Remembering the Stardust Hotel and Casino

by Leah Bailly | Nov 15 2007

Exactly one year has passed since the legendary Stardust Hotel and Casino closed its doors after 48 years of continuous cocktails, Baccarat and sporadic corruption. Sparked by the recent implosion of the infamous Frontier Hotel last week, Vegas historians are looking at 2007 as a major marker in the demolition of classic Vegas icons. Gone are the gangs of crooners and hit men, the spangled showgirls sipping Marigold gin on ice. These days, casino owners don't collapse dead on the Craps tables, clutching dice to their mean mobster chests. So of all the carpet joints in all the gambling towns, of the dozens of hotels that have graced the Strip, what made the Stardust so special? And why, a year after its demise, is it so sorely missed?

Built in 1958 in the wake of such dynasties as Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo and Guy McAfee's Frontier, the Stardust was the dream of gangster Tony Cornero. Anthony "The Admiral" Cornero, like most Vegas gangsters, was born to parents struggling with old world specters. After losing the family farm in a card game, Cornero's father shipped the family from Italy to San Francisco, where Tony quickly moved into the rum-running racket. After a few years in jail, Cornero launched his gambling career in 1930 with a classy downtown Vegas joint known as the Green Meadows. Vegas locals loved the dress-up, dine-out quality of the Green Meadows, which featured wall-to-wall carpeting (hence "carpet joint") rather than cowboy-era sawdust floors, only a handful of hotel rooms and premium imported booze. Before long, Cornero had attracted the attention of the New York syndicate, and in 1931, after threats and coercion, the East Coast mob burned Cornero's casino to the ground. But by the 1950s Tony Cornero wanted another shot at Vegas. 

A Man, A Mobster and A Dream

Tony Cornero's vision was the Stardust. After purchasing over 40 acres on the north Strip with cash from floating casinos, the plans were set for a sprawling, thousand room resort and casino, the largest 1950s Vegas had to offer. Cornero promised $5 rooms and affordable luxury for the masses, skipping such lavish details as sprawling lawns and fountains and instead focusing on neon lights and space-themed bungalows. His plan included a super-scooter to cart gamblers between the giant 16,000 square foot casino and their respective rooms. Coin slot machines would ring bells through the front doors that opened straight to the Strip, and attractive women would flank every blackjack dealer, forcing gamblers to save face for a pretty lady. And in classic Vegas style, restaurants would face the pool, so that bathing beauties could keep even the weariest of poker players wide-eyed and wondering.

But after selling stocks, begging money from the mob and even taking four bullets to the gut, Corneo's dream was about to falter. In 1955, with funds drying up and no money to fill the bars with liquor and the tables with chips, Cornero had to deal with the devil. In a last ditch attempt to save his enterprise, "The Admiral" met Mafioso Moe Dalitz (of Meyer Lansky's gang) at the Desert Inn to plead for more funds. After hours of dead-end negotiations, long-time gambler Cornero hit the Craps table, only to lose $10,000 in half an hour, clutch his hands to his heart and collapse face first into the high-rollers' laps. 

Vegas was shocked. Allegations of poisoning clouded funeral proceedings, but no autopsy nor investigation were instigated. The mafia placed trusted Jack "The Barber" Factor in control of the Stardust, and construction was completed amid court orders and bankruptcy charges. Despite two years of bickering, the grand opening was a splash. In July 1958, the space-age spectacle wowed senators, businessmen, movie stars and the requisite mobsters in an extravagant gala evening. The sprawling 1,065 room hotel and casino was all it had promised. The world's largest resort, the Stardust, was born. 

And the new enterprise was as innovative as it was influential. The Stardust's entertainment was cutting edge, including such coveted acts as Donn Arden's Lido de Paris showgirls, Vegas' first topless revue. The Stardust was the first in Vegas to sign a long-term contract with singer Billy Daniels. The 140-foot bar, giant pool labeled the "Big Dipper" and famous "Ticker Tape Café" would become Vegas icons for decades to come. Most notable, the Stardust would give birth to Vegas' obsession with neon glare, featuring a panoramic galactic sign containing over 11,000 bulbs. The famous lights of the Stardust could be seen some 60 miles away.

Bigger, Biggest, Best

The 1960s and 1970s saw the Stardust through three renovations, drive-in movie screens, boxing championships and Miss Flying Saucer contests. A giant bust by the auditors of the Gaming Control Board revealed secret vaults containing hundreds of thousands in coins diverted from slot machines. Meanwhile, world famous high-divers plunged into its pools, Cassius Clay came to train, magicians and astronauts frequented its high-roller halls, escorting French showgirls from Roulette tables to patios under the stars. The Stardust was sullied underneath but stunning on the surface. All that classic Vegas aspired to be.

But by the 1980s, all that crime had caught up with the blacklisted mobsters, and the dirty grip of the gangsters was released in 1985 when the Stardust was purchased by local hero Sam Boyd. For a while, thanks to major facelifts and its galactic reputation, the Stardust still managed to break records. The giant new convention center included the world’s largest casino at 72,000 square feet. Housekeeping was charged with changing 11,000 sheets each day. The largest entertainment deal to date was signed with Wayne Newton in 1999 for $25 million a year. In the Vegas spirit of "bigger, biggest, best," the Stardust was not to be shamed. 

But it was that spirit that killed the Vegas icon. By the new millennium, plans for the upcoming Echelon were brewing, and mergers and acquisitions soon replaced the memory of Lido's first topless girls and Vegas' neon bewilderment. The date was set and fate was sealed, and on Nov. 1, 2006, the Bobbie Howard Band led a conga line of patrons out the front doors amid tears and song. Those doors closed on a classic Vegas icon, the spirit of the mafia with the body of a showgirl. The Stardust had a history as lurid as Vegas itself. The implosion a few months later was marked with fireworks and fanfare. Another giant project will take its place, while the Stardust falls into iconography, the history of an exploding city and all that's left behind in the rubble.  

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