I ran across a publicity picture of my movie daze the other day. It’s amazing what you find while packing up 43 years. I have a lot of stuff. In any case, the picture reminded me of the first time Ruth and I took Michael and BZ to Vegas. It was over a holiday break in the fall of 1992. Michael was fourteen and BZ was fifteen. David stayed home for “basketball practice” and any other adventure a high school senior could conjure up. Why I remember their ages will become clearer as my story develops.
The four of us stayed at the Riviera Hotel. That was my “go to place” at the time. The truth of the matter is my “go to place” was any place that would give me a good deal on a room. Free is always good, and this room was free.
Ruth wasn’t much of a gambler at the time, so she took the kids shopping while I frequented the tables. As a good friend of mine has said several times, “I should have gone shopping. At least I would have something to show for my money.” But that’s not my style.
The four of us spent some of our time walking the strip. The walk itself was educational. If you’ve never been, prior to Covid, you would see dozens of street hustlers handing out cards advertising ladies who would come to your room for a visit. The stars of the cards had names like Trixie, Breathless, Boom Boom, and Star. Each card featured a single lady, and Michael collected them like baseball cards. He never met a card he didn’t like. He brought hundreds home to show his peeps. He has five tubs of memorabilia still stashed at our house, and I bet those cards are among his treasures.
Both he and BZ collected plastic coin tumblers. The big tumblers were about the size of Seven Eleven’s “Big Gulp”, or the refillable popcorn tubs you receive in a movie theatre. The casinos handed them out to carry your coins from machine to machine. Their large size offered each gambler a bit of hope. Each tub featured the name, a dazzling picture, and logo of the respective casino. Some were prettier than others, but the kids collected them all.
We went to three or four shows. We made sure they were kid appropriate singers, dancers, magicians and comics. We avoided the gambling floor as required, but they got their first taste of “sin city”. Over the years they returned several times on their own, so I know they enjoyed themselves.
One late afternoon as we were returning to our hotel for dinner, I was approached by a movie producer. They were in a pickle, and he requested my help. It seems they needed a stunt double for a photo shoot as the original double had failed to show. He said something like, “I’ve got a lot of money invested in this shoot and I can use your help. All you need to do is let us take your picture and we’ll do the rest. You’ve got the perfect look! Time is of the essence!”
I originally declined, but Ruth and the kids encouraged me to take the leap. “Come on Dad. You’ll be great! The guy needs your help.” After much encouragement from my entourage, I relented and did the shoot. We took dozens of pictures over the next hour, or so, and after my work was complete, he offered me a ton of money. I declined the cash. I looked at it as my contribution to show biz, and I wanted to demonstrate that money can’t buy everything. In any case, they used one of my pictures on the promo for “Gold of the Pharoahs”.
We had a good time during the trip. Everyone brought home at least one memory. Ruth’s most vivid took place after we returned to the Detroit airport. We took the shuttle to our car and discovered we had been “parked in”. The only one skinny enough to get into the car was BZ. Luckily, she had her driving permit and experience enough to pull the car from its parking spot. It was a tight fit, so Ruth watched one side of the car while I watched the other. BZ inched the car very carefully out of the spot. As she swung the car out, she ran over Ruth’s foot. There was a blood curdling scream followed by several curse words. Ruth suffered for much of the trip home, but forgot about it entirely until I asked her to read this blog.
At least that’s how I remember it.