Sam Distefano (Musician)

Sam Distefano (20 December 1926 – 13 April 2015) was a jazz pianist and talent executive for Playboy and the Riviera Hotel and Casino.

Early years

Sam Distefano was an Italian-American jazz pianist and talent executive born in Chicago, IL, on 20 December 1926. As a teen and early-aged adult, Distefano worked many famous jazz clubs on piano and bass in the Chicagoland area, including Mister Kelly's and The London House. He briefly attended the University of Illinois at Navy Pier before being drafted into the military in the early 1950s.

While serving in the Korean War, he became close friends with the renowned jazz pianist, Bill Evans. The two shared the same platoon and were bunk-mates in the 5th Army at Ft. Sheridan, IL. Distefano developed his jazz piano playing by studying Evans' playing on the upright piano they had in their barracks. Distefano was awarded the National Defense Service Marksmanship Medal for having demonstrated perfect firearms skills and proficiency in combat training. After serving honorably from 1952-1955, Distefano moved to Miami, FL and invested in a notable nightclub named the Crab Shanty that he changed to the Stut N' Tut where he became close friends and performed on piano with, the legendary jazz trombonist, Carl Fontana. He graduated from the University of Miami in 1957 with a 4-year, Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. After returning to Chicago, he worked days as an industrial engineer for IT&T, and nights as a musician, playing both piano and upright-acoustic-string-bass-fiddle in many of the city's famous nightclubs, including The Cloisters, The Trade Winds, and The Living Room, relieving such famous pianists as Joe Parnello (one of the select few pianists who accompanied Frank Sinatra), Larry Novak, and Joe Iacco on their off-nights. It was in one of these clubs, Playboy founders, Victor Lownes and Hugh Hefner, caught Distefano performing with his trio and accompanying female jazz vocalists on piano.

Entertainment career

Lownes & Hefner liked Distefano's playing enough to ask him to perform with his trio at the opening of the first Playboy Club at 116 E. Walton St. in Chicago, in February 1960. This launched Distefano's 25-year career with Playboy, that included his being promoted to musical director at their clubs in Chicago and Miami during the 1960s; orchestra leader, conductor, and entertainment director at the Playboy Resort in Lake Geneva, WI from 1969-1978 (where he led his own 32-piece orchestra, accompanied on piano, and conducted for, such artists as Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Anthony Newley, Tony Bennett, the Smothers Brothers, Liza Minnelli, and Ann-Margret, to name a few); & eventually vice-president of entertainment for Playboy's entire international chain of clubs and hotels, worldwide.

Immediately following his successful 25-year career with Playboy, Distefano was hired by corporate conglomerate tycoon, Meshulam Riklis, in 1984, to head the entertainment department as vice-president of entertainment and special events at Riklis' legendary Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV, where he booked and launched many successful entertainment events during his decadelong tenure there, including numerous world-heavyweight-championship-boxing bouts, concerts, and full-scale production shows like the "Legends of Comedy" event, which featured Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, and Danny Thomas; "Burns & Hope Together," wherein George Burns and Bob Hope performed live together for the first time; "Luciano Pavarotti with the Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra;" the "An Evening At La Cage" female impersonator show; the "An Evening at the Improv" comedy club; the "Crazy Girls" sexy revue; and the award-winning, multi-million-dollar production-extravaganza, "Splash," which ran successfully for over 20 years in the Versailles Theater, was associate-produced by Distefano, and acclaimed as "Las Vegas' International Show of the Year" by the Las Vegas Review Journal for over 10 years in a row. He also signed an exclusive deal with Frank Sinatra, for multiple engagements over a two year period, including a New Year's Eve concert with Riklis' then wife, singer and actress, Pia Zadora. Distefano was often a featured guest on KVVU's Las Vegas hit T.V. show, AM Southern Nevada, as well as a judge on the popular 1980s and 1990s national T.V. series Star Search, with Ed McMahon, that paved the way for today's talent search shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent. Distefano's career was a highlighted exhibit in the Las Vegas Museum of Entertainment History at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino, and in 1997, he was honorarily inducted into the Casino Legends Hall Of Fame. To this day, Distefano remains the frequent subject of numerous, popular books about the history of music and entertainment in Chicago, Las Vegas, and the iconic Playboy Clubs.

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