one single moment that stands out in your memory?
Connie Francis: Yes. It was an evening in December of 1967. I was on a concert tour in Vietnam.
Before I went onstage in front of 25,000 soldiers a general asked me which songs I was going to sing and I told him I would sing all of my hits and close with "God Bless America."
The general told me, "Anything but that song -- this company has suffered a lot of damage. The men are bitter and broken. They hate their country right now."
Sun: This was when the United States was torn apart by the anti-war sentiment. What was your reaction?
CF: I said to him, "They may hate the politics, but they do not hate their country."
Then I went onstage and began to sing "God Bless America."
I sang the first four lines and one lone soldier stood up, put his hand over his heart and began to sing with me -- then a hundred stood and sang, then a thousand and before we finished 25,000 soldiers were standing and singing "God Bless America."
It was an incredibly moving moment.
Sun: You've had a life filled with incredible moments. It should make an amazing movie. How did you become involved with Gloria Estefan in this project?
CF: A couple of years ago I saw her on three television shows, and on each show she said she wanted to do my life story. I contacted her and we started working on the script. She is going to play me.
Sun: How is the script coming?
CF: It takes up most of my time right now.
Sun: You're going to be performing at the Sahara. Wasn't your first gig in Las Vegas there?
CF: Yes. In 1960. I was 22, and the youngest star to headline there. I played the Sahara every year for nine years, twice a year -- I used to do two shows a night for 28 days for a total of 56 shows.
In 1966, I recorded an album, "Live at the Sahara."
Sun: What was Vegas like back then?
CF: It was still a small town. McCarran airport looked like it was in Nairobi. I remember all the help, the skycaps, had to go to training school to learn how to treat visitors.
Sun: You were here in the heyday of the Rat Pack. Did you run with them?
CF: First they were called The Clan, then the Rat Pack. After my show I would run over the the Sands and watch them perform. I got to know them pretty well.
Sun: There have been a lot of changes. We have a population of about 1.5 million now. What do you think of the changes?
CF: It's too overwhelming -- just overwhelming. But it's still the greatest place in the world to go on a vacation.
Sun: How do you occupy your time now?
CF: Mainly, I'm involved with the script. But I perform a couple of shows a month. I toured Canada and several areas of this country this year. I do a lot of charity work. And I have a new CD -- "The American Tour," with excerpts from the various shows around the country.
Sun: In addition to all of the good times, you have had a pretty rough life. An operation on your nose almost ended your career. What was that all about?
CF: I had problems with air-conditioned rooms. I attempted to correct the problem with nasal surgery, and as a result I couldn't sing for four years. It was one of the worst times of my life. It took three more surgeries before I could sing again.
Sun: How did you get through that?
CF: One of the things that helped save me was raising my son, Joey. He's 30 now, a flight instructor.
Sun: How did you deal with being the victim of an attack in 1974?
CF: I was depressed for years. Eventually I was diagnosed a manic depressive. I was institutionalized 11 times in 11 years, the last time in 1992.
Sun: Are you on medication now?
CF: I take lithium.
Sun: You have had a lot of tragedy in your life. Does it bother you to talk about it?
CF: No. I talk about everything -- about the rape, my brother's murder in 1981. I discuss all of the horrendous events in my life. It is very cathartic.
Sun: Is life still a struggle for you?
CF: Not for the past 12 years.
Sun: Weighing the good and the bad, how do you assess your life?
CF: Life has been very good to me.
To know that songs I recorded 45 years ago are still identified with me, and to get such a tremendous response from fans all over the world -- it is a joy, an unbelievable joy to me.
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