The passing of two troupers

   A couple of recent deaths will be most noted, fittingly, within the community of troupers who carved out solid careers on the Strip even if they never became household names.
  Greg Walker died Jan. 4 at age 57. With his siblings Bill and Kathy, the Chicago-born entertainer performed as The Walkers, a musical-comedy act centered around impressions. They first worked “The Mickey Finn Show” at the Landmark in 1974, then moved to the Holiday Casino (now Harrah’s Las Vegas) for an 11-year revue that was known by various titles including “Keep America Smilin’."
  The Walkers last worked together in two shows produced by Robbie Howard in the late 1990s and 2000: “Hurray America” at the Westward Ho and “Stars of the Strip” at the Lady Luck. Greg’s specialty was his comic Elvis, which he refashioned for the past five years at the Imperial Palace “dealertainer” tables.
  Word also comes that Dean Sterling, the hypnotist who performed as “Dr. Naughty” at the Bourbon Street and Greek Isles in the 1990s and early 2000s, has died out of state after a long illness. Sterling made a minor cottage industry out of two of the most neglected little rooms in town. He launched the act in the Bourbon Street in 1994, and did the bulk of the performing before moving to the Greek Isles in 2002. By then, his son C.J. and two other hypnotists all shared the “Dr. Naughty” handle, dividing the schedule without the audience ever being the wiser.