Columnist Joe Delaney: Birthday wishes to LV's Peggy Ryan

Joe Delaney's column appears Thursdays and Fridays. Reach him at 259-4066 or [email protected]

Indefatigable Peggy Ryan, still active, will be 75 years young Saturday, feted by family, friends, her many students, plus her over-50 -- years of age -- attractive and talented TNT Dancers and spouses, at the Las Vegas Country Club. ... Ryan and her TNT Dancers have been featured on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, the Arthritis Telethon, the annual local "30-30" dinners and many local causes.

Peggy's performing career spans 72 of her 75 years to date. ... She gave her first recital in San Diego at the age of 3. ... Two years later she made her first Hollywood appearance. ... Then it was back home to San Diego and five years of lessons and local appearances.

At age 10, back in Hollywood with her mother, she was signed by MGM pictures. ... Her first film was "Top of the Town," starring George Murphy. ... This led to a series of dramatic roles including playing one of the children with Henry Fonda in the film classic, "Grapes of Wrath."

Still in her teens

At age 15 Ryan was starring on Broadway in the musical, "Meet the People." ... At this point the studio teamed her with Donald O'Connor. ... The result was 14 successive film hits. ... Shortly before the Dunes hotel was imploded, Peggy and the TNT Dancers appeared with Donald O'Connor, a successful two-week reunion in the showroom.

Peggy was a frequent guest on the Milton Berle and Ed Sullivan TV shows and headlined in the top nightclubs here and in Europe. ... A two-week stand in the famed London Palladium resulted in her being held over for nine additional weeks. ... Still in her early 30s, with 60 films to her credit, Ryan married, settled in Hawaii and raised a family.

Peggy became the head of the Hawaiian Variety Club, did extensive work with disadvantaged children and still found time to play Jack Lord's secretary, Jenny, in "Hawaii Five-O" for eight years. ... She moved to Las Vegas in the early 1980s.

In conclusion

Each member of Ryan's TNT Dancers is a successful business or professional woman. ... They were the hit of an all-star fund-raiser in UNLV's Ham Hall a few years back, benefiting the school's baseball program. ... Johnny Carson said, on the "Tonight" show, "I saw Peggy Ryan and the TNT Dancers in Las Vegas. They were great." ... You're very special, Peggy, we wish you many more healthy, happy, active years.

Anniversary special

This evening's 8 o'clock performance of the Tropicana's "Folies Bergere," the 25,000th, will benefit the local M.A.S.H. Village, a one-stop crisis intervention center for individuals or families who are homeless or at a risk of becoming homeless. ... All proceeds from the performance will go to M.A.S.H. Village, kicking off a $1 million citywide campaign.

Contact Susan Abbott-Doskodel at 638-9171 for details on a number of new tap-dancing classes at both UNLV and CCSN, for beginners as well as advanced tappers. ... Deadline for enrolling is Sept. 5.

Local happenings

"Put on a Hat, Too," representing the best of musical Broadway, will be performed today and Saturday at 7 p.m. in CCSN's Nicholas Horn Center. ... Conceived and directed by Leland Murray, produced by Kim Russell and choreographed by Rene de Haven, it is a fund-raiser for the Screen Actors Guild Nevada Conservatory.

In addition to producer, singer and teacher David London, the 25-member cast includes five former beauty contest winners: Singer-dancers Anita Casselli, Meg Wilson Brown, Renee Lee, Lori Sanchez and Rhonda Simmons. ... For tickets and further information, call 871-1550.

The Liberace Foundation's first Scholar Foundation Festival of Arts is free at 2 p.m. Sunday, Clark County Library on Flamingo Road. ... Students, from elementary school age through college, will perform. ... The foundation has given nearly $4 million in scholarships to date.

Friday addenda

Las Vegas has gone from 67,300 hotel rooms to 120,000 in the past decade, all the while continuing to maintain occupancy rates in the high 80s and early 90s, percentage-wise. ... Still to come: The Aladdin in 2000, plus a possible 3,000 more room-suites at the Venetian. ... We doubt there will be any empty hotel rooms in Las Vegas over the New Year's Eve period. ... Inflated room rates should result in year-end revenue records.

New in town: "Same Old Songs," directed by "The Love Boat's" Ted Lange, Tuesday through Sunday, in the Boardwalk Hotel's Lighthouse Showroom. ... Lange is now a highly respected director as well. ... See you next Thursday.

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