A civil rights supporter who brought the Black Book to Nevada casinos, the man from Elko took on the Kennedy brothers and the FBI to protect gaming in the Silver State.
A singer who worked with Count Basie and at the Moulin Rouge would not be silenced in his fight against segregation.
He began his battle against injustice in Southern Nevada in the 1960s and is still fighting against those who would deny blacks and others their inalienable rights.
A lawyer who fought for civil rights when it was not popular to do so was his own man regardless of who his influential friends might be.
A banker who was not afraid to loan money to casinos rode the wave of development within the gaming industry.
Agent extraordinaire, who began his career as a hoofer with chutzpah, virtually invented the lounge show and brought everyone from Mae West to Elvis to Las Vegas.
The Chairman found his way back to the top of the heap by bringing sophistication to a stretch of road that he traveled with his Rat Pack friends.
A Texan who knew a thing or two about horse trading and gambling laid his claim on Fremont Street and changed the face of Western hospitality.
A Democrat who didn’t like JFK, minorities, foreign aid or the federal government, defied his detractors by being re-elected to Congress 10 times.
A flier who attained the rank of general flew in the face of his detractors on such issues as civil rights and gained the ear of a president.
A family that had a strong sense of justice has spawned judges, prosecutors and lawmakers who have played by the rules in Southern Nevada since 1928.
The father of the megaresort, this daredevil pilot turned his high-flying ways into soaring profits by building the world’s biggest hotels both on and off the Strip.
A renowned pianist with a flair for the outlandish, Liberace gave his audiences impeccable performances while clad in sequined capes.
A seasoned newspaperman with a strong sense of community, Hank Greenspun gave the good old boy system a run for its money.
A man who loved to sing and was born to lead spent 25 years on the Nevada Supreme Court in an effort to make sure the state kept its promises to the people.
Splashy production numbers were nothing to the don of destruction who pitted beauty against special-effects beasts to become Las Vegas’ premier producer.
From high-rise bank buildings and hospitals to horse racing and motion picture making, the projects of this construction king continue to flourish in Las Vegas and the West.
Clark County’s longest-serving sheriff was the top man when the city and county law enforcement agencies merged into the Metropolitan Police Department.
Nevada’s most powerful labor leader in the 1970s was found dead in the desert near Mount Potosi after refusing to pay for two car bombs he ordered that never blew.
Clark County’s unassuming chief health officer focused only on the public’s needs, not the political infighting, in his quest to improve the quality of life on all levels.
A public servant who was on the City Commission for two decades found his true reward was serving both mankind and the Mormon Church.
Some of Nevada’s politicians saw the obsessive recluse as a cure for Las Vegas’ woes in the gaming industry but his unusual behavior was almost as tainting as the shadow cast by the mob.
As a young newspaper advertising executive, he took a gamble on a place called Las Vegas and a man named Don Reynolds, and helped that man build a media empire.
A young bookmaker who decided to come to Nevada where his profession was legal is credited with making sports betting what it is today.
The man who brought fantasy and families to the Strip with Caesars Palace and Circus Circus was never able to fulfill his one huge dream — building the Grandissimo.
Despite a shaky beginning in the financial world, a former Del Webb Corp. employee became one of the more successful gambling executives in Nevada.
A fighter pilot-turned wing commander, whose tenure at Nellis Air Force Base was somewhat brief, had a huge impact on the base’s future as an elite training facility.
The man who brought McCarran International Airport into the modern age began his political career as a Boulder City council member and went on from there to the county and then the federal levels.
Rock ‘n’ roll’s monarch traded in his black leather jacket for a white spangled jumpsuit and ascended to the throne via the viva Las Vegas rocket, saving both himself and the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World.’
A Review-Journal writer found many of his subjects in the saloons and on the streets of town — many were unbelievable, but all were real.