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Wayne Newton (left) and his brother, Jerry, performed in the local Kiwanis talent show.
Wayne Newton, a Las Vegas icon with roots in Stafford County, chatted about his home state in an interview last week in his dressing room at the Tropicana Resort and Casino. He's in Richmond today to speak to the legislature. |
LAS VEGAS
--It was nearly midnight when Wayne Newton wrapped up a rehearsal in Branson, Mo., a few years back and the legendary entertainer was hungry.So he and his wife hit a burger joint, and he took his first spin ever through a drive-through lane.
He noticed as he pulled up to the window that the cashier was looking at him funny. Newton, a performer since the age of 6 and a Las Vegas icon, figured she was itching for an autograph.
"Can I ask you a question," she said, handing Newton his food.
"Sure," he responded, anticipating her request and reaching for a pen.
"Are you an Elvis impersonator?" she asked.
Newton, 67, roared with laughter when he told the story in his dressing room at the Tropicana Resort and Casino last week. He and Elvis Presley were great friends and, to be sure, they had much in common--an enduring stage presence, legions of fans and a shock of thick black hair.
But the idea that Mr. Las Vegas could be mistaken for an Elvis impersonator, well, that was a first.
Virginia lawmakers shouldn't have any trouble recognizing Newton--a native Virginian--when he pulls into Richmond today to urge the General Assembly to formally recognize the Patawomeck Indians of Virginia.
Newton, who spent part of his childhood in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, says he's descended from the Patawomeck tribe. He agreed to lobby lawmakers after Chief Robert "Two Eagles" Green sent him a letter, asking him to write to the General Assembly on the tribe's behalf.
"I called him and said, 'Would it be more effective if I came there and delivered it myself?'" said Newton, who canceled his regular performance at the Tropicana's Tiffany Theater so he could appear in Richmond.
Eight other tribes, including the nearby Rappahannocks, already have state recognition, which opens the door to land protection and other important benefits. Newton, whose two daughters have been inducted into the Patawomeck tribe, is hoping his efforts will sway lawmakers.
"I am honored to have been asked," he said. "It isn't often you get to do something in life that means that much to you personally."
His foray into Virginia will not include a trip to Fredericksburg, where many of his extended family members live. He's expected back on Tropicana's stage Wednesday evening, so he's flying home right after testifying before the House Rules Committee.
A LONG TIME GONE
Newton says he probably hasn't been back to the Fredericksburg area in at least 30 years, but he remembers the place fondly.
He recalls crabbing in the Potomac with his grandfather, Brodie Newton, as a small boy. And he recalls winning $100 with his brother, Jerry, in the 1952 Kiwanis Amateur Talent Show when he was 9.
According to old Free Lance-Star clips, the boys, dressed in cowboy costumes and armed with electric guitars, "did all but bring down the house with their rendition of 'Hey Good Lookin' and 'Steel Guitar Rag.'"
The family might have stayed in Virginia but for Newton's asthma. A doctor advised them to move out West for the child's health, so they headed for Arizona when Newton was about 10.
By the time he was 15, he was performing in Las Vegas nightclubs, well on his way to becoming a household name.
As a result, he said, he doesn't know too many of his extended family members back in Fredericksburg. Many of the relatives he was close to in the White Oak area have passed on.
Every now and then, he said, he gets a call from a distant cousin or a former classmate who's coming to his show. Sometimes, they come backstage afterward and he gets a chance to reconnect.
After a full night of performing last Thursday, he spent an hour and a half with a Free Lance-Star reporter and photographer, reminiscing about his youth in Fredericksburg and his 50 years in Vegas.
He considers Las Vegas his hometown. But his hospitality is uniquely Southern.
"I am living proof that you can take the boy out of Fredericksburg and send him to someplace like Las Vegas, but you can never take the Fredericksburg out of the boy," he said.
STILL HAVING FUN
Newton lives on a 52-acre spread where he raises Arabian horses. Each afternoon, he picks up his 7-year-old daughter from school. When strangers recognize him and wave, she asks, "Do you know them?"
"She's just starting to understand why people make a fuss over her father," he said. "To a 7-year-old, I'm just dad."
Five nights a week, he performs for a packed house at the Tropicana Resort and Casino, which opened on the Vegas Strip in 1957, shortly before Newton arrived in town. In those days, he put on six shows a day, six days a week, an unheard-of schedule now.
"Nobody told me it was difficult," he said. "That's just what they were doing."
At the time, the biggest stages belonged to Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin. Older and more experienced, they took a young Newton under their collective wing. Newton's 1963 hit "Danke Schoen" was actually a gift from Darin, who originally was supposed to record it.
Newton's current show at the Tropicana, titled "Once Before I Go," is an autobiographical work that details the highs and lows of his five decades on The Strip and pays tribute to the men who helped him succeed.
"The whole idea was to tell my side of the story. We hear things about Tiger Woods, about Elvis, about Frank, about Wayne. This is truly from my perspective--what happened there in my life," he said.
"It's a trip down memory lane to an extent. It's almost a history lesson of Vegas because both of us grew up at the same time."
Despite the show's title, it's not meant to be a swan song. Newton said he has no plans to retire--though he'll be a grandfather in March when his 32-year-old daughter gives birth.
"I would leave entertaining before it left me," he said, but he's still having too much fun. Recent appearances on everything from "Dancing With the Stars" to "Ocean's 11," have established Newton's pop-culture status with a whole new generation.
When he was about 4, he said, his mother took him to a Grand Ole Opry American Road Show in Roanoke. That's where the show-business bug first bit him.
In all the years since, his passion for performing hasn't waned, he said.
"I remember it like it was yesterday, sitting there watching people's faces as they watched the performance. I looked at my mother and said, 'That's what I want to do,'" he said. "When you see the smiles and tears of happiness come into people's faces, what could be more fun than that?"
Edie Gross: 540/374-5428
Email: egross@freelancestar.com
