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Saturday, May 2, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.
Danny Gans came to Las Vegas thinking it would be just another stop in his career as an entertainer, a field he chose after a foot injury wrecked his prospects of becoming a professional baseball player.
He had always wowed his family and schoolmates with his impressions, his jokes, his singing. So he began pounding out a living doing one-night shows all over the country.
Then he got his own show — for two months — on Broadway. Then came a three-month gig at the Stratosphere, which turned into nine months. He was on his way to headliner status. His name lit up the Rio before he moved to The Mirage at the invitation of its builder — Steve Wynn. He sold out his show there year after year.
Appearing on the Larry King Show in March, he described how he landed his next, and open-ended, booking — at the 1,500-seat theater in Wynn’s new hotel. “He (Wynn) said, ‘You want to come over, across the street? I’m building a new place called Encore.’ ”
Gans said in February that moving to Encore was “the ultimate big deal” and “the golden ticket.” It was that way, too, for his fans and for all of Las Vegas, as Gans was also a prolific performer when it came to raising money for the valley’s children and other equally worthy causes.
Stunningly, tragically, the news came Friday that Gans had died early that morning at his home, which he considered the center of his life. “I’m a family guy,” Gans told King. “I like to be home.” Gans is survived by his wife of 28 years, Julie, and his three children, Amy, Andrew and Emily.
After hearing the news, Wynn expressed this sentiment, shared throughout Las Vegas and by Gans’ fans throughout the country: “One of the most unique human beings and entertainers in the world has been taken from us in an unexpected moment. A profoundly tragic event that leaves us all sad and speechless.”
Danny Gans is number 1 in Vegas. Our hearts go out to his family and freinds. What a wonderful entertainer. My husband, myself and friends have seen him numerous times. I do not go to visit Vegas without seeing Danny Gans.
God Bless You Danny and our hearts go out to your family.
The one and only time we saw Danny Gans perform was at the Mirage shortly after 9/11/ 2001.
Even though Danny's show tickets were $100.00, each, we really felt we had to splurge, especially after reading on the Internet that Danny Gans was a great entertainer and not to be missed.
The conference, plane and hotel reservations were booked months in advance, but after 9/11 we really had a hard decision to make; whether to go or not. But, the conference was going to be held and we felt we needed to carry on with our lives.
We we so thankful we went to Las Vegas. We really sensed an unbelievable feeling of community. People were reticent, but happy to connect to fellow Americans, because we knew we were all in this together. The fantastic Bellagio fountains played the most beautiful patriot music, and as we all stood around the perimeter we met and shared stories with complete strangers and we became families in our grief. New York New York Hotel had a memorial at a fence at the perimeter of the complex with hundreds of photographs of those who lost their lives in New York City and myriads of fresh bouquets of flowers. You could not help but weep as you past by the memorial.
I mention all of the above only to try and give a feeling of what was going on in Las Vegas at that time.
Danny Gans did a service to humanity with his performance at the Mirage in the weeks following 9/11. We were there for one performance and it changed our lives and we've never forgotten his gift. We were heavy hearted and not sure we should be laughing, even though we needed so badly to be lifted up. Danny started the show very slowly and acknowledged America's grief and gently allowed us, through his words and gentle humor, to believe that we would be alright and we can and should laugh again.
He ended the program with Lee Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA" . The words he sung touched our hearts "I"m proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me and I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today because there's still no doubt I love this land God Bless the USA" When Danny sung the words "I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today", nearly 1200 people stood up, clasped hands and held them high and swayed together with the final words ringing in our ears "I'm proud to be an American". God Bless you forever Danny Gans and may Gods Angels forever comfort your family, until we all met again.