Funny you should ask, as we were also taken aback when we discovered this fact while researching the concluding installment of that epic two-parter we ran back in February, concerning the relationships between some iconic Las Vegas casino operators. It would very much appear, however, that there has only ever been one official "Mr Las Vegas," and that those honors belong to the one and only Bob Stupak, who was presented with a certificate to prove it, although at least two others claim that title, or have attempted to.
Here's the skinny. According to Wayne Newton in a 2009 interview with LV Sun entertainment columnist John Katsilometes, his most-famous nickname (Newton has previously been known as "The Midnight Idol" and is still affectionately referred to as "The Wayner") came about in the late '70s and '80s, when he was pretty much indisputably the hardest-working entertainer on the Strip. Back then, not only was Wayne Newton fulfilling his own contracts at a string of properties including the Desert Inn, Frontier, Sands, Bally’s, Caesars Palace, and Las Vegas Hilton, but (particularly while he was at DI and the Frontier), Newton was the go-to guy for showroom managers when their own resident act flaked out, as Robert Goulet, Jimmy Durante, Sammy Davis Jr,., and others, were wont to do. Sometimes he played multiple shows in a day and at multiple properties, so it makes sense that Newton's omnipresence (and professionalism) would earn him the moniker "Mr Las Vegas." He deserved it!
However, around the time of that interview with Johnny Kats, when Wayne Newton had just signed on for an ill-fated run in the Tropicana showroom, former long-time Flamingo headliner George Wallace made a half-hearted bid for the crown and started dubbing himself -- publicly, on billboards and such -- "The New Mr Las Vegas." To this, The Wayner and his people evidently took some exception, as evinced by the press release that employed all-caps lettering to declare, "THE ONE AND ONLY 'MR. LAS VEGAS,' WAYNE NEWTON, CELEBRATES 50 YEARS ON THE STRIP WITH A HISTORIC NEW SHOW, ONCE BEFORE I GO, AT TROPICANA LAS VEGAS."
A call from Kats to Wallace found the latter ostensibly in compromising mode. "He is Mr. Las Vegas. I am the new Mr. Las Vegas. Let's make it perfectly clear: He is the man. I want to be just like him. Everything is just great, it's cool. We don't need controversy to generate interest here. Even Mr. Las Vegas Jr. works for me," so Wallace said.
Still, by even presuming to adopt the title, and just as the original was about to embark on a new residency, could definitely be interpreted as somewhat disrespectful. Kats -- who's close to Newton -- chose to take Wallace at his word, pointedly concluding his piece with, "Works for us, too. Just play along, and no one gets hurt. That's how you get to be a Mr. Las Vegas, in spirit if not in fact."
Still, the fact remains that only one person, to the best of our knowledge, can ever officially have laid claim that "Mr Las Vegas" credential, and it's neither George Wallace nor Wayne Newton, but rather Stratosphere founder and self-styled Polish Maverick Bob Stupak, who in 1996 had that title bestowed on him by the Las Vegas City Council.
Then Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who'd had a turbulent relationship with Stupak in her early days in the job, but who wound up being among his staunchest supporters (and reportedly got pretty choked up at the recent naming ceremony for Stupak's new street designation), observed at the time of his death, from leukemia in 2009, that: "There was only one Bob Stupak. Right or wrong, [he] stood behind what he believed. He would not compromise for better or worse. He never apologized for himself, nor should he have." Much like Las Vegas itself, we could add.
For this, and for (in the words of the proclamation) his "pioneering spirit and tireless energies," not to mention Bob's (little-publicized but bountiful and thoughtful) philanthropy, and for being a true gambler through and through, Stupak seems as deserving of the title as anyone we could possibly think of. RIP.
