{{Short description|American business executive (1914–1971)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Jack Entratter | image = Jack Entratter Rita Hayworth Dick Haymes.jpg | alt = | caption = Entratter (standing) in 1953 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|02|28}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1971|03|11|1914|02|28}} | death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Businessman | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Dorothy James (until her death)<br /> Lari Laine (divorced) | children = 2 (with Dorothy James) }}
'''Jack Entratter''' (February 28, 1914 – March 11, 1971), nicknamed "Mr. Entertainment", was an American business executive. He is best known for management positions at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City in the 1940s and early 1950s, and at the iconic Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from the early 1950s. He is closely associated with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the history of Las Vegas.{{sfn|Leigh|2015|p=217}}{{Sfn|Klein|1997|p=228}}
== Biography == thumb|250px|Entratter (second from left)
Entratter was born to a Jewish family,<ref>{{Cite web|last= |first= |author-link= |title=Jack EntratterJack Entratter |publisher=UNLV Libraries Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Product|date= |url=http://digital.library.unlv.edu/jewishheritage/people/jack-entratter |access-date=June 29, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=|first=John P.|last=Marschall. |title=Jews in Nevada: A History|pages=173|publisher=University of Nevada Press|date=February 1, 2008|ISBN=978-0-87417-737-4|quote=Most of the hotel builders were Jewish Americans: ...Hyman Abrams, Carl Cohen, and Jack Entratter with the ownership and operations of the Sands}}</ref> and began working in the French Casino in Miami as a reservation clerk<ref name=UNLV /> as a teenager.{{Sfn|Weatherford|2001|p=11}} He worked as a bouncer at the ''Stork Club'' in New York City in the 1930s. In 1940, he was appointed as an assistant to Jules Podell at the ''Copacabana'' nightclub,{{Sfn|Fishgall|2010|p=108}} and was later general manager of the club.{{sfn|Papa|2009|p=73}}{{Sfn|Kelley|1986|pp=168–169}} By 1949, he had a controlling interest in the nightclub,{{Sfn|Weatherford|2001|p=11}} and he was still at the club in July 1952.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Saturday Evening Post|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPoeAQAAMAAJ|date=July 1952|publisher=Curtis Publishing Company|page=114}}</ref> [[File:The Sands Hotel and Casino in 1959.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Sands Hotel and Casino]] Entratter became general manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas when it opened in December 1952.{{Sfn|Weatherford|2001|p=11}} At the time, it was the most luxurious hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and among the world's best hotels.{{sfn|Papa|2009|p=73}} Entratter made many show business friends during his time as a manager at the Copacabana, where he gained renown for his smoothness in dealing with its performers and patrons. {{sfn|Alexander|2013|p=62}} He was able to use these connections to sign performers for the Copa Room at the Sands, a nightclub that he built especially for Sinatra.{{Sfn|Klein|1997|p=228}} Entratter offered entertainers an additional incentive to perform at the Sands. Headlining stars received "points", or a percentage of ownership in the hotel and casino.<ref name=Entratter>{{cite news|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/frank-sinatra|title=Frank Sinatra|author=Weatherford, Mike|publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=February 7, 1999|access-date=November 9, 2015}}</ref> Entratter's personally selected "Copa Girls" wore $12,000 worth of costumes on the hotel's opening night ({{Inflation|US|12000|1952|r=-3|fmt=eq}}). This surpassed the salary of the Copa Room's star, Danny Thomas.<ref name=UNLV>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/showgirls/jack-entratter-and-copa-girls|title=Jack Entratter and the Copa Girls|publisher=University of Nevada. Las Vegas|access-date=November 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105090326/http://digital.library.unlv.edu/collections/showgirls/jack-entratter-and-copa-girls|archive-date=November 5, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Due to organized crime involvement in the development of Las Vegas, Entratter was associated with mobsters such as Meyer Lansky and Hyman Abrams in the financing of the Sands,{{sfn|Balboni|Edwards|2006|p=27}} which he ran with Carl Cohen, who was its entertainment director and vice president.{{sfn|Sheridan|2011|p=55}} Nancy Sinatra wrote in her 1986 autobiography: "Sands was the place. Jack Entratter, Nick Kelly, Carl Cohen, they were quite a team. They knew what talent to book, what food to serve. They also knew how to be generous, and they weren't afraid to be. There were always free drinks for the gamblers".{{Sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=109}} Entratter was still the manager of the Sands in 1966 when Sinatra's live album, ''Sinatra at the Sands'', was recorded, as during the "Tea Break" Sinatra mentioned that Entratter had told him that many of the hotel suites of the new hotel block being built at the time would be given names to glamorize it, including the Danny Thomas, Red Skelton, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis suites.<ref name="SS">''Sinatra at the Sands'' (1966), Reprise Records</ref>
Entratter died in Las Vegas on March 11, 1971, after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
== Personal life == [[File:The Rat Pack with Jack Entratter at the Sands 1960.jpg|thumb|300px|Entratter (5th from left) with the Rat Pack at the Sands in 1960]]
Entratter was married to Dorothy James until her death in 1961; they had two daughters, Caryl Entratter Palin and Michelle Entratter Walkoff.<ref>{{Cite web|last= |first= |author-link= |title=Jack Entratter of Las Vegas, 57|work=New York Times|date=March 12, 1996 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/12/archives/jagk-ehtratter-of-las-vegas-57-first-man-to-booktop-stars-for.html }}</ref> His second wife was model and actress Lari Laine (Corinne Cole).{{sfn|Kuhns|2013|p=238}} He was described as being a large man of {{convert|6|ft|4|in}} in height and {{convert|240|lb}} in weight,{{Sfn|Weatherford|2001|p=11}} with a "deep, baritone voice".{{sfn|Papa|2009|p=73}} He reportedly had a "slightly menacing character with the demeanor of an ex-boxer", yet was "smooth and courtly" to those he liked.{{Sfn|Fishgall|2010|p=108}} Known as "Mr. Entertainment",{{sfn|Nash|2014|p=170}} he did not drink alcohol, gamble or smoke.<ref name=UNLV />
Entratter was congregation president of Temple Beth Sholom from 1959 through 1963, and again in 1966.{{sfn|Marschall|2008|p=182}}
Entratter is the namesake for the AZA chapter of Las Vegas.
In film, he appeared as himself in ''Pepe'' (1960),{{sfn|Milne|2009|p=717}} and served as a technical advisor on Sinatra's 1955 film, ''The Man with the Golden Arm''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3720/the-man-with-the-golden-arm#notes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802090036/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3720/The-Man-with-the-Golden-Arm/#notes|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2011|title=The Man With The Golden Arm|publisher=TCM|access-date=November 9, 2015}}</ref> He was one of the founders of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.<ref>{{Cite web|first= |last= |author-link= |title=You Only Turn 50 Once! |website=jewishnevada.org|date=August 5, 2016 |url=https://www.jewishnevada.org/blog/you-only-turn-50-once }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Sources == {{Commons category}} * {{cite book|last=Alexander|first=Linda J.|title=A Maverick Life: The Jack Kelly Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6NxCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT62|date=July 2013|publisher=BearManor Media|id=GGKEY:277941FZ6T0}} * {{cite book|last1=Balboni|first1=Alan Richard|last2=Edwards|first2=Jerome E.|title=Beyond the Mafia: Italian Americans and the Development of Las Vegas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VokLkL4NbnYC&pg=PA27|year=2006|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=978-0-87417-681-0}} * {{cite book|last=Fishgall|first=Gary|title=Gonna Do Great Things: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNvSMAsGilQC&pg=PA108|date=June 15, 2010|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4391-3157-2}} * {{cite book|last=Kelley|first=Kitty|title=His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EnbzfyWuuL0C|year=1986|publisher=Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks|isbn=978-0-553-38618-9}} * {{cite book|last=Klein|first=Edward|title=All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L2G4a6pLItIC&pg=PA228|year=1997|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-50191-4}} * {{cite book|last=Kuhns|first=Bradley W.|title=A Music Journey Remembered "The Life and Times of Brad Evans, Musician"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KkQPhQeSBq8C&pg=PT238|date=April 19, 2013|publisher=Bradley Kuhns.|isbn=978-0-944647-58-5}} * {{cite book|last=Leigh|first=Spencer|title=Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBm6CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT217|date=September 25, 2015|publisher=McNidder and Grace Limited|isbn=978-0-85716-088-1}} * {{cite book|last=Marschall|first=John P.|title=Jews in Nevada: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCJfAIOC2csC&pg=PA182|year=2008|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=978-0-87417-737-4}} * {{cite book|last=Milne|first=Jeff|title=Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The Complete Guide to the Movie Trivia Game|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZyqXZ_3sEwC&pg=PT717|date=July 20, 2009|publisher=Jeff Milne|isbn=978-0-615-28521-4}} * {{cite book|last=Nash|first=Alanna|title=The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8v6AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT170|date=March 1, 2014|publisher=Aurum Press|isbn=978-1-78131-201-8}} * {{cite book|last=Papa|first=Paul W.|title=It Happened in Las Vegas: Remarkable Events that Shaped History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjhFA2Edu84C&pg=PA73|date=October 1, 2009|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7627-5819-7}} * {{cite book|last=Sheridan|first=John Harris|title=Howard Hughes: The Las Vegas Years: The Women, the Mormons, the Mafia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YHMr6LRpocC&pg=PA55|date=September 6, 2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4634-0693-6}} * {{cite book|last=Sinatra|first=Nancy|title=Frank Sinatra, My Father|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9EiE2i6i-PUC&pg=PA109|year=1986|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-62508-5}} * {{cite book|last=Weatherford|first=Mike|title=Cult Vegas: The Weirdest! the Wildest! the Swingin'est Town on Earth!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3a3l0zST68C&pg=PA11|date=January 1, 2001|publisher=Huntington Press Inc|isbn=978-0-929712-71-0}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Entratter, Jack}} Category:1914 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American business executives Category:American business executives in the food industry Category:American hoteliers Category:20th-century American Jews Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:Businesspeople from Las Vegas Category:History of Las Vegas Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:American businesspeople in the casino industry