Famous Like Me > Singer > N > Wayne Newton
Profile of Wayne Newton
on Famous Like Me |
| |
| Name: |
Wayne Newton |
|
| |
|
| Also Know As: |
|
| |
|
| Date of Birth: |
3rd April 1942 |
| |
|
| Place of Birth: |
Roanoke, Virginia, USA |
| |
|
| Profession: |
Singer |
| |
|
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 25,000 concerts in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nickname Mr. Las Vegas, his longevity and popularity making him literally synonymous with Las Vegas. He performed at the Stardust resort in Las Vegas for 40 weeks out of the year until 2001, in a showroom that was named after him in 1999.
Early life
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Wayne Newton was active in show business at an early age. He learned the piano, guitar, and steel guitar at the age of six. Along with his older brother Jerry Newton, he appeared with the Grand Ole Opry roadshows, performed for President Harry S. Truman, and auditioned unsuccessfully for Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour.
Wayne's severe asthma forced the family to move to Phoenix, Arizona in 1952. In the spring of 1958, toward the end of Wayne's junior year in high school, a Las Vegas booking agent saw a local TV show on which the two Newton brothers were performing and took them back with him for an audition. Originally signed for two weeks, the two brothers eventually performed for five years, doing six shows a day.
Las Vegas
Newton achieved nationwide recognition on September 29, 1962 when he and his brother performed on The Jackie Gleason Show. He would perform on Gleason's show 12 times over the following two years.
Many other entertainment icons such as Lucille Ball, Bobby Darin, Danny Thomas, George Burns, and Jack Benny lent Newton their support. In particular, Benny hired Newton as an opening act for his show.
After his job with Benny ended, Newton was offered a job to open for another comic at the Flamingo Hotel, but Newton asked for, and was given, a headline act.
From 1980 to 1982 Newton was part owner of the Aladdin Hotel.
Newton performed over 25,000 shows in Las Vegas, signing a 10-year deal with the Stardust in 1999, calling for him to perform there 40 weeks out of the year for six shows a week.
On November 12th, 2001 however, he performed a benefit for USO and left the Stardust to work and tour as chairman of the USO Celebrity Circle. visiting US troops in Budapest, Naples, Vecenza, Aviano, and Bosnia, as well as playing benefits in the US (source: waynenewton.com).
In January 2005, Newton started a reality television show on E! called The Entertainer. The show features ten contestants. The winner got a spot in his act, plus a headlining act of their own for a year.
Namesakes
The Stardust's main showroom, where Newton has performed since 1999, is named the Wayne Newton Theatre in his honor. The road serving the main terminal of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is named Wayne Newton Boulevard.
Newton is married to the former Kathleen McCrone, a lawyer from Rocky River, Ohio.
Filmography
- 80 Steps to Jonah (1969)
- Licence to Kill (1989)
- The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
- The Dark Backward (1991)
- Best of the Best 2 (1993)
- Night of the Running Man (1994)
- National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (1997)
- Elvis Is Alive! I Swear I Saw Him Eating Ding Dongs Outside the Piggly Wiggly's (1998) (Cameo)
- Ocean's Eleven (2001) (Cameo)
- Elvis Has Left the Building (2004) (Cameo)
External link
This content from
Wikipedia is licensed under the
GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article Wayne Newton
|
