Jay Sarno

Jay Sarno (July 2, 1922 – July 21, 1984) was an American developer, hotelier and casino owner. He developed and owned the Atlanta Cabana Motel in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as several motels in California and Texas. He was the founder of the Caesars Palace hotel and Circus Circus in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Not to be confused with Joseph W. Sarno.
Jay Sarno
Born(1922-07-02)July 2, 1922
St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJuly 21, 1984(1984-07-21) (aged 62)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Missouri
OccupationEntrepreneur
Years active1958–1984[1]

Early life

Sarno was born in 1922 in St. Joseph, Missouri.[2][3] His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland.[4][5] His father was a cabinet maker, his mother a homemaker.[1]

Sarno graduated from the University of Missouri, with a degree in business.[2][1] While in college, he met Stanley Mallin, who would become his lifelong friend and business partner.[2] During World War II, he joined the United States Army and served in the Pacific theatre alongside Mallin.[1]

Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, developed by Jay Sarno.

Career

With Stanley Mallin, Sarno became a tile contractor in Miami, Florida.[2][1] They subsequently built subsidized housing in Atlanta, Georgia.[1] In 1958, after they had met Jimmy Hoffa and Allen Dorfman, they built the Atlanta Cabana Motel in Atlanta with a loan from the Central States Pension Fund.[1] They went on to build Cabanas in Palo Alto, California, and another motel in Dallas, Texas.[1]

The Circus Circus in Las Vegas, Nevada, developed by Jay Sarno.

Sarno developed the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1][6] It was inaugurated on August 5, 1966.[2]

Sarno later developed the Circus Circus.[1][6] The attraction featured a circus tent with daily acts, and Sarno would dress up as a ringmaster and attend to families and children personally.[1] Sarno subsequently leased it to Bill Pennington and Bill Bennett, a Del Webb executive, and they purchased it in 1983.[2]

Sarno planned to develop the "Grandissimo", a new hotel and casino with 6,000 rooms.[2] However, the project was shelved when Sarno died.[2]

Personal life

Sarno married Joyce Sarno Keys; they later divorced.[3] They had four children: Jay Sarno Jr, September Sarno, Heidi Sarno Straus, and Freddie Sarno.[3][6]

Death and legacy

Sarno died of a heart attack on July 21, 1984, at the age of 62, at Caesars Palace.[2]

Sarno was posthumously elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1989.[7] He received, also posthumously, the inaugural Sarno Award for Casino Design from the Global Gaming Expo in 2003.[2]

Filmography

Further reading
  • Schwartz, David G. (2013). Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas: How Jay Sarno Won a Casino Empire, Lost It, and Inspired Modern Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada: Winchester Books. ISBN 9780990001607. OCLC 860913633.

References
  1. Evans, K. J. (September 12, 1999). "Jay Sarno". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  2. "2003 Honoree: Jay Sarno". Center for Gaming Research. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  3. "Guide to the Jay Sarno Photograph Collection PH-00347" (PDF). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  4. "Jay Sarno, the Emperor from Las Vegas". Casinos Inside Magazine. February 26, 2018. Sarno was born in Missouri in July 1922 in a Jewish family which emigrated from Poland.
  5. Marschall, John P. (February 1, 2008). Jews in Nevada: A History. University of Nevada Press. p. 173. ISBN 9780874177374. Most of the hotel builders were Jewish Americans. Jay Sarno (often misidentified as Italian) and Nate Jacobson were associated with Caesars Palace
  6. Nordli, Brian (March 3, 2014). "Jay Sarno remembered for doing 'something nobody had ever done before'". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  7. "The Gaming Hall of Fame". University of Nevada Las Vegas. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
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