Jack Entratter
Was a rather notorious Las Vegas Mafia character who oversaw the Sands Casino; he also, as legend has it, was instrumental in ?persuading? Columbia Studios boss Harry Cohn to give Frank Sinatra the role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity, for which Sinatra won an Oscar.
In November of 1954, Davis was almost killed in a life-altering car wreck that cost him his left eye. While he was recovering in the hospital, his friend Eddie Cantor visited and told him of the similarities between the Jewish and black cultures, a conversation that prompted Davis to begin studying the history of Jews. He converted to Judaism soon after, and remained devoted to the religion for the rest of his life.
The name "Rat Pack" was first used to refer to a group of popular entertainers in Hollywood that originally were informally organized around Humphrey Bogart (including the young Frank Sinatra). In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a group featuring Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who appeared together on stage and in films in the early 1960s, including the movie ?Ocean's Eleven.? The Rat Pack often performed in Las Vegas, Nevada, and were instrumental in the rise of Las Vegas as a popular entertainment destination. They played an important role in the desegregation of Las Vegas hotels and casinos in the early 1960s. Sinatra and the others refused to play in or patronize establishments that did not give full service to African-American entertainers, including Sammy Davis, Jr. Once Rat Pack appearances became popular and the subject of media attention, the Las Vegas properties were forced to abandon their segregationist policies.