Fun fact: Did you know that Wayne and Michael Stanley were step-brothers at one time?
CLEVELAND — Legend, icon, “Mr. Entertainment,” “Midnight Idol,” “Mr. Las Vegas” — no name is more synonymous with the entertainment capital of the world than Wayne Newton.
He recorded and released a staggering 165 albums during his career and performed live to crowds of over 40 million people with over 25,000 record-setting shows in Las Vegas alone.
Needless to say, he has been performing since he was around 6 years old and continues to tour today. His “Up Close and Personal Tour” arrives at MGM Northfield Park here in Northeast Ohio on Saturday, October 12th.
“I decided to do a show about the people who have helped me along the way and kept me on the straight and narrow. I have a lot of video footage of them, and they were great stars,” Newton said in the article. Recent Zoom interview. “So it’s pretty much Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.”
But did you know that Mr. Las Vegas has some pretty deep ties here in Cleveland?
“Coming to Cleveland brings back so many memories because my wife and family are from Cleveland and Michael Stanley was my brother-in-law at one time,” he explained.
Yes, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Cleveland were actually brothers-in-law. Another Cleveland connection: Bob Hope asked Newton to take over as president of the USO Celebrity Circle, and he has made 16 overseas trips to battlegrounds.
Naturally, there are many other amazing stories behind this icon. I asked him about some rumors I’ve heard over the years.
True or False: Wayne Newton can play 13 different instruments.
“It’s true,” he admitted, “and I don’t read or know music. It happened when I was 15 years old and started in the lounge — six times a night, a week. So I was the only singer in the group, so I can’t sing that much, and I continued to develop instruments to soften my voice, And to date it has totaled 13 pieces.”
True or False: Wayne Newton and Elvis Presley once unknowingly dated the same woman at the same time.
“That’s true,” he admitted. “I met Elvis for the first time. He was on an episode of Bonanza as a guest star. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I turned around and it was God, it was Elvis. And he was like, I said, “Do you know the name of the girl you should do?” I said, “Well, yes, actually, we’re dating.” And he said, “So are we.” Luckily, we both started laughing and soon became his lifelong friends. In fact, she married Wink Martindale and they’ve been married for 40, 47 years today. ”
True or False: Wayne Newton served as honorary pallbearer at Frank Sinatra’s funeral.
“That’s true,” he said. “He takes care of me when I’m in the lounge, and whenever we do a special show in Las Vegas to raise money for universities or other charities, he always makes sure I have time to perform at that show. I didn’t understand it at all because there was a big age difference, but his wife told me years later that he was trying to help me survive in this industry. Thank you.”
True or False: He once played a villain in a James Bond movie.
“That’s true,” he told me. “I played a professor on TV who was selling drugs, a preacher in real life. That was part of my character. I love playing characters that aren’t me because they’re scripted. Because that’s what happens when you write Wayne Newton. I write things that Wayne Newton wouldn’t do or say, so I’m looking forward to doing things that I myself wouldn’t do.”
Someone once said, “Las Vegas without Newton is like Disneyland without Mickey Mouse,” and it couldn’t be more true. However, we are pleased that he will leave here for a short period of time to join us here in Cleveland on October 12th. As far as I’m concerned, it truly is his second home.
