Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2003 | 8:52 a.m.
Joseph Julian, a Las Vegas restaurateur, radio station owner and shopping center developer who also tried his hand at politics, has died in Florida. He was 81.
Julian, whose nightclub Joe Julian's Restaurant and Lounge at West Spring Mountain Road and Interstate 15 was a popular hangout in the 1970s and early '80s, died Nov. 18 of complications from leukemia in Destin, Fla. His death was not disclosed by his family until Monday.
Julian, whose real name was Joe Julian Marandola, lived in Las Vegas from 1950 to 1968 and from 1978 to 1988 before returning to Florida to operate Marandola's restaurant. He later served as a minister in Mississippi until he retired to Florida in 1997 after being diagnosed with leukemia.
"My husband had a bad temper, but he also was a generous man who would give all he had to help someone," said Helga Marandola, Julian's wife of 30 years. "He felt he often was misunderstood because he was not a well-educated man and could not express himself well."
German-born Helga said the 10,000-square-foot nightclub located just west of the Strip was "frequented by everyone from celebrities to judges to the Mafia."
Helga, who had worked in public relations for late Las Vegas Mayor Oran Gragson and for the Las Vegas News Bureau, said her husband got into an argument with "one of those people of questionable character" and, on April 27, 1982, the club was destroyed by fire. To his death, Julian blamed the mob for destroying the business into which he had sunk $2 million -- his life savings.
Clark County Fire Department investigators ruled the blaze an arson but no one was ever charged.
Over the next six years, Julian split his time between Las Vegas, fighting an insurance company that balked at paying a $1.2 million claim, and Pompano Beach, Fla., where Marandola's restaurant was doing well. A Nov. 24, 1988, Sun story reported that Julian settled the fire claim for $500,000.
Born Nov. 21, 1920, in Camden, N.J., Julian was the eldest of three children. He quit school at age 16 to work to help feed his family. He served in the Army in England during World War II.
After the war, Julian was a successful aluminum siding contractor in New Jersey for five years before moving to Las Vegas and building radio station KRBO, which today is KLUC. Julian's contemporary station was frequented by the Strip's biggest stars of that era, including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Doris Day, among others, Helga said.
Julian also invested early on in Las Vegas real estate, buying property behind the Flamingo hotel, where he built the Flamingo Estates Shopping Center in 1962, which featured the Guys 'n' Dolls nightclub and today is home to Battista's Hole in The Wall Italian restaurant.
In the 1960s, Julian, a Democrat, was appointed deputy coroner for Clark County and ran unsuccessfully for county treasurer. In 1968, Julian left Las Vegas for 10 years to own and operate an auto rental agency in Hawaii and later open Marandola's in Florida.
Upon his return in 1978, Julian tried unsuccessfully to unseat County Assessor Jean Dutton, a fellow Democrat.
Julian's civic deeds included raising money for the Lions and Elks clubs and the Variety Club.
In the 1990s Julian became a minister and for six years until his retirement, he traveled throughout Mississippi performing weddings.
Although he had children by a previous marriage, it was Julian's wish that no survivors other than his wife be listed, Marandola said.
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