Thursday, Dec. 31, 1998 | 11:28 a.m.
Peter Jackson, a prolific producer whose career ran the gamut of Parisian cabarets, television shows, New York stages and Las Vegas showrooms, has died in Las Vegas. He was 67.
Jackson, perhaps best known for the Excalibur's "King Arthur's Tournament," a medieval romp of pomp, ceremony and jousting, loosely wrapped around the legend of Camelot, died Wednesday of kidney failure at a local hospital.
At the time of his death, he was preparing for the early February opening of his new Excalibur show, "Tournament of Kings." "King Arthur's Tournament," which opened in 1990, is set to close Sunday.
Visitation will be today at Davis Funeral Home at 6200 S. Eastern Ave. until 5 p.m. Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church, 3050 Alta Drive.
"Peter was a dear friend and an incredible talent," Excalibur entertainment director Mike Hartzell said. "His vision and energy will be deeply missed by both his friends and his audiences."
Longtime Sun entertainment columnist Joe Delaney said: "Peter had a very distinguished record with "King Arthur's Tournament," which had a long and successful run. He was a great contributor to Las Vegas. He was a very innovative producer from the time he arrived here."
The Excalibur show was a crowd-pleaser because of its stunt-filled battle scenes, lasers and pyrotechnics. The audience was made to feel part of the show as the meals were served medieval-style, without utensils.
In his lengthy show business career, Jackson, who spoke English, French, Spanish, Italian and some Japanese, produced 24 stage shows and five television programs.
In a 1995 interview with the Sun, Jackson, a native of France, said his formula for success was originality.
"It's always nice to be the first in a new market," he said. "When I go into a market, I study the audience. I won't do a copy of what is already there. I find out who will be in the seats and do something special."
Jackson first appeared on stage at age 5, singing and dancing in a children's show in Paris. He eventually found his way onto club stages throughout France and North Africa, usually as a novelty opening act for a bigger name entertainer.
He was educated at the Jesuits College in Marseilles and served in the French Army as a teenager.
As a performer, he caught the eye of a Paris theater executive and was offered a job in New York. There, he learned production skills and choreography while serving as a master of ceremonies for shows.
In the late 1950s, Jackson produced stage shows in Africa, Europe and North America and added television to his credits in the early 1960s.
In 1960 he opened Tokyo's Mikado, then the largest nightclub in the world. He toured Asia and South America in the late '60s, then made a splash in New York with an avant-garde production called "Zou" at the Blue Angel.
Jackson shocked audiences with nudes and female impersonators and was a proponent of the absurd. A highlight was performing for one of the artists he most admired, late Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.
Jackson produced "Playboy Fantasy" and "Les Dames" in Atlantic City, N.J., and conceived, wrote and directed "Abracadabra" at the Atlantis hotel there.
Jackson made his first trip to Las Vegas in 1988 to bring "Abracadabra" to the Aladdin hotel-casino.
"I was lucky," Jackson said in a 1995 Sun interview. "I came at a time when Siegfried & Roy were touring Japan."
Jackson, who conceived and sold the idea for a jousting tournament show to Circus Circus executives for its then-new Excalibur resort, developed a reputation for working hard and putting on quality entertainment events.
But sometimes he stumbled. His action-filled show "Winds of the Gods" failed at the Luxor, even though it seemingly fit the resort's pyramid theme with Egyptian mythology, exotic animals and chariot races. Jackson maintained that the show, which closed within a year, was good but was not adequately marketed.
Jackson said he did not read reviews of his shows in the papers.
"I get nervous if a review is bad. If it's good, I get embarrassed."
Jackson is survived by his son and co-producer Patrick Jackson, and two grandsons, Nicholas and Christopher.
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