Two things regarding story below:
1. Danny Gans was incredible. I have traveled to Las Vegas many times for work and a few times for pleasure. After so many times, it gets kind of old. I can only put up with the gambling, solicitors, slot machine noises and the horrendous smoke smell for so long. So, I have started to go see one of the many great shows when I’m there. When I travel for work I always go to the show alone (seems like most of the groups like the strip clubs ~ not my thing), so I usually get a pretty good seat. There are lots of great individual tickets to almost every show always available. I’ve even gotten the front row several times buying it the same day as the show! A few years ago I got to see Danny Gans & he was a blast! He was an amazing performer. He definitely earned being one of the top shows in Vegas…
2. What is the deal with people in great health dying. It makes you start to wonder why take care of yourself. It just doesn’t seem fair when you see some chain smoking, booze-hound live to 100 and if you eat well & exercise you could go at 50. Makes me wonder if those who are living on the edge and having a blast are the smart ones. At least they get to do everything they want and have a great time doing it! I feel guilty ordering a milk shake!
THE STORY:
Legendary Vegas entertainer Gans dead at 52
Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans, an impressionist who sold more tickets on the Strip than the Rat Pack or Elvis Presley, died early Friday, his manager said. He was 52.
Gans, best known for his touching impersonation of entertainer George Burns, began a five-year headline gig at tycoon Steve Wynn’s Wynn Las Vegas hotel in February. Prior to that, he spent 11 years at the Mirage.
Gans earned Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year honors 11 years in a row in the reader poll conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal but was not well known beyond Las Vegas.
The cause of death was unknown. Gans’s manager Chip Lightman expressed his shock at the impressionist’s passing.
“The guy was healthy as an ox,” Lightman said. “I spoke to Steve Wynn several times this morning and both of us were shocked. I was with Danny the day before yesterday. Healthy as an ox. I mean, all he ate was egg whites and spinach and worked out religiously.”
Gans was a former minor league baseball player who turned to performing after a career-ending injury.
He appeared as a player in the film “Bull Durham” and found success in his 1995 one-man show in New York before moving the next year to Las Vegas.
He is survived by a wife and three children.
He was a GREAT performer!
