FRANKIE LAINE: 1913-2007

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

During a November 1999 performance at the Orleans, which was being recorded for a live album, Frankie Laine completed his first song and told the audience, "I did surprise you, didn't I?"

Well into his 80s, Laine still had that big, booming voice that made him an enduring music legend for more than half a century.

Laine, who was believed to be the first entertainer to have a Las Vegas performance photograph distributed via the Associated Press wire, died Tuesday of heart failure at Mercy Hospital in San Diego. He was 93.

Services are scheduled for Monday in San Diego.

"Here was a performer who in seven consecutive decades had appeared on a Las Vegas stage - so few have done that," said longtime Las Vegas entertainment writer Esther Lynn, who wrote the liner notes for "Frankie Laine: Live at the Orleans." "And his voice remained strong to the end."

Laine, who performed at the Flamingo, El Rancho Vegas, International Hotel (now the Las Vegas Hilton) and the Suncoast, among others, initially came to the Orleans in 1998 to do a benefit for the Las Vegas Musicians Union Local 369, which had fallen on hard times.

"Frankie always said if it were not for the musicians he would not have had a career," said Lynn, who has written for both Las Vegas dailies, What's On magazine and the New York-based "Cabaret Scenes."

"That, of course, was not true. Nevertheless, Frankie always considered the musicians unsung heroes."

Laine was an established recording star when in 1949 he made local entertainment history with a photograph taken of him at the El Rancho Vegas by Joe Buck of the Desert Sea News Bureau, which later became the Las Vegas News Bureau.

It purportedly became the first of its type to be moved on a major news wire, a move that helped attract visitors to the then-small desert gaming oasis. Since then, hundreds of artists have had Las Vegas performance photos distributed worldwide by major wire services.

Laine made his last Las Vegas appearance in November 2000 at the Suncoast. His final performance came last year during the taping of a Public Broadcasting Service fundraiser in which Laine sang his 1947 classic love song "That's My Desire."

Laine's other major hits included "Mule Train," "Jezebel," "I Believe" and "That Lucky Old Sun," as well as the themes from the 1960s TV series "Rawhide" and the 1974 Mel Brooks film "Blazing Saddles."

Born Frank LoVecchio on March 30, 1913, in Chicago, Laine was the son of Sicilian immigrants. His father, according to some accounts, was mobster Al Capone's barber.

Laine sold more than 100 million records during his career and had 21 gold records in genres that included pop, jazz, gospel, folk and country.

Laine's variety show "Frankie Laine Time" ran on CBS in 1955 and 1956, and he appeared in the 1956 film "Meet Me in Las Vegas."

Laine's autobiography, "That Lucky Old Sun," was published in 1993, the year his wife, actress Nan Grey, died.

Laine's nicknames included "Mr. Rhythm" and "Old Leather Lungs." But he often was billed with a description that captured both his career longevity and the many tunes he leaves behind: "America's No. 1 Song Stylist."