After putting some of my wife's family history together with an awesome pile of signed photos of stars getting their hair done by her uncle, prior to evenings at The 500 Club in Atlantic City NJ, I have been reading a few books about it all. Turns out my wife's uncle was a very close friend of Paul 'Skinny' DiAmato, who owned and ran the 500 and picked up where Nucky Johnson left off. We have pictures of Skinny as Best Man in her uncles wedding, an 8x10 of Frank Sinatra's last performance at the 500 with Dean Martin and both signatures. 5 inscribed 8x10s of Jane Mansfield in his Beauty Shop getting a wig worked on the day she put her feet in the cement at the 500 Club Walk of Fame, one pick has Micky Hargitay, her husband. We have one of Nancy Sinatra and a very young Frank jr, with mom getting her hair done. There are several others in the collection.
I was able to make contact with Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson - Law and Order SVU) and sent her copies of the pics of her parents. She sent my wife 2 inscribed 8x10s to add to the provenance and she gave us a personal phone call one night. We still have her opening message identifying herself on our answering machine.
So the 2 books I am just finishing up are-
Chance of a Lifetime: Nucky Johnson, Skinny D'Amato and how Atlantic City became the Naughty Queen of Resorts
and
The Last Good Time: Skinny D'Amato, the Notorious 500 Club, & the Rise and Fall of Atlantic City
Bookmarks