Friday, May 30, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.
Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at [email protected] at (702) 259-4058.
Bob Hope, who turned 100 Thursday, was no stranger to Las Vegas lounge entertainers.
"He had an awful lot of friends," said 76-year-old local legend Sonny King.
King, who was a roommate of Dean Martin before Martin teamed with Jerry Lewis, is still an active performer. King and another local legend, Blackie Hunt, host "Off the Cuff" Friday and Saturday nights at the Bootlegger restaurant lounge.
"Hope and Crosby would come into town for the weekend for golf tournaments, but to my knowledge they never performed onstage in Vegas, unless maybe it was a private function," King recalled.
King said Hope was a superb dancer.
"He was primarily a dancer in vaudeville," said King, who spent 25 years as the opening act for Jimmy Durante. "So was Jimmy. They both used to tell me the same thing, once the legs go, you go. So after every show, Jimmy would always have his legs massaged. And so would Hope."
King said Hope kept himself in great shape, like all dancers.
"He always exercised the legs," he said.
And Hope had a great memory.
"He had a fantastic memory for names," King said. "Back when I was an absolute nothing, I hadn't seen him in three years when we ran into each other in the lobby of a Miami hotel. He walks over to me and says, 'Sonny, don't ever shy away from me,' and he came over and gave me a big hug."
Hope also had a reputation for enjoying the company of women.
"You hear so many things about his girlfriends," King said. "But those are all made up stories. Don't get me wrong. He loved the girls. He always took a girl he liked on his shows, he liked to look at them. Once I was supposed to go on a USO tour with him, but Jimmy Durante was going to perform at the Frontier and he needed me so I asked (Hope) if I could be let out of the contract. He said sure, but think of all the girls I was going to miss."
Hope was different offstage.
"He was different in the respect that he was cautious," King said, "especially about who he called a friend. In his position, he was close to every president; he couldn't be sure if a terrorist was trying to make friends with him just to get a president."
The last time King saw Hope was in 1996, the year the Sands hotel was imploded.
"When they were going to tear down the Sands they proposed having a big show starring Bob Hope, but it never came to pass," King said. "I have no idea why, but he wasn't all that crazy about our town."
King said he thinks Hope wasn't overly fond of Vegas because it competed against Palm Springs.
"He was like the unofficial mayor of Palm Springs," King said. "He loved that town. He thought Palm Springs would be the next Reno. Back when Las Vegas hadn't even come to pass, he thought Palm Springs would have gambling."
King was in the group that hung with Hope, Crosby and Phil Harris at golf tournaments.
"Hope really loved Crosby," King said. "He thought Bing was the funnier of the two (between him and Hope)."
Golfer/singer Don Cherry, 78, also was a friend of Hope.
"I was close to him in certain ways," said Cherry, a native of Texas who moved to Las Vegas in 1962. "I used to play golf with him in Cleveland, which was his hometown.
"I did his radio show three or four times. I played in the Bob Hope Classic an awful lot of times."
Cherry is noted for juggling two careers successfully, that of a pop singer and a professional golfer. His biggest hit record was "Band of Gold," which reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 1955. Recently he made a CD with Willie Nelson, "The Eyes of Texas."
But golf was his common bond with Hope. Cherry was a top-ranking amateur before turning pro in 1962.
"I worked in nightclubs at night and played in tournaments during the day," Cherry said. "I played with all the greats. You know, most singers wanted to be golfers, and most golfers wanted to be singers."
Cherry is writing his memoirs, "Cherry's Jubilee," which is scheduled to be released in the fall. And he recently completed a CD, "A Tribute to Perry Como: Without a Song."
Cherry says he has a good sense of humor, but he took a backseat in Hope's presence.
"The one-liners around Hope were something else," he said. "You more or less let him carry the show."
Jazz great Buddy Greco has known Hope about 50 years.
"I did a couple of his TV shows; played in the Bob Hope golf tournament at least 10 times," Greco, a resident of Las Vegas, said. He recalled appearing on "The Mike Douglas Show" with Hope in the '70s.
"Everybody had long, bushy hair back then," recalled Greco. "I had a lot of hair. Hope looked at me and said, 'I guarantee a bird will fly out of there any minute.' "
Greco, who has a long list of gold records (including "The Lady Is a Tramp"), is still a fan of Hope.
"He's one of the nicest gentlemen I ever met," Greco said. "He respected everyone he worked with. He was a great man. He is a great man."
Lounging around
One of Vegas' greatest admirers of entertainers died Saturday of an apparent embolism, friends say. Don Manarina, 55, passed away at his home. Manarina was such a fan of singers and musicians that he created the Meatball Awards last year as a way of honoring entertainers whose talents are sometimes overlooked. Manarina will be missed by his legion of friends and admirers.
There will be a whole lot of shakin' goin' on at Lady Luck this weekend. The second annual Professional Elvis Impersonators' Elvis Tribute gets under way tonight at the downtown casino with an Elvis showcase that begins at 7 p.m. Last year about 20 Elvis impersonators and 1,500 fans attended the event.
Saturday, Elvis showcases are scheduled from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Howie Gold sings and plays piano Sunday nights at Club Monaco beginning at 7:30 p.m. Try the free buffet and enjoy the jam session.
The Sunday Night Jazz Cruise debuts from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Paris pool deck, beneath the resort's 50-story Eiffel Tower replica.
Saxophonist/vocalist Tommy Alvarado will be the featured entertainment at the Sunday Night Jazz Cruise on June 8. Alvarado also performs Friday and Saturday nights at the Joey Bistro and Bar and Sunday nights at the Bootlegger Bistro's jam session.
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