Radoff, former Strip purchasing director, dies

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

As a purchasing director for Las Vegas hotels and other businesses, Bill Radoff was called upon to find a lot of unusual things at good prices.

At Caesars Palace, Radoff filled requests for items such as gold-plated razors for guests, a prayer bench for an Asian shrine and flowing ponytail hair pieces required for cocktail waitresses at $200 a pop.

"One of the most unusual requests we received was for ... a ton of kitty litter," Radoff told the Sun in a September 1984 story.

"When I sent our buyers out to the major food chains, people must have wondered what eccentric guest at Caesars needed that much kitty litter. Actually, we used it to soak up the oil from the roadway at the (Caesars Palace) Grand Prix."

William "Bill" Radoff, who worked for major resorts in New York and Las Vegas before operating Auntie Anne's Pretzels franchises at McCarran International Airport and the Galleria at Sunset mall, died Sunday of cancer at his Las Vegas home. He was 66.

Services will be 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at King David Mortuary at Palm Mortuary-Eastern.

"My husband's work was secondary to him being a family man, a good husband and a loving grandfather," said longtime interior decorator Janellen Radoff, vice president of interiors for Wynn Development, who currently is working on Steve Wynn's Wynn Las Vegas resort.

"He liked living in Las Vegas because it is a fun place and you can garden all year round."

After working for Caesars Palace in the 1970s and 1980s, Radoff held similar positions at the Dunes and MGM Grand and at Taylor Construction.

Born Nov. 23, 1937, in the Bronx, N.Y., Radoff graduated from Dewitt Clinton High School and earned his degree in hotel administration from City College of New York. He served in the Army Reserve.

In 1961, he was hired by Restaurant Associates of New York, a gourmet eatery chain that included the Four Seasons. He later was budget controller for the Plaza Hotel in New York and food and beverage director for the Intercontinental Hotels in New York. Radoff came to Las Vegas in 1975 to take the Caesars post.

Over the years, Radoff and his wife traveled to exotic lands where he collected ceremonial masks and exotic art from African nations and other countries. While recuperating from surgeries in recent years, Radoff expanded his large collection via Internet auctions, his family said.

In addition to his wife of 42 years, Radoff is survived by three daughters, Laurie Day, Robin Traficanti and Allison Hart, all of Las Vegas; a sister, Elaine Barkin of Valley Village, Calif.; and three grandchildren.