BoxRec

Does anyone know where in Las Vegas Joe Louis lived around 1963? An exact address or neighborhood?

I don't think Joe Louis actually lived in Las Vegas in 1963.
He was still living in California but was a frequent guest to Las Vegas of course.
From what I remember reading somewhere,he was a unofficial greeter at the Thunderbird casino around then.
So possibly he may have stayed in one of the cottages behind the casino,which of course is no longer there.
In 1963 Joe Louis was also a part of singer Pearl Bailey's stage act at the Flamingo hotel.
So perhaps he would have stayed at a room there during that time.

Joe Louis did not permentaly move to Las Vegas until around late 1970 ,
when he moved from Denver Colorado and bought Johnny Carson's house at 3333 Seminole Circle in Las Vegas.
I think he may have passed away there.

Brutu, From what I heard, (and I think those from the area will confirm) Joe "aways was welcome and would have a place to lay his head" in the town of Vegas. AND I believe this commitment was true from several influential vegas magnates. He was however expected to do favors such as appearances or operate the door when he could. Since he was first and foremost a humble man with an outstanding work ethic, he would always make good on any "generosities" given to him. So any one offering Joe his evening quarters were ALWAYS happy with the interest paid on their "investment".

Joe did not remain a rich man in terms of his bank accounts, but he was never in "want" for the basics as I understand it. Plenty of fair natured leeches uh I mean "friends" remained loyal and for the most part, and he was treated with a certain respect. In Vegas room and board was always afforded him simply for his presence.

Can anyone else offer more details on this? Or am I victim of listening too close to hollow rumors?

Joe Louis was also a host(and an investor)at the Moulin Rouge casino in 1955.
Which was a black and tan club on the edge of West Las Vegas.
That was because up until about 1960,Las Vegas was one of if not the most segregated cities in the USA.
All black people had to be off of the Vegas strip and Fremont st.before sundown .
That included not only waiters and maids and hired help,it included if your were a performer and a star attraction like
Sammy Davis jr.(Frank Sinatra can be credited for bringing the barriers down in Las Vegas,he reused to work there until it was done)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge_Hotel

This is all really interesting... I didn't know this. I am looking specifically for the details of Joe's residence and employment in 1963 -- in Vegas. If he didn't live there, where he might have most often stayed.
And from what you're all telling me, despite not having money, he wasn't living in squalor...
I know Ash Resnick had him on public relations staff at the Thunderbird too.

when Joe Louis married his second wife in 1960 they purchased a 10 room Spanish style house in Los Angeles.
In 1964 they purchased a Summer home(ranch-style) in Denver Colorado(a few blocks from Sonny Liston's house on Monaco drive),
Louis's wife was one of Liston's lawyers).

Ok...great. And when he did visit Vegas in 1963, was he usually staying at the Thunderbird, or a private cottage through Resnick?

From what I understand, they were old army pals. And Resnick liked to be seen with the champ (as well as Liston).

This is a great thread. Very interesting.

molecule76 wrote:This is all really interesting... I didn't know this. I am looking specifically for the details of Joe's residence and employment in 1963 -- in Vegas. If he didn't live there, where he might have most often stayed.
And from what you're all telling me, despite not having money, he wasn't living in squalor...
I know Ash Resnick had him on public relations staff at the Thunderbird too.

Joe Louis was never living in squalor during the late 1940's to 1980's.
He had married two very successful buisnesswomen,the last one Martha Malone Jefferson was a very succesfull criminal lawyer.
(who had plenty of her own money)
They married in 1959 and stayed married clear up until Louis died in 1981.
Im sure just about everything was in her name.Despite owing the IRS a million dollars in back taxes,IMOP Joe Louis was living the life of Riley..
Not only did the casino's give him house money to gamble,a lot of times toursits gave him their money to gamble with.
Plenty of groupies too.The big problems back then was the wrong people got him hooked on drugs like heroin in the late 1950's
and cocaine in the mid-1960's,then he became mentally ill around 1966(I am( uessing perhaps LSD may have triggered off his mental illness(which was a legal drug up until October 1966),but I aim not a doctor of course)

Brutu wrote: Joe Louis was never living in squalor during the late 1940's to 1980's.
He had married two very successful buisnesswomen,the last one Martha Malone Jefferson was a very succesfull criminal lawyer.
(who had plenty of her own money)
They married in 1959 and stayed married clear up until Louis died in 1981.
Im sure just about everything was in her name.Despite owing the IRS a million dollars in back taxes,IMOP Joe Louis was living the life of Riley..
Not only did the casino's give him house money to gamble,a lot of times toursits gave him their money to gamble with.
Plenty of groupies too.The big problems back then was the wrong people got him hooked on drugs like heroin in the late 1950's
and cocaine in the mid-1960's,then he became mentally ill around 1966(I am( uessing perhaps LSD may have triggered off his mental illness(which was a legal drug up until October 1966),but I aim not a doctor of course)

So that's heroin, cocaine and LSD that The Brown Bomber was using. Anything else?

I believe his wife once asked him if he was taking "Red Devils"(Secobarbital).
but he denied it.
BTW Im just theorizing Louis may have taken LSD,as it was very popular in Hollywood
in the late 1950's and 1960's of course(Cary Grant used it for therapy).
I still remember those school Health class 16 mm movies they shown us in ca.1971,
that some people who go on trips never come back.
BTW I have my own theory why Liston(may have)been bumped off.
Louis was released from the Mental hospital in Denver in September 1970
and started to make a lot of trips to Las Vegas(although he had to go see his Psychiatist once a week in Denver as an out-patient for a month or two,before relocating to Las Vegas permently)
As was reported earlier ,Liston was known to be distributing a selling cocaine,as well as using it himself.
Louis spent 6 months in the hospital and was off cocaine,so there may have been a concern that Liston would have got Louis hooked on the stuff again,so(IMOP)may have been a reason Liston was eliminated in late December 1970.

Was Louis using heroin still in the 60's? Or up to Liston's death in December '70?

It is generally believed Joe Louis was finally off cocaine during the 6 months he spent in the hospital in Denver Spring/Summer of 1970,,but I also read somewhere that someone who
was close to him say that Louis was never really off the stuff until he had his stroke in 1977.
That's just what I read anyway.

I read this book called "Thin White Lines," by John P. Sutton... and there's a chapter where it gives a pretty detailed account of Sonny Liston's cocaine use toward the end of his life, when he lived in Vegas. We know he spent a great deal of time with Louis then...and wondering if they got high together...often.

Brutu wrote:Joe Louis was also a host(and an investor)at the Moulin Rouge casino in 1955.
Which was a black and tan club on the edge of West Las Vegas.
That was because up until about 1960,Las Vegas was one of if not the most segregated cities in the USA.
All black people had to be off of the Vegas strip and Fremont st.before sundown .
That included not only waiters and maids and hired help,it included if your were a performer and a star attraction like
Sammy Davis jr.(Frank Sinatra can be credited for bringing the barriers down in Las Vegas,he reused to work there until it was done)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge_Hotel

I was staying on the strip last year and I was able to get in some Vegas Tours. I learned a lot about Joe Lewis on this tour, specifically about his training methods. It was a great tour, and I was inspired to start training for boxing. I got some Las Vegas Coupons and I hope to go out in Vegas again to learn more about the rich history of boxing that exists in the town. I am a huge Sammy Davis Jr. fan and I am excited to go to Vegas in a few weeks so I can learn more about his life. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best places to check out that have attractions centered around Frank Sinatra?

Charlieluc1968 wrote:

Brutu wrote:Joe Louis was also a host(and an investor)at the Moulin Rouge casino in 1955.
Which was a black and tan club on the edge of West Las Vegas.
That was because up until about 1960,Las Vegas was one of if not the most segregated cities in the USA.
All black people had to be off of the Vegas strip and Fremont st.before sundown .
That included not only waiters and maids and hired help,it included if your were a performer and a star attraction like
Sammy Davis jr.(Frank Sinatra can be credited for bringing the barriers down in Las Vegas,he reused to work there until it was done)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge_Hotel

I was staying on the strip last year and I was able to get in some Vegas Tours. I learned a lot about Joe Lewis on this tour, specifically about his training methods. It was a great tour, and I was inspired to start training for boxing. I got some Las Vegas Coupons and I hope to go out in Vegas again to learn more about the rich history of boxing that exists in the town. I am a huge Sammy Davis Jr. fan and I am excited to go to Vegas in a few weeks so I can learn more about his life. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best places to check out that have attractions centered around Frank Sinatra?

Sadly, they didn't teach you how to spell his name. It's L - o - u - i - s.

Well as far as Frank Sinatra , I would go to where the Sands hotel used to be
(The Venician is built over the site now,but in the foyer
is a marker where the Sands famous Copa room use to be and where
the Rat Pack performed together in the early 1960's.
Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis jr also performed at the Caesars Palace
when it opened in 1966.
Also try the Golden Nugget on downtown Fremont street,Sinatra
also performed there.
Sadly little is left of the old Las Vegas.
Maybe some of the original Camels may still be on display
in front of the Alladdin(which isnt the original building now).
Has the Star Dust been demolished yet?
I think the only original hotel left of old Las Vegas may be the
El Cortez
on Fremont street

BTW did you mean Joe Lewis the famous Karate man?
or Joe Louis the famous boxer?

BTW if you'r a Sinatra fan and also a fan of oulde Las Vegas
(to me it has more of a Los Angles vibe nowdays then 30 years ago)
you should get Sinatra live at the Sands recorded in 1966.
Personally I like to listen to the mature(but not aging)50 something Sinatra
more then any other period

Las Vegas did not really become a mecca for boxing until the jet port
was constructed around 1960.
Anyway you may want to check out the Hidden Well Ranch
about 8 miles South of Las Vegas in Paradise Valley,
where Floyd Patterson had trained to fight Sonny Liston
for the rematch in 1963.
Although perhaps it may have been purchased by a private buyer since then.
It was a historic early ranch and was rented by a number of celebrities
in the 1960's.

my pals ronnie and reggie kray fetched joe over in the mid 60,s to london to help him out,they took him on a tour to nightclubs in britain and joe was a big gambler and loved london casinos,they also took him to broadmoor hospital to give a talk and show his fights. joe was well looked after,he was given different "brasses" (prostitutes) to keep him company ! when ron and reg were lifed off for murder in 1969,joe sent them a letter via their mother to give them moral support and if he got back over to britain he would visit them,sadly joe never got back over as his failing health etc. but he thought the world of the twins,i have a copy of the letter he sent for them and some great photos of him and ronnie,which ron gave.

I posted a link to a site some time ago,where the Kray brothers
had posed with Joe Louis,Sonny Liston and even Rocky Marciano.
Joe Louis was hired as a host for several weeks at the Pigalle club in Piccadilly circus too
back in 1966 when he was hired to cover the Ali vs Karl Mildenberger bout in Frankfort Germany.

Joe Louis in his heyday was more connected to the Paradise Valley in the black section of Detroit
in the late 1930's and 1940's.
The Brown Bomber Chicken Shack which was located at 424 East Vernor
(which was a swank two story resturant building were on the second floor jazz bands played)
all the many clubs and hotels that were once there no longer exist since the highway was built through there in the 1960's.

here is a photo of Joe Louis at Caesars Palace taken a few months before his debilitating stroke which occured October.26.1977.

http://books.google.com/books?id=E78DAA ... pg=PA44&dq

johnnykayo wrote:my pals ronnie and reggie kray fetched joe over in the mid 60,s to london to help him out,they took him on a tour to nightclubs in britain and joe was a big gambler and loved london casinos,they also took him to broadmoor hospital to give a talk and show his fights. joe was well looked after,he was given different "brasses" (prostitutes) to keep him company ! when ron and reg were lifed off for murder in 1969,joe sent them a letter via their mother to give them moral support and if he got back over to britain he would visit them,sadly joe never got back over as his failing health etc. but he thought the world of the twins,i have a copy of the letter he sent for them and some great photos of him and ronnie,which ron gave.

The Kray twins booked Joe Louis for a number of personal appearences
in the clubs in Northern England in 1966 including the La Dolce Vita in Newcastle.