In 1960 Ocean’s 11 debuted in theaters in the United States, showcasing the Rat Pack and a romanticized, modern version of Las Vegas. By 1954, up to eight million tourists a year were hitting The Strip and buying tickets for performances by artists such as Marlene Dietrich, Ronald Reagan, Debbie Reynolds, Liberace, Elvis Presley and Sinatra. Tourists flocked to the new resorts, both to gamble and to see A-list stars who were now beaming into living rooms thanks to the growing proliferation of television sets. “He was the spark that changed Vegas from a dusty Western town into something glamorous.” A string of successful movies made the Rat Pack household names “Frank wouldn’t go out after dark without a sport jacket on, let alone perform out of a tuxedo,” former Nevada Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt-Bono said to Smithsonian magazine in 2013.
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