ENTERTAINMENT
We've Made A Lot
Of Great Albums.
There are a host of reasons to host an affair at the
new Sheraton Southfield Hotel.
We've just undergone a multi-million dollar
renovation and our facilities are second to none. You'll
find an elegant ballroom that can accommodate 850
people in style, superb food and an experienced,
knowledgeable staff that will take care of all the
details. Our prices are surprisingly reasonable, too.
So whether you're planning a wedding, anniversary,
bar mitzvah, reunion or whatever, consider the new
-
Sheraton Southfield Hotel. Call our
Director of Catering at 559-6500. 16400 J.L.
S14
4 4.1:4fro
Hudson Drive, Southfield.
I
Sheraton Southfield Hotel
6066 W. MAPLE, West of Orchard Lake Rd.
851-6577
CARRY-OUT DEPT.NZTs1)°/?1,?Eall
_E T _
Featuring
RANT)
• Pizza • Ribs • Greek Salads • Lasagna • Chicken • Sandwiches • Etc.
OFF ROOM
'COUPON'
$2 OFF
CHICKEN TERIYAKI
FOR 2
(Reg. $12.95)
• GREEK SALAD
• BAG OF BREAD STICKS
CARRY-OUT LOCATION ONLY
JILI
!Expires Jan. 23, 1992
A Tradition...
In Business
Since 1946
OWNED & OPERATED
BY
THE HERC FAMILY
--
BUY ONE PIZZA
GET 2nd SAME
PIZZA ANY SIZE
I COUPON
-
r
$4.00
CARRY-OUT LOCATION ONLY
Expires Jan. 23, 1992
J1 11
■
HERC'S
BEEF BUFFET
SELECTIVE BUFFET
MENU
CAFETERIA,STYLE
SERVING
7 Days A Week
Sun. Thru Thurs.
11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Friday & Saturday
11 a.m.•9 p.m.
477-5845
ALL FOOD MADE FRESH • NO FRIED FOODS
is
• OUR FAMOUS
PRIME ROAST BEEF
• FRESH•ROASTED TURKEY
• BAKED CHICKEN
• FRESH HADDOCK
AND SCROD
28975 GRAND RIVER
TUESDAYS
10 % OFF
SENIORS
Farmington Hills
BETWEEN 8 MILE & MIDDLEBELT
The Bright Idea:
Give a Gift Subscription
70
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1992
RICHARD PEARL
Special to The Jewish News
lay my song," the man
would say.
Mary Pearl would
look up from her , piano and
find herself staring into a pair
of the most stunning blue
eyes she'd ever seen. Her
fingers would automatically
drift back to the keyboard and
the sweet-sad sound of
"Melancholy Baby" would
roll into the lounge of the
Latin Quarters, a major
gambling casino in Newport,
Ky.
It was the 1940s, and the
voice and the blue eyes — as
well as the casino — belong-
ed to Benjamin "Bugsy"
Siegel, the Jewish gangster
from New York who would
later found Las Vegas.
Although Mary Pearl's
career as Bugsy's piano-
player was somewhat brief —
not long after she began play-
ing in Newport, the Kentucky
State Police shut down the
town's gambling forever — the
St. , Louis musician's
memories are strong, par-
ticularly with the release of
Bugsy, the Warren Beatty-
Annette Bening movie about
the mobster.
Ms. Pearl, who retired from
show business after a 50-year
career and is now 80, says the
real Bugsy was "very hand-
some. He had the world's
most gorgeous blue eyes.
When he walked into the
room, everybody stopped talk-
ing and looked, even if they
didn't know who he was. He
was that good-looking.
"Bugsy was very nice and
his place was very respec-
table," she says. "He never us-
ed a cuss word in front of me.
And sometimes he would lay
a $100 bill on the piano as a
tip.
"When I began there, I
didn't even know who he was.
One of the waitresses
whispered, 'That's the boss.'
We were not allowed to call
him Bugsy. He hated the
name. It was 'Mr. Siegel: And
you never went to him. He
came to you."
Not that she approved of
gangsters. "I just wanted to
play in the big rooms (night-
clubs) and they (gangsters)
owned them.
"If you did your job, they
liked you. And if you kept out
of their business, they liked
you even more. And that's
what I did."
Originally booked at the
Lallormande Club in Cincin-
p
The hospitality people of ITT
Restaurant
Piano Player Recalls
The Real Bugsy Siegel
THE JEWISH NEWS
Mary Pearl: "We were not allowed to call him `Bugsy.'
He hated the name."
nati, across the Ohio River
from Newport, Ms. Pearl got
the job at Siegel's largely
through her own persistence:
after her own show each
night, she'd hop in a cab to
Newport and ask the
manager for a chance at the
piano.
After she got the job at the
Latin Quarter, Ms. Pearl
rubbed elbows with the greats
of show business, playing
piano between shows of such
stars as Sophie Tucker, Jim-
my Durante and Perry Como.
Then, one night when she
was playing at The Lookout
House, another Newport
casino and club, it all ended.
"Newport was really a
church town and the people
didn't like the casinos," Ms.
Pearl recalls. "The local
sheriff tried to close it up but
couldn't until he got the state
police in on it. They walked
in, lined along the walls
around the room, surroun-
ding it, with their guns
pointed toward the ceiling
and said, 'Okay, it's oven' And
it was. The place never re-
opened." The same thing hap-
pened at all the clubs that
night, including Bugsy's, she
says.
Later, as a singer-pianist,
she played in big hotels and
nightclubs across the country
— "from Maine to California,"
she says. She backed such
acts as the Ames Brothers
and the Four Freshmen.
Now residing in a senior
citizen apartment complex,
Ms. Pearl is looking forward
to seeing the Bugsy movie "if
I can find somebody to go
with me. I don't drive any-
more."
But actor Beatty can't take
the place of the real Siegel,
she says. "Bugsy was hand-
somer." LI
Two Plays
Set For Ann Arbor
Performance Network and
the Nectarine will present A
Picture of Oscar Wilde Jan.
23-26. Performances will be
Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m. and Sun.
6:30 p.m. at the Performance
Network, 408 W. Washington,
Ann Arbor. There is a charge.
Chicago's Theatre Oobleck
will present Gone 8 p.m. Jan.
30, 31 and Feb. 1 at Perfor-
mance Network.
For information and reser-
vations, call 663-0681.
Cultural Arts
Theater Day
Southfield Cultural Arts
will host a theater day Jan.
29.
Lunch at Albans in Birm-
ingham will be followed by a
performance at the Birm-
ingham Theatre of Rodgers
and Hart's Babes in Arms.
The bus will leave South-
field Parks and Recreation
11:30 a.m. and return 4:30
p.m. There is a charge.
For reservations and fur-
ther information, call Ida
Hersh, 354-4717.