Phillips, longtime Strip violinist, dies

Monday, Jan. 19, 2004 | 10:37 a.m.

Max Phillips, a violinist who backed up Las Vegas Strip headliners including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley, died Saturday at Valley Hospital Medical Center. He was 87.

Services for Phillips, a Las Vegas resident of 45 years, who also was a self-trained wood carver of local note, will be noon Tuesday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown. A graveside ceremony at Woodlawn Cemetery will follow. King David Memorial Chapel and Cemetery handled the arrangements.

Phillips performed in orchestras at several local resorts, including the Sahara, Sands and Desert Inn, from 1959 until 1983, when an arm ailment forced him to retire.

In retirement, Phillips continued his longtime passion of hand carving grandfather clocks, tables, television trays, music stands and other objects, usually in walnut and often with intricate inlays. He continued carving into his mid-80s.

"You look at things and they come together," Phillips said of his creations in an Oct. 24, 2000, Sun story.

Phillips said he had no formal training when he took up the hobby in the early 1960s after borrowing a wood carvings catalog from a musician friend.

Over the years, Phillips made five grandfather clocks, three of which he gave to friends, and more than 100 clocks of all types. More than 30 of his creations adorned his home, not counting his hand-made frames for pictures on his walls.

Phillips said he gave many of his carvings to friends either for free or at the cost of the materials and supplies to create them.

Born March 7, 1916, in London, England, Phillips served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He came to the United States after the war, settling in Los Angeles in the 1950s and joining an orchestra in 1957.

Phillips, in addition to the violin, played several reed instruments, including the alto saxophone and clarinet.

He moved to Las Vegas in 1959 and primarily played violin in Strip orchestras and reed instruments in side bands on his days off.

During daylight hours, when many Strip musicians slept, Phillips toiled away on his backyard patio workbench -- a wooden and metal device he built more than 30 years ago -- creating his works.

In 1982, Phillips said he developed a weird feeling in his left arm that forced him to retire from show business a year later. The ailment did not prevent him from pursuing his hobby.

Phillips said his carving projects took from a few days to several months to complete, depending on the size. He said he worked on just one piece at a time.

Phillips was a longtime member of Musicians Local 47 in California, Musicians Local 369 in Las Vegas and Temple Beth Sholom.

Phillips is survived by his wife of 59 years Lily Phillips of Las Vegas and a daughter, Pamela Phillips-Oland of Los Angeles.

The family said donations can be made in Max Phillips memory to the American Heart Association.