"Gary knew that he could die anytime," Gary’s second wife Risa (not Rose as Funfare reported yesterday), 24, a Filipino nurse, told Claire dela Fuente in an emotional phone call yesterday after The Star broke the story about Gary’s death. "He kept telling me, ‘My wish was to die while performing,’ and he got that wish."
Gary suffered a massive stroke Saturday (Jan. 28) night while singing the Luther Vandross song Always and Forever with his fellow Society of Seven members at the silver wedding anniversary celebration of Mendrei Leelin and wife Cecille at the Westridge Country Club in La Habra, Los Angeles (not in Las Vegas as Funfare also mentioned yesterday). The celebrator couple are the impresarios of the successful show at the Bally Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas featuring the SOS with Lani Misalucha who, along with Martin Nievera, was also a guest singer at the event.
According to Martin’s first-hand account, Gary never let go of the microphone, singing until the very last note of Always and Forever, ever if, cradled in Martin’s arms onstage where he slowly collapsed, only the right side of his face moving.
Rushed to the St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton and declared brain-dead on arrival by three doctors (under California law, a comatose patient is declared dead if three doctors say so), Gary slipped into a coma five hours later, according to a report by Funfare contributor Maria Bonus. He was put on respirator which was removed late Sunday (Jan. 29) morning.
"Gary knew that his days were numbered because of a congenital heart-enlargement ailment," Risa told Claire who started her singing career in the ’70s at about the same time Gary did, both of them having been contract artists of Dyna Records.
According to Bonus, Gary suffered a mild stroke a month ago. He was on medication to check his cholesterol.
Gary joined the 35-year-old SOS in 1984 as replacement of Bert Nievera who quit the group after 10 years and had resided since then in Honolulu. SOS teamed up with Lani Misalucha last year for their Las Vegas stint. Gary had two children with his first wife, Julie, sister of the late actress Ellen Esguerra, but had none with Risa.
An organ donor (as stated on his driver’s license), Gary’s liver will be donated to a 24-year-old man who was rushed also to the St. Jude Medical Center after he was badly hurt in a car accident.
"Risa said that the rest of Gary’s organs are also being donated," said Claire who last saw Gary in Las Vegas in June last year when she and fellow singers Eva Eugenio and Imelda Papin watched the SOS and Lani’s show. "He hugged me tight. I never suspected that it would be our last time to see each other."
Those of you who lived in the era of Sinatra, Davis Jr. and Martin may very well be familiar with the Rat Pack, the group which they formed as a trio to celebrate not only their friendship, but their collective talents.
The Rat Pack filled up many a venue to the rafters and sent fans shrieking and swooning much like the way today’s matinee idols turn the audience into one singing, swaying, shouting collectively.
Who can forget Sinatra’s undying songs such as My Way, Come Fly With Me, Fly Me to the Moon, New York New York, The Way You Look Tonight and others?
Dean Martin melted hearts all over the world with his debonair looks couple with tunes like That’s Amore, Ain’t That a Kick in the Head, Sway, Volare and Inamorata (Sweethearts), among others.
Sammy Davis Jr. was the usual comic with his antics while he dished out For Once in My Life, What Kind of Fool Am I?, The Candy Man, The Lady Is A Tramp and Mr. Bojangles.
Together, they were a riot as they traded punch lines, exchanged witticisms and teased each other no end on stage to the audiences’ hearts content.
The same memorable performance continues in The Rat Pack (Direct from Las Vegas), a rousing tribute to Sinatra, Davis and Martin on March 25, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum. Produced by Winston Llamas’ Las Vegas Productions (an affiliate of Wilbros Entertainment Group, responsible for bringing Engelbert Humperdinck, Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, and Ashanti among others).
Experience Las Vegas Fever with the Rat Pack for the first time in Manila, performing all the way from Caesar’s Palace, MGM Grand, Bellagio, and Las Vegas Hilton, featuring a trio of performers who let the good times roll once more and provide world-class entertainment only a Sinatra, Davis and Martin can do before local audiences.
The Rat Pack has garnered rave reviews from respectable US publications. The Los Angeles Times declared: "The Rat Pack’s back with swagger and stagger. The trio’s tribute to Frank, Dean and Sammy is an intoxicating evening of nostalgia for the swinging ’60s."
The Las Vegas Review raved, "Las Vegas would not be complete without this show. Surely a must see!"
The Santa Barbara News Press observed, "Good actors can transport the audience into a bygone era and give them a glimpse of something that slipped away. These guys pulled it off."
(For tickets to the Rat Pack show, call 374-2222 or 374-9999).
I just got a letter from Carlo who assures his fans (and friends) that he and his wife, Meg (Enid) Reyes, are happily settled in Los Angeles with their son Joshua who’s barely a year old. Carlo and Enid got married in February two years ago, on Valentine’s Day, and they were featured in a TV show together with other Valentine couples.
"Do I miss showbiz?" Carlo asked. "Yes, of course, I do," adding in jest, "the acting part but not the tsismis."
Meg was starting in showbiz when she quit in favor of love. She was cast in Kailangan Kita which starred Aga Muhlach and Claudine Barretto. She and Carlo met during the shooting of an episode for Charo Santos-Concio’s Maalaala Mo Kaya.
Carlo got his "extraordinary ability visa" last year.
"I plan to take up a course in film directing," he said.
The couple spent Christmas in Vancouver with Meg’s mother and stepfather.
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)