LAST RAT PACK PAL DIES AT 89

Joey Bishop, the deadpan comedian described as "the glue that held the Rat Pack together," died Wednesday, breaking the last link to a fabled era of Las Vegas history. He was 89.

The comedian and talk-show host died at his home in Newport Beach, Calif. He had been in failing health for some time, according to his friend and publicist, Warren Cowan.

Bishop ended up the last man standing from the famed gang that defined cool on the Strip in the 1960s, having outlived Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford.

He actually beat Sinatra to town, performing at the Desert Inn four months before Sinatra's first Las Vegas engagement, in 1951. Bishop became a dependable opening act, working with headliners such as Beatrice Kay at the El Rancho in 1952.

Sinatra had noticed Bishop earlier performing in New York and hired him for his New Jersey club and as an occasional opening act on the road.

Bishop also attracted attention during the late '50s for his late-night appearances on "The Jack Paar Show."

But it was the famous "Summit at the Sands," during the filming of "Ocean's Eleven" in the winter of 1960, that cemented Bishop's place in Las Vegas history. Advertisements gave the comedian smaller billing than the others, but he had a pivotal role.

Jack Entratter, who ran the Sands Hotel, "knew it would be chaotic. There was nothing to hold it together as an act. He wanted a comic," Las Vegas comedian Pete Barbutti recalled Thursday. "So he asked Joey if he would do it. He told Joey upfront: 'This is a big opportunity for you, but I'm not going to pay you a lot of money. I don't have any money left over.'

"Joey said, 'I don't care, I would do it for nothing.'"

Bishop provided the structure as well as many of the "ad-libs" delivered by the other Rat Packers. Playing two shows at the Sands every night, filming every day, the Rat Pack generated a "contagious" spirit of fun during the production, Bishop told the Review-Journal in 1977.

"Somehow or other, you don't get tired when you're looking forward to it," he said. "That was the reason for the Rat Pack -- to not take things so seriously, to have a good time."

Entratter was grateful for Bishop's help and made the comedian a twice-a-year headliner at the Sands during breaks from his sitcom, "The Joey Bishop Show," which ran from 1961 through 1964.

Sinatra called on the quick-witted Bishop to serve as master of ceremonies for President-elect John F. Kennedy's inaugural gala in 1961, which included a performance by the Rat Pack.

Bishop was again called upon to add structure to one of the more unusual entertainment bookings in Las Vegas history: After the Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1963 World Series, he was co-billed with six members of the team at the Sands during Christmas week.

Howard Hughes bought the Sands in late 1967. By then, Bishop was busy with his own late-night talk show, which ABC positioned as competition to Johnny Carson. Barbutti remembered Bishop getting summoned by Hughes' Summa Corp. to settle an escrow account.

Bishop was surprised to hear of it and learned that Entratter had been matching the comedian's salary with payments into an interest-bearing account.

"He took the money, went back to L.A., and he bought a building, a two-story medical office building, near Westwood, right at the beginning of Beverly Hills," Barbutti said. "That has kept him very comfortable for his entire life."

Bishop's TV talk-show career was years in the making, with the comedian frequently subbing for Paar before getting his own 90-minute forum. "The Joey Bishop Show," with Regis Philbin as his sidekick, ran 21/2 years on ABC.

The network gave up on the show ever besting Carson and in November 1969 told Bishop it would end that December.

Bishop had plans of his own. A day later, he told the studio audience of the cancellation during his opening monologue, praised the staff and announced he was going home to have dinner with his wife. He walked offstage, leaving Philbin to handle the rest of the show and gain a little name recognition of his own. (Bishop went on to become a popular substitute host for Carson, filling in 205 times.)

"It didn't bother me a bit," Bishop said of his show's cancellation during a 1998 interview with the Los Angeles Times. "I don't consider success doing a show for 30 years; I'm sorry. To me, you're successful when you graduate from something. I did a series, I did a talk show, I did movies, I replaced Mickey Rooney (on Broadway) in 'Sugar Babies.' You understand?"

Bishop appeared in 14 movies, including "Sergeants 3" with the Rat Pack and "Texas Across the River" with Martin.

It's unlikely Bishop's success could have been predicted from his humble background. He was born Joseph Abraham Gottlieb on Feb. 3, 1918, in the Bronx, N.Y., and was raised in Philadelphia. He dropped out of high school at 18 and didn't stick with a job in his father's bicycle shop.

Instead, he and two others formed a comedy team called the Bishop Brothers Trio. They performed in burlesque houses in the late 1930s. Bishop went solo when one of the "brothers" got sick and the other was drafted.

Bishop was drafted in 1942 and spent four years in the Army. He married his wife, Sylvia, in 1941, and they remained together until her death in 1999.

Bishop's Las Vegas career faded after the Rat Pack years. He tried to launch a Las Vegas-based game show called "Punch Line" from the Tropicana in June 1988, but it never progressed beyond a pilot. That same year, he served as a celebrity spokesman for Opportunity Village.

Bishop is memorialized nightly by comedian Sandy Hackett in "The Rat Pack is Back -- The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean" at the Greek Isles. Of the title characters, only Bishop's name is authorized; he signed off in a letter, primarily as a favor to the late Buddy Hackett, Sandy's father.

Hackett said Thursday that Bishop was never well enough to see the show. "But I interviewed him several times. He didn't remember his act, but we would talk about moments. Joey always said, 'It's attitude. Everything is your attitude.'"

Bishop also was portrayed by Hooter's headliner Bobby Slayton in the made-for-HBO movie "The Rat Pack" in 1998. The movie was more about Sinatra's relationship to John F. Kennedy and reduced Bishop to a minor role.

"He didn't want to have anything to do with it. When the guys wrote it, I don't think they talked to him, and I think he was hurt by that. He kind of made that clear to me," Slayton said Thursday. "It would have been nice if they had invited him to the premiere, or if one of the writers had talked to him."

But Bishop was gracious to Slayton. "He sent me a picture I have on the wall in my office: 'Maybe someday they'll let me play you in a movie.'"

Bishop is survived by his son, Larry; two grandchildren; and longtime companion Nora Garabotti.

Review-Journal wire services contributed to this report.