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.