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Berkley's father has 'mild heart attack'
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STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- George Levine, the father of Rep. Shelley Berkley and a noted link to the Rat Pack era of Las Vegas, suffered a "mild heart attack" on Monday and is scheduled for surgery this week .
A spokesman in Berkley's campaign office disclosed Levine's medical condition in explaining her absence from the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Lawmakers were reconvening after a four-week holiday recess.
Berkley remained in Nevada with her father and other family members, spokesman Eric Koch said. No further details were available Tuesday evening.
Levine, 86, is one of the threads back to the Strip of the 1960s. Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack ruled the boulevard and hung out at the Sands hotel-casino, where Levine was a waiter and eventually maitre d' of the famed Copa Room.
In telling her family's story, Berkley, a Democrat and seven-term House member now running for U.S. Senate, has described her father as a striver who sought a better life for his family and uprooted from the East in search of one.
Levine, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, was a struggling waiter in the Catskills who packed up his wife and two daughters and headed West in 1963. The family stopped in Las Vegas on the way to California to pursue a job lead.
According to Berkley, they stayed after a friend accompanied Levine to the Culinary union hiring hall, and he found a job at the Sands.
When the resort closed 33 years later, Levine retired after losing his job with 1,200 others, according to a 1996 account of the Sands' closing by Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith.
Levine suffered a mild stroke in July 2002 and recovered after surgery at Desert Springs Hospital.
In 2009, the producer of a Rat Pack tribute show at the Plaza hotel-casino persuaded Levine to take a role as ceremonial maitre d'. In a profile, Smith described Levine as "one of the last of the red-hot showroom captains" who "not only made big bank but were well-known in their own right."
Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Peter Urban and Review-Journal researcher Brian Gaw contributed to this report. Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
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"Georgie" Levine is one of the good guys, and sorry to hear of his illness. He played a significant role in the entertainment industry in Las Vegas, and is known by thousands who visited Las Vegas and the Sands Showroom. People tend to forget what put Las Vegas on the map; in addition to the gambling, it was the Shows - both production shows and the Celebrity Shows.
In 2002,Dick Feney and Sandy Hackett came in to see me when I was the General Manager of the Greek Isles Hotel and Casino. They brought me the Rat Pack show. It begain a long and sucessful Run. Right away, the producers hired George Levine to run the room. I was more impressed with George, then I was with the show, even though the show was great. I think Shelly Berkley has done more for Nevada than any other office holder in the state..we need to elect her to the senate and keep the music playing. George Levine is a Las Vegas theasure and I pray that he stays on with us many more years.
I feel for the man...He is probably stressing out over the thought of his crazed leftist daughter becoming a senator...
@Michael Green,,,Yes, your moral superiority continues to seep out of you with every post. Bravo again!
Joe C, I am morally superior enough not to wish ill health and death to those I disagree with politically and their families. As for the rest of your comment, you certainly proved my point.
I love how the morally superior claim the high road using the low road calling people scum and using the same type of language once used against black Americans. Bravo!
thank you for nothing shelly
at that age the obama care death panel would overturn any surgery and just manage pain and discomfort ..
chazbean, I'd like to say thank you as someone who considers himself a friend and an ally of Berkley. We can disagree about the issues. The scum who posted below who, of course, lack the guts to sign their names are unfortunately typical of a certain alleged breed of people out to prove Darwin wrong.
I see the "compassionate" RWNJs are out in force this afternoon.