Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1999 | 9:40 a.m.
Robert Sacca, identical twin and former show business partner of longtime Las Vegas entertainer Tony Sacca, has died in Philadelphia. He was 48.
Robert Sacca, who performed on the East Coast and later in Las Vegas as one-half of the Sacca Twins, died Sunday of leukemia.
Services were earlier today in Philadelphia for the former Las Vegas resident of 12 years, who in 1986 co-founded the late night weekend television entertainment show that his brother has sustained for 13 years on KTNV Channel 13.
Monti Funeral Home in Philadelphia handled the arrangements, which included burial in the Holy Cross Cemetery.
"Like Tony, Robert was very personable and friendly, both as an entertainer and as just a regular guy," said Mark Rago, funeral director for the Monti Funeral Home and a longtime friend of the Sacca family.
"I used to go watch them at the Lucky Club in Wildwood (N.J.) and you could see by their performance that the brothers were very close and that they had the talent to one day make it in Las Vegas."
Born Feb. 20, 1951, in Philadelphia, Robert was the son of a butcher.
For a June 11 Sun story, Tony recalled how he and his brother were introduced to music: "My father was so intrigued by the guys who played accordion. He wanted somebody in the family to play music. ... He encouraged my brother and I to pick up an instrument. I picked up the guitar. My brother liked the drums."
The Sacca Twins got their first paying job in the entertainment industry -- $25 for singing at a sorority party -- when they were 12. After that, they took any job they were offered.
Tony recalled: "We worked go-go joints, played background music. We did motorcycle joints -- those places scared the hell out of me. We would do anything. At that age, if anybody wants you to work, you say yes to anything."
At the Lucky Club, the Sacca Twins hosted an oldies review. From there, they played the Sheraton, Hilton and Ramada hotel chain nightclubs and performed on cruise ships.
In the late 1970s they performed for three years at the El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico. It was there that future legendary magicians Siegfried and Roy saw them sing and urged the brothers to go to Las Vegas to work, which they did in 1981.
The Sacca brothers performed for three years in the lounge of the old MGM Grand, now Bally's.
In 1986 the Saccas took their act to the Las Vegas airwaves, calling their new show "Live from Las Vegas."
Six months later Tony became the sole host of the show, which was renamed "Tony Sacca's Live from Las Vegas." The show also has aired under the names "The Tony Sacca Show" and "Celebrity Magazine."
For the past three years the half-hour show has been called "Entertainment Las Vegas Style," airing locally at 12:35 a.m. Sundays. The show is nationally syndicated, reaching an estimated 36 million households.
Robert Sacca returned to Philadelphia in the early 1990s and was diagnosed last year with leukemia, Rago said.
In addition to his brother, Sacca is survived by a son, Robbie Sacca; his mother, Carmella Sacca; and a sister, Marie Tully.
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