Film, TV actor and Las Vegas showman dies at 84
Michael DeLano always flashed that Hollywood smile, with a style to match.
“When I met him, I was 19, and he was 22, and he was the most beautiful man I ever saw my life,” his widow, Jean DeLano says. “He used to always say to me, ‘I’m going to be an actor, I’m going to go to Hollywood.’ And I used to say to him, ‘Good, I’m going to be a dancer, and I’m going to Vegas.’”
Their dreams were realized. DeLano was a TV and movie actor-turned-Las Vegas showman, who died suddenly of a heart attack on Oct. 20 in Las Vegas. His 85th birthday would have been Wednesday.
DeLano will be celebrated at Dispensary Lounge from 6-9 p.m. Sunday. This was his regular gig for the past several years, alongside his buddies Joe Darro on keys, Bob Sachs on bass, Adam Shendal on drums and John Salbo on guitar. That band will play the usual Sunday slot. Expect guest singers, toasts and anecdotes.
DeLano was a lounge singer in real life, and also in one of his famous roles, as Johnny Venture, opposite Valerie Harper on the CBS sitcom “Rhoda.” He was also cast in “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Ocean’s Twelve” as a casino host in both films.
He and Jean had known each other for years after DeLano made his vow to be on TV, the couple drifting in an out of contact. Jean would become a dancer on tour and in “Casino de Paris” at the Dunes.
“I had the TV on one time, when I was putting on my makeup, and all of a sudden I heard this voice,” Jean says. “I turned around, and he was on TV! I went, ‘Yes!’”
Michael moved to Las Vegas 33 years ago. The couple were married in 1997, all that time living in Las Vegas.
DeLano had parts in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Commando,” as the car salesman Forrestal. He was a firefighter in ABC’s drama series “Firehouse.” Occasionally he’d pop up as a guest star in “Kojak,” “Wonder Woman” or “Hill Street Blues.” He was in five episodes of the notoriously ill-fated, 1979 series “Supertrain.”
“He was so versatile,” Jean says. “He was comfortable in any role, a natural.”
A personal remembrance, I met DeLano at Kelly Clinton-Holmes open-mic night at Bootlegger Bistro about 15 years ago. Telegenic wouldn’t begin to cover his appeal. His grin lit up the scene as he crooed, “I’ve Got the World on a String,” as if it were his personal theme song.
We chatted occasionally, but not regularly. So I was surprised to take a call from DeLano during the quiet times of COVID. I was driving through the historic Huntridge neighborhood when “Michael Jean Delano” flashed on the phone, the caller ID covering both DeLanos.
I answered, and asked Michael if everything was OK. He said, “I know there are no shows right now, so I was just checking on you.”
I was touched.
“Well, Michael, I just drove past the old Huntridge Theater,” I said, “and there are no shows there.”
The last time I saw DeLano, several weeks ago at the Italian American Club, I reminded him of that story. He laughed, “Are you still looking for shows at the Huntridge?”
I’d interviewed DeLano just after Harper died in August 2019. DeLano had read for the role of Rhoda’s husband, which went to David Groh. But the on-screen couple broke up, opening the door for the hip-and-slick Venture to move into Rhoda’s life.
DeLano called that job “the role of a lifetime.”
“When you are an actor, you get used to the ‘no’ all the time; 90 percent of the time you hear ‘no,’ so you don’t look at it negatively,” the actor and showman said. “But when they were casting for the Venture character, Valerie said to the producers, ‘What about that guy Romero or Romano? Get him.’ I auditioned, and the rest is history.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
