Jay Sarno

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox person 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 and Circus Circus hotels in Las Vegas.

Early life

Sarno was born in 1922 in St. Joseph, Missouri.<ref name="gamingunlvbio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="unlvphotographs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His father was a cabinet maker, his mother a homemaker.<ref name="reviewjournalobit">Template:Cite news</ref>

Sarno graduated from the University of Missouri, with a degree in business.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/><ref name="reviewjournalobit"/> While in college, he met Stanley Mallin, who would become his lifelong friend and business partner.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/>

During World War II, he served in the United States Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations alongside Mallin.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/>

File:Caesars Palace in 1970.jpg

Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, developed by Jay Sarno.

Career

With Stanley Mallin, Sarno became a tile contractor in Miami, Florida.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/><ref name="reviewjournalobit"/> They subsequently built subsidized housing in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/> In 1958, after they had met Jimmy Hoffa and Allen Dorfman, they built the Atlanta Cabana Motel with a loan from the Central States Pension Fund.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/> They went on to build Cabanas in Palo Alto, California and another motel in Dallas.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/>

File:Circus Circus Las Vegas - 001.jpg

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

Sarno developed the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/><ref name="sunjayremembered">Template:Cite news</ref> It was inaugurated on August 5, 1966.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/>

Sarno later built Circus Circus.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/><ref name="sunjayremembered"/> The attraction featured a circus tent with daily acts and Sarno would dress up as a ringmaster and attend to families and children personally.<ref name="reviewjournalobit"/> Sarno subsequently leased it to Bill Pennington and Bill Bennett, a Del Webb executive, and they purchased it in 1983.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/>

Sarno planned to develop Grandissimo, a hotel and casino with 6,000 rooms.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/> However, the project was shelved when Sarno died.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/>

Personal life

Sarno married Joyce Sarno Keys but they later divorced.<ref name="unlvphotographs"/> They had four children.<ref name="unlvphotographs"/><ref name="sunjayremembered"/>

Death and legacy

Sarno died of a heart attack on July 21, 1984, at the age of 62, at Caesars Palace.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/>

Sarno was posthumously elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1989.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He received, also posthumously, the inaugural Sarno Award for Casino Design from the Global Gaming Expo in 2003.<ref name="gamingunlvbio"/>

Filmography

• Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Sideshow Barker (uncredited)

Further reading

• Template:Cite book