Singer Buddy Greco, a Las Vegas entertainment mainstay has died. He was 90 years old.
Greco was a versatile jazz pianist and pop singer. In 1960, he had his biggest hit with the standard, “The Lady is a Tramp.” It sold one-million copies.
Buddy Greco was born Armand Greco in Philadelphia. When he was only 16, he joined Benny Goodman’s orchestra as a singer, pianist, and arranger. In the mid-1940s he started doing his own act in nightclubs and over the next decades had a string of hit records, including, “Ooh! Look-a There, Ain’t She Pretty.”
By the 1950s and 60s, Greco was firmly established in Las Vegas.
In 2012 Greco told Ireland’s RTE Television about his close, 40 year friendship with Frank Sinatra. He spoke of his “dear friend” and mentor, Nat King Cole. And -- Greco noted the passing of his generation of entertainers. Buddy Greco was 85 at the time of the interview, and married to singer Lezlie Anders, who he also performed with. He had, he said, just come out with his 72 album. He knew how fortunate he was.
“I thank the good Lord that here I am at my age. Still making records. Still doing well. Still married to a beautiful lady like that after 20 years. And it gives me the incentive, Brian, not only for myself – but for older people out there who say, now look – here’s a guy who’s 85. He’s still making records. He’s still performing. Because if he could do it, I can do it. And there are a lot of older men who come up to me and say, Thank you for what you’ve done to our business because I thought my life at 80 was over. So that makes me feel good.”
Greco died at a hospice in Las Vegas. He was 90 years old.
