{"id":2686,"date":"2024-10-14T13:04:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T13:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2024-10-16T14:25:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T14:25:33","slug":"vegas-myths-busted-sinatra-got-his-teeth-knocked-out-by-a-casino-exec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/2024\/10\/14\/vegas-myths-busted-sinatra-got-his-teeth-knocked-out-by-a-casino-exec\/","title":{"rendered":"VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED: Sinatra Got His Teeth Knocked Out by a Casino Exec"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carl Cohen, the 250-lb. vice president of the Sands Hotel, delivered a roundhouse punch to Frank Sinatra\u2019s mouth on Sept. 11, 1967. That punch was well-deserved, but it didn\u2019t knock his teeth out.<\/p>\n

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Frank Sinatra, shown in a scene from the 1953 film \u201cFrom Here to Eternity,\u201d is superimposed by AI into a wrecked 1950s coffee shop. (Image: Columbia Pictures, Google Gemini)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two days earlier, the Sands, upon orders from new owner Howard Hughes, cut off the crooner\u2019s casino credit and informed him he could no longer gamble unless he paid back the $200K that he already owed ($1.9 million today).<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s most famous pair of blue eyes turned fiery red.<\/p>\n

\n

Sinatra not only canceled his remaining engagements at the Sands\u2019 Copa Room \u2014 where the Rat Pack had performed together since 1959 \u2014 he trashed his hotel penthouse, attempting but failing to set fire to the curtains with his Zippo lighter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Carl Cohen, VP of the Sands Hotel, began his career as a bookie and operator in illegal gambling clubs operated by the Cleveland mob. (Image: Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The scene he caused in the casino included driving an electric baggage cart through a plate-glass window and standing atop a blackjack table and screaming, according to witness Paul Anka: \u201cThis place was sand when they built it and it\u2019ll be sand when I\u2019m fucking done with it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he was a gifted singer and a generous philanthropist, the Chairman of the Board was also a hothead. (People are complex.)<\/p>\n

The Whole Tooth<\/h2>\n

After his meltdown, Sinatra flew back to his Palm Springs residence and negotiated a a three-year deal to entertain exclusively at Caesars Palace. But he wasn\u2019t done with the Sands.<\/p>\n

On the following Monday, while back in Vegas to sign with Caesars, he paid his final visit ever to the Sands at 5:45 a.m. He demanded a personal audience with Cohen, who was enjoying breakfast in the property\u2019s Garden Room restaurant.<\/p>\n

According to witnesses, Sinatra subjected Cohen to a stream of verbal unpleasantries, including an anti-Semitic slur. Then he upended Cohen\u2019s table, spilling a full pot of steaming coffee onto the executive\u2019s lap.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what triggered the punch.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The front cover of the Sept. 12 edition of the Las Vegas newspaper births a myth. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSinger Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco and Frank Sinatra left his teeth \u2014 at least two of them \u2014 in Las Vegas,\u201d the Las Vegas Review-Journal <\/em>newspaper reported the next morning.<\/p>\n

It was a clever lead, but they weren\u2019t really Sinatra\u2019s teeth, just the caps affixed to them. Sinatra flew his personal dentist of 24 years, Dr. Abe Weinstein, and his assistant from New York City to LA the next morning to recast and reglue them on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one inaccuracy the newspaper can be forgiven, however, since two distinctly tooth-looking objects were<\/em> left on the floor following the fracas.<\/p>\n

Cohen wasn\u2019t fired for throwing the punch, as the action was deemed justified by the casino\u2019s owners, and neither party filed charges.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Strife<\/h2>\n

To the surprise of no one, a change in venue didn\u2019t lead to a corresponding change in Sinatra\u2019s temperament.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 6, 1970, Sinatra demanded credit to play $16K a hand at baccarat ($129K today). The limit at Caesars Palace was $2K back then ($16K today) and had already been extended, just for Sinatra, to $8K ($64K today).<\/p>\n

When denied his request, Sinatra flew into another rage that caused another scene.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Despite being threatened with assassination by Frank Sinatra in 1970, Caesars Palace vice president Sanford Waterman died of a heart attack seven years later. (Image: Newspapers.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He threw casino chips and attacked another casino vice president. He squeezed Sanford Waterman\u2019s throat so tightly, United Press International (UPI)<\/em> reported, it left marks.<\/p>\n

But Waterman chose a different response. Instead of knocking out Sinatra\u2019s caps, he threatened to blast a new one into him. Waterman pulled a 0.38-caliber revolver from his waistband and waved it around.<\/p>\n

Before huffing out of the building, witnesses say, Sinatra told Waterman: \u201cThe mob will take care of you.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Waterman was arrested and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. But the charge didn\u2019t stick, as both the sheriff\u2019s department and district attorney figured that Sinatra had instigated the incident.<\/p>\n

In fact, the incident so incensed local sheriff Ralph Lamb, he issued an icy threat to Sinatra.<\/p>\n

\n

If (he) comes back to town Tuesday, he\u2019s coming downtown to get a work card, and if he gives me any trouble, he\u2019s going to jail,\u201d Lamb told a UPI<\/em> reporter.<\/i> \u201cI\u2019m tired of him intimidating waiters, waitresses, starting fires \u2026 He gets away with too much. He\u2019s through picking on the little people in this town.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhy the owners of the hotels put up with this, I plan to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was too late to save Waterman\u2019s job, however, as Caesars Palace fired him immediately after his arrest.<\/p>\n

And Lamb never got the pleasure of throwing Sinatra in jail. Ol\u2019 Blue Eyes canceled the remaining three weeks of his engagement at Caesars Palace\u2019s Circus Maximus theater. His spokesperson at the time blamed it on \u201cexhaustion and a recent surgery for tendonitis on his hand.\u201d The rep also promised that his client would make up the dates a month later.<\/p>\n

Both statements were false, as Sinatra went into retirement for the next four years.<\/p>\n

\n

The new book, \u201cMafia Takedown\u201d by former FBI agent Mike Campi, details the probable impetus for Sinatra\u2019s retirement. It was a meeting he was summoned to by \u201cFat Tony\u201d Salerno in East Harlem. The Genevese crime family boss was sick of his famous friend making headlines by throwing his weight, and his mafia connections, around Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Salerno planned to put an end to it by putting an end to Sinatra.<\/p>\n

Once the singer realized what was about to happen, according to Campi, he \u201ccried like a baby\u201d and begged for his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFat Tony, it seems, took pity on him,\u201d Campi wrote. \u201cSinatra was reprimanded, and committed not to violate his relationship\u201d with the Genovese family again, or he wouldn\u2019t be spared again.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Sinatra poses with some of his mob connections backstage after performing at the Westchester Premier Theater in Tarrytown, New York on April 11, 1976. Top row: Paul Castellano, Gregory De Palma, Sinatra, Thomas Marson, Carlo Gambino, Jimmy Fratianno, Salvatore Spatola; bottom row: Joe Gambino and Richard Fusco. (Image: FBI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1974, Sinatra returned to Caesars Palace as though the 1970 incident had never occurred. And, he continued performing in Las Vegas until his final gig \u2014 on Oct. 19, 1994, at the MGM Grand \u2014 without throwing another conniption fit.<\/p>\n

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Look for \u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d every Monday on\u00a0<\/strong>Casino.org.\u00a0<\/b><\/em>Click here<\/a> to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email\u00a0corey@casino.org.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED: Sinatra Got His Teeth Knocked Out by a Casino Exec<\/a> appeared first on Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carl Cohen, the 250-lb. vice president of the Sands Hotel, delivered a roundhouse punch to Frank Sinatra\u2019s mouth on Sept. 11, 1967. That punch was well-deserved, but it didn\u2019t knock his teeth out. Frank Sinatra, shown in a scene from the 1953 film \u201cFrom Here to Eternity,\u201d is superimposed by AI into a wrecked 1950s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2687,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions\/2687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stakery.io\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}