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An Interview with Toni Clark

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An Interview with Toni Clark An Interview with Toni Clark An Oral History Conducted by Joanne L. Goodwin ______________________________________________ Las Vegas Women Oral History Project Series I. Gaming and Entertainment University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1997 Revised 2006 NSHE, UNLV, Women’s Research Institute of Nevada, Las Vegas Women Oral History Project, 1997, 2006. Citation of material from this interview should include: An Interview with Toni Clark conducted by Joanne L. Goodwin, 1997, rev. 2006, Special Collections, Lied Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV. Produced by: Las Vegas Women Oral History Project Women’s Research Institute of Nevada, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 89154-5020 Director and Editor: Joanne L. Goodwin Project Assistant and Text Processor: Dona Gearhart ii iii iv This interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of the Foundation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The History Department and the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada at UNLV provided a home for the project and a wide variety of in-kind services. The department, as well as the college and university administration, enabled students and faculty to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank the university for its support that gave an idea the chance to flourish. The interview would not have taken place without the great assistance given by Toni Clark and her companion Larry Finuf. Together they provided me with numerous newspaper and magazine articles, photographs, and publications about the Desert Inn. These materials have been added to the Wilbur and Toni Clark Collection in UNLV’s Special Collections. They also took great pains to identify individuals in the photograph collection, track down names and dates they did not have, and to review and edit the transcript correcting and clarifying information. The researcher is encouraged to consult the other materials on Toni Clark contained within the Wilbur and Toni Clark Collection. In 2006, all the original copies produced in 1997 were missing and WRIN rebound revised copies and deposited one each at WRIN and Lied Library, UNLV. At that time, the number of photos included in the transcript were reduced, front matter was updated, and spellings were corrected. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Additional transcripts may be found under that series title. Joanne Goodwin, Project Director Associate Professor, Department of History University of Nevada, Las Vegas v List of Illustrations Toni and Wilbur Clark announcing their Las Vegas TV station frontispiece (photograph by Mark Swain for Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn) Courtesy of Toni Clark Photo Portfolio following the text Courtesy of UNLV, Lied Library, Special Collections Department Gaglionese Family Portrait around 1919 (back row) Josephine, Salvatore, Frank; (front row) Rose, Dominick, Lena Wedding Day for Wilbur and Toni Clark, 2 August 1944 in Reno, Nevada. Governor E.P. Carville and Larry Allen, an A.P. war correspondent, congratulate them. The entrance to Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn Toni Clark received the Fashion Foundation of America’s Best Dressed Hostess Award for 1958. Socializing in the Desert Inn’s Skyroom following the Tournament of Champions. (Standing, left to right) Lori Adelson, Toni Clark, Averille Dalitz, Shirley Fruchtman, Katherine Simmons, Betty Grable, and Evelyn Roen. (front) Muriel Rothkopf, Bo Weinerger, and Mrs. Bo Weinerger. On the Set with Elvis (left to right) Charley O’Kern, Moe Dalitz, Juliet Prowse, Elvis Presley, Toni Clark, Wilbur Clark, Cecil Simmons, and Joe Franks. Party at the Stardust post 1965. (left to right, back row) Jay Sarno, Toni Clark, Hank Greenspun, Kirk Kerkorian. (front) Jean Kerkorian, Charlie Harrison, Mrs. [Jay] Sarno, Theda Harrison, Harold Ambler, and Barbara Greenspun. vi Preface Toni Clark (born Lena Gaglionese) spent her youth in Seattle, Washington where she was born on April 4, 1915 to Angelene and Salvatore Gaglionese. Her father and mother moved to the Seattle area when they immigrated to the United States from Naples, Italy years earlier. Salvatore worked as a street cleaner for the city of Seattle and Angelene cared for the house and family until her early death. Toni grew up with three siblings, her father and step-mother, and an uncle and cousins next door. After attending Seattle’s Franklin High School for three years, she left. “I just didn’t like school so I quit,” she said, and spent the next couple of years at home. From these simple origins, Toni became “the first lady of Las Vegas” as some admirers called her, referring to the role she played in the transformation of Las Vegas from a frontier town into a glamorous resort town during the1950s and 1960s. In 1941, before the Second World War began, Toni traveled to San Diego to visit friends and decided to stay. After a year of caring for a young boy, she moved into the Barbara Worth Hotel which was owned by Wilbur Clark. Clark’s father ran the hotel and suggested that Toni apply for a job at his son’s new bar and restaurant, the Monte Carlo. She had not met Wilbur Clark at the time and her shyness dissuaded her from making the move. Nevertheless, she did apply and went to work as the hostess of the Monte Carlo in downtown San Diego. Wilbur and Toni’s courtship began slowly. He gave her the name Toni, saying she “looked more like a Toni than a Lena,” and she kept it. In 1944, around the time Wilbur Clark relocated to Las Vegas where he had purchased the El Rancho Hotel, the couple married in Reno, Nevada and permanently made Las Vegas their home. vii Clark’s involvement in Las Vegas clubs and gambling expanded with the Monte Carlo downtown and the Player’s Club on the strip. But his dream to create a luxury resort hotel came to fruition when the Desert Inn opened in 1950. The fifth major property on the strip, the Desert Inn had several features that distinguished it from other places. The Skyroom offered a private club atmosphere for talking, music, and dancing. The Monte Carlo Room served French cuisine. The Doll House provided round-the- clock childcare for children of hotel guests. The Painted Desert Room, the property’s showroom, featured top performers and the Donn Arden Dancers. All these features combined to create a resort that offered guests an exquisite setting for a gambling vacation. Toni Clark had a special place at the heart of the Desert Inn’s social life. She brought a gracious and elegant charm to social events associated with the property. Although she said she was never involved in the business of the hotel-casino, she played a unique role setting a new tone for the enterprise. She entertained guests and dignitaries at the hotel as well as her home; organized fashion shows featuring the top designers of the time for the wives of high-rollers; and created celebrations of special events, notably her husband’s late December birthday, with annual parties. When Wilbur Clark died in 1965, Toni Clark remained active in the city’s social life. She did not disappear as others had, but continued to plan and attend social functions. As part of her service to the community, she took particular pleasure in her work with the Variety Club. She continued to reside in Las Vegas until her death in 2006. viii Toni and Wilbur Clark announce their Las Vegas TV station. Photo credit: Mark Swain for Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn. Courtesy of Toni Clark. ix An Interview with Toni Clark x This is Joanne Goodwin. I am interviewing Toni Clark at her home in Las Vegas. It’s July 2, 1996. Mrs. Clark do you agree that you have read the release forms for this interview, and you’ve granted your permission for this interview? Yes I have. Thank you very much. And thank you for this interview. I want to start out with your childhood. Where were you born? I was born in Seattle, Washington, April 4, 1915. And tell me your parents names, and what they did. My mother’s name was Angeline Botton. She was a housewife. My father’s name is Sam [Salvatore] and he was a street cleaner for the city of Seattle. And what was Sam’s last name? Gaglionese. What name were you born with? Lena Gaglionese. Were your parents born in Seattle, or did they move to the area? They were both born in Naples, Italy. So they came to Seattle directly? I think so, yes. Did you grow up with any brothers and sisters? My real brother’s name is Don and I have a half-brother and a half-sister. My other half- sister Rose did not grow up with us. She lived with her uncle and later became a nun. 1 So you grew up with three of them in your house? Yes, the four of us. Did you have family in the area? My uncle lived next door to us, my father’s brother, until he passed away. He had three children: two boys and a girl. They were my cousins. Did your family ever talk about why they chose Seattle? They never did mention it, no. What are some of your earliest memories of your parents? My mother passed away when I was about four years old and then my father took care of us until he married my stepmother. Your mother passed away when you were four or five? Yes. And then my father re-married and I had a wonderful stepmother that raised and took care of all of us.
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