The Place:
Harrah's Lake Tahoe is a hotel and casino in Stateline, Nevada. Harrah's is branded with the name of its former owner and operator William F. Harrah. It is now owned by Vici Properties and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The 18-story tower and 512 rooms, plus 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2) casino make it one of the largest resorts at South Lake Tahoe.
The Person:
From Wikipedia
"William Fisk Harrah (September 2, 1911 – June 30, 1978) was an American businessman and the founder of Harrah's Hotel and Casinos, now part of Caesars Entertainment.
Harrah used his influence to create the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 1955, an organization designed to regulate gaming in Nevada. In 1959, Harrah helped create an even stronger Gaming Commission to rid the state's casinos of corruption.
Harrah was known for his relations with both his customers and employees. The main theater in Harrah's Reno, originally called the Headliner Room, was renamed Sammy's Showroom after entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. (whose Duesenberg replica now resides in the museum that bears Harrah's name), and actor-comedian Bill Cosby recalls Harrah as a good friend.
Harrah was married seven times to six women, including a four-month marriage to the singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry in 1969; the sugar baby relationship was alluded to in Gentry's fictionalized account of her life, "Fancy," in which a "benevolent man" (Harrah) takes in an impoverished Southern prostitute (Gentry).
With ex-wife Scherry (whom he married twice), he adopted two boys named John and Tony. He had one birth child, Jeanie Eiliene Sexton Harrah, with Marvel Tudor in 1956. His widow, Verna, worked as a film producer on such features as Anaconda.
He won Best of Show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 4 times in 1963, 1964, 1966, and 1976.
Harrah died at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, at the age of 66, during a cardiac surgery operation to repair an aortic aneurysm. He left an estate valued at $138 million which was split into two trusts, one for his wife Verna and one for his sons.
The William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which opened in 1967, was renamed in his honor in 1989, in recognition of a $5 million gift from his widow.
When the car his father bought him was stolen and stripped, Harrah vowed to his sister that one day he would own a duplicate of every automobile the family had ever owned.
Harrah had an extensive collection of cars. Many of his cars enjoyed 'best' or 'one-of-a kind' status. Some notable items of his collection were the two Bugatti Type 41s, a Phantom Corsair, two Ferraris and a pair of Jerrari Wagoneers. In 1966 his Bugatti Type 41 Coupe de Ville won Best of Show at Pebble Beach."
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