Son says Danny Gans was planning retirement when he "took some medicine and took a nap and never woke up"

In the latest twist on the official story of how Las Vegas Strip headliner Danny Gans died from an overdose of hydromorphone, his son says that "he just took some medicine and took a nap and he never woke up."

Andrew Gans also revealed that his father was planning his retirement when he died mysteriously in his bedroom in the early hours of May 1st.

But it's the latest admission that Danny Gans was on a regimen of prescription painkillers that raises new questions about earlier denials by Gans' friends and colleagues and the shameful, willful avoidance of news coverage by the Las Vegas media.

In the weeks before the coroner ruled he'd died from taking the powerful opiate known as "the drugstore heroin" and commercially as Dilaudid, friends and acquaintances expressed shock that the supposedly clean-loving Christian has taken any drug whatsover.

In the months to follow, as more revelations about Gans' battle with pain from variois injuries and possible use of steroids due to vocal problems, as well as his ownership of a drug supply, the story told out by friends and family has taken on shadings and twists.

Twenty-year-old Andrew and his sister Amy, the two oldest of Gans three children, interview on KNPR radio spoke on Nevada public radio station KNPR to promote the recently published autobiography, the Voices In My Head (click here to read the first and only major national review).

Planning to retire

The first news to break in the interview was when Andrew told interviewer Ian Mylchreest (right) that his father was preparing for retirement, even though he was only weeks into a longterm engagement at Steve Wynn's Encore Hotel & Casino.

"Planning, maybe possibly. He didn't really talked about it too much. My dad had lots of energy, and tons of vocal left when he passed, but he knew it was going to be coming within the next decade or so, so he was just always thinking about what's next, always planning and always seeing how much further he could go in his carer.There was no, there was never any set date of when he wanted to retire, it was just up to him. And God."

Speaking via telephone from the family's new home in Los Angeles, Andrew said he and his family were not aware that Danny Gans had heart problems (coroner Mike Murphy stated that Gans had hypertensive cardiovascular disease, a condition that causes increased blood pressure and makes the heart work overtime, as well as polycythemia, a condition that caused his red blood cell count to go up- the opposite of anemia).

"No. We knew that he had high blood pressure and some issues with his shoulders and his back where he had a lot of pain cause he had to have surgery. Um, he had a little heart issue but it was never something that he complained about or talked about to much. He wanted to keep-- because it was always something he could handle and he could take care of."

Andrew spoke of the pain his father endured while on stage due to several shoulder surgeries, and claimed he often refained from taking prescribed medicine because the drugs affected his voice.

Mylchreest then asked if he was surprised that prescription drugs played a part in his fathers death.

"That my Dad too painkillers for the pain?"

"Right."

"No. I think that was pretty normal, I had three shoulder surgeries and whenever I was in pain, I took painkillers, just the prescribed amount that the doctor gave me, that's what my Dad did. He'd actually gotten back from playing golf and he had a sore back he just took some medicine and took a nap and he never woke up."

This was at least the third time Gans' children have been trotted out to promote the autobiography or to address the controversial aspects of his death. Gans' wife Julie, who was with him when he died, has not been seen or heard from since the tragedy. She moved the family from the Henderson, Nevada estate to the Los Angeles area shortly afterwards.

Gans' manager Chip Lightman caused a controversy that the Las Vegas news media chose to overlook when he consciously contradicted Julie Gans' statements and the official timeline of Gans death. Henderson Police detectives reiterated there was no evidence of foul play, nor reason to doubt Mrs. Gans' timeline.

Click here to here the entire interview with Andrew and Amy Gans

The interview features selections from Danny Gans' overlooked album. Click here for more information on Brand New Dream..

Danny Gans' son says family knew of no health problems

Danny Gans' wife and kids say they have no idea what killed the beloved Las Vegas entertainer at 52, and insist he had no serious health problems.

In what he billed as "the first interview granted by a family member since Danny Gans' death," (although a New York Times reporter interviewed Gans' children and even got their photo earlier this week), Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke spoke to Gan's widow Julie and son Andrew after the memorial service at the Encore Theatre.

Said Andrew: "We knew he had high blood pressure but was taking something to control that, and he had to watch what he ate."

"So what about the reports that his father wasn't feeling well prior to his death and seemed to be sending signals to close friends that he was aware something was seriously wrong?

"'There are some bad...' he said, searching for the right word, 'rumors out there.'"

Thank the Las Vegas news media and its overly-respectful, hands-off approach. Gans' manager Chip Lightman and his close personal friend beauty queen-turned-TV entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs told Norm last week that the musical impressionist had high blood pressure and family history of heart problems. On May 14th, in a teasing item that has not been followed up on or retracted, Norm wrote: "No one's willing to discuss it, but there's an insurance issue involving Danny Gans and his deal with Encore at Wynn Las Vegas that suggests Gans had concerns about his health."

Norm teased his upcoming interview yesterday afternoon in Twitter postings:

"Coming up: the first interview with Danny Gans family. I just left the reception in the Margaux room at Wynn Las Vegas..."

"In my exclusive interview with Danny Gans' son, Andrew, he's adamant: The family had no inkling of medical problems. Not once? 'Never!'"

"The story will be posted in a few minutes on http://www/normclarke.com. I saw him walking by himself & we chatted for more than 10 min."

"His sister, Amy, 21, was unbelievable during the memorial. She got her dad's humor genes. The family wore red and black, Danny's colors."

Norm also twittered that bronchitis kept Andre Agassi from speaking at the memorial and added in his column:

"At Gans' memorial: entertainers Donny and Marie Osmond, Siegfried Fischbacher, Rita Rudner, Criss Angel, Clint Holmes and Kelly Clinton, Earl Turner, Carrot Top, George Wallace, and The Scintas. Spotted at the reception held by the family in the Margaux room at Wynn: KVBC-TV, Channel 13 entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs, former Gov. Bob Miller (Andrew Gans attended Bob Miller Middle School), entertainer Gerry McCambridge, and Mitch Fox, host and producer of Nevada Week in Review."

NY Times photo

Danny Gans & Las Vegas media update: Photos of Gans' children at the memorial, twitterings and talk of a curse

Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment columnist Norm Clarke has posted a collection of photos of Danny Gans' children, taken by a school friend of Gans at the entertainer's memorial service on Thursday. The photo gallery include quotes from their eulogies at the event held at the Encore Theatre at the Wynn Las Vegas complex on the Strip. Son Andrew Gans, who plays college baseball, referred to his father as his "angel in the outfield"; daughter Amy, 14, said her daddy "is now performing in the heavenly Danny Gans Theatre... on the biggest stage of all."

(Click here to see the slideshow)

The Memorial Day weekend would have been an opportune time for the Review-Journal (or the Las Vegas Sun, for that matter) to use all the material it has not printed since Gan's untimely, mysterious death on May 1st, and lay out an extensive feature on Gans' death, its repercussions, implications and its unanswered questions. The only material to make the paper has been Norm's report that Whoopi Goldberg walked off stage during an audience medical emergency during the first show in Gans' theatre since his passing.

Norm followed up with a column on Sunday that made reference to a "curse of the Encore Theatre," which was first noted in this site on May 1st and referred to here on Saturday morning. The story got some legs on at least one Vegas forum:

"Is the Danny Gans former theater cursed?

"Gamblers are very superstitious people. So are Thespians and theatrical patrons, for the most part. If there weren’t a 'curse”' on that theatre before, there probably is now. That sort of story circulates like wildfire and now any and every excuse to claim support for the 'curse' will be used to do just that. It’s kind of unfortunate really. Ganz was a real professional, the kind of guy who would have insisted that 'the show must go on' without him. But who can combat the sensationalism inherent in a story like this one?..."

In a strange twist, Norm's story on Whoopi Goldberg's walkoff was based on a "twitter" from Alicia Jacobs, the controversial beauty queen-turned-local TV entertainment reporter who was a longtime close friend of Gans.

Jacobs twittered that Whoopi walked off without leaving the audience "blindsighted" (corrected by Norm to "blindsided') Norm later mentioned that at least one other audience claimed Whoopi did indeed say goodnight when she left the stage about an hour into her act.


Twenty-three hours later, in what seems to be an attempt to mend fences after what could have been inaccurate reportage, Jacobs twittered, again apparently from the audience, that Whoopi was a "class act" for walking onstage Saturday night and saying, "I love you, D.G."


With talk of "curses" and spirituality and a lack of any other coverage-- economic, medical or otherwise-- the Las Vegas news media continues to avoid covering the facts surrounding the mysterious death of Danny Gans while clouding them with distractions-- and once again, Alicia Jacobs is in the middle of it all.

photos Laurie Pollock-Smith/ Las Vegas Review-Journal

Andrew "Dice" Clay is excited about replacing Danny Gans at baggage claim

As Andrew "Dice" Clay begins a run at the Las Vegas Hilton, he speaks to Tabloid Baby pal Robin Leach and pays tribute to Danny Gans, the man who brought the Vegas one-man show to new heights in the 21st century:

“I wanted to prove that I could sell tickets anywhere. I wanted them to go, ‘You know what? We want him here. We need him here. He brings people here and sells tickets!’ I’m totally different from what’s here already. I look at Vegas almost like it is its own Hollywood. They could literally take a street bum if they want, put some music around him and put some midgets on bungee cords, and they would have a show and people would come into town and go, ‘Have you seen the midgets on bungee cords with the homeless bum?’

“By the time you start looking from the airport to the hotel, if you have never heard of this person, you do now. I used to kid about it with Danny Gans. Outside of Vegas, Danny Gans really wasn’t known. When you flew into Vegas and you saw the little advertisement Danny Gans, you go, ‘Oh, I wonder who that is?’ Now you are in baggage claim, now the woman is looking at her husband going, ‘Oh, is he a singer. I wouldn’t mind seeing him.’


“Now you are in the cab going to the hotel, in the cab that has another sign of him on the cab, you are looking at Danny Gans, ‘I almost can’t believe, we’re in town, and Danny Gans is here.’ You see a giant billboard at The Mirage, ya know, Danny Gans, the husband’s going, ‘Honey, you want to go get something to eat,’ and she’s going, ‘No, no, no, first go get the Danny Gans tickets, I don’t know if he is here just for the night, but I got to get in.’ That’s what Vegas does.

“Now you’ve got me almost full time!... We will be all over Vegas. They are giving us more digital billboards. They gave me that big thing at the airport, where Manilow’s thing was in the airport, at baggage claim. It is unreal."

Alicia Jacobs' poignant farewell to her friend Danny Gans

"With a few exceptions, I am very proud
of the local & national media...
they have given Danny’s family & friends
some time to try & catch our collective breath.
Soon enough, we will have the answers.
Until that time, it seems almost tabloid-like
to make assumptions & entertain rumors."
-- Alicia Jacobs

Alicia Jacobs, Danny Gans' longtime close personal friend and first member of the media to be notified of Gans' sudden, unexpected death at the age of 52, has posted a lengthy, heartfelt and touching farewell to the Las Vegas superstar.

The beauty queen-turned-entertainemtn reporter for KVBC-TV news and quirky Vegas personality writes on her Stage 3 blogsite that "I’ve attempted to write this post often over the past 2 weeks, but each time I became too emotional & realized I was simply not in the right mindset to do justice to someone who meant a great deal to me & who deserves to have me at my best.

"This has been an absolutely horrible time for me. I continue to walk around in complete shock. I vacillate between grief & disbelief & sometimes I experience both at the same time."

Jacobs' post takes pains to explain the platonic nature of her 13-year relationship with the musical impressionist:

"From the day I met Danny 13 years ago, he would constantly & lovingly beam when he spoke of Amy, Andrew, & Emily...& that never changed... He was also so impressed with how strong a woman his wife Julie is. What mattered most to Danny was his family.

"Danny & I hit it off from the moment we met. We had a great deal in common, plus we lived in the same neighborhood. We were both into fitness; he got me hooked on Karate, (he was a big shot Black Belt, while I proudly sported my Green Belt,) we are both a bit on the Type A side, with a tiny bit of OCD...

"...We would often share fitness tips while chowing down on Thai food & we both LOVE Jelly Belly's. He would also offer me advice on my work & career...everything from camera angles I should suggest to our directors, to great editing ideas & suggestions for my own performance...& he was always right!

"Most people know how spiritual Danny was & he was greatly responsible for bringing religion into my life. 10 years ago, I lost a dear friend of mine... From the moment she was diagnosed until months after she was gone, Danny was there for me...

"Danny was there for me again last year when my beloved dog, Cuddles, passed away..."

"It is my feeling that barring
something completely bizarre,
the story of Danny Gans has been told.
His cause of death will be nothing more
than a footnote on his Wikipedia page.
The story of Danny Gans’ unlikely career
& enormous success, against most odds,
is far more interesting & inspiring
than a coroner's report."

Some of what Alicia Jacobs writes she's said before, in much the same words, and in passages like the one in which she repeats the anecdote about her father coming back from the brink of death when Danny Gans passed, serve to bolster the legend of the spiritual, saintly Danny Gans, an image sure to be projected in the autobiography she says Gans completed the day before he died.

"We still don’t know why we lost Danny so soon in life, & it’s human nature to desire those answers. With a few exceptions, I am very proud of the local & national media...they have given Danny’s family & friends some time to try & catch our collective breath. Soon enough, we will have the answers. Until that time, it seems almost tabloid-like to make assumptions & entertain rumors. (believe me, I think I’ve heard just about all of them.) It is my feeling that barring something completely bizarre, the story of Danny Gans has been told. His cause of death will be nothing more than a footnote on his Wikipedia page.

"The story of Danny Gans’ unlikely career & enormous success, against most odds, is far more interesting & inspiring than a coroner's report.

"This Thursday about 1500 of us will gather in Danny’s beautiful theatre at ENCORE. We will arrive, much the same as we did this past February 6th...Danny’s opening night at ENCORE. For the most part, it will be the same people in those seats. But that’s all that will be the same. Instead of the excitement & anticipation we all felt that night awaiting Danny’s thrilling on-stage entrance, I suspect we will have little to say beyond, 'how can this be?' 'how can he really be gone?' We will watch the stage that Danny ran onto & brought to life every night. We will see his image projected onto screens, we will hear his voice, as well as many of the other voices that were always along for the ride. We will hear his music. But, we won’t hear Danny’s inside jokes with his band, the tears we shed won’t be because of his poignant 'ON GOLDEN POND,' bit, and we won’t witness Danny’s customary 3 standing ovations.

'And, this time, when 'The Curtain Falls,' I suppose I’m expected to do the impossible....say goodbye."

Alicia Jacobs photo

Danny Gans' children: "Where's the truth?"

On the eve of their first Thanksgiving without their father, Danny Gans' three teenage children have come forward nearly seven months after their father's death, in an interview to promote his new posthumous autobiography, The Voices In My Head, and to deny their father was addicted to drugs.

The heartbreaking talk with teenagers Andrew, Amy and Emily took place in a hotel room with a reporter from Las Vegas television station KTNV, focused on Gan's untimely death on may 1st from an overdose of the painkiller hydromorphone, known as Dilaudid and on the streets ad "drug store heroin."

The Gans kids insist their father was not addicted to painkillers at the time of his death, but despite earlier denials from the musical impressionist's friends and colleagues, they do confirm that he had been prescribed drugs to deal with pain from various injuries and surgeries.


"He didn't like being on the pain medication because he didn't like the way it made him feel," said Andrew. "So he'd go onstage sometimes, he'd be in so much pain, he'd have to go offstage during a change and get sick because he was in that much pain and he didn't like taking the medicine."

Daughter Amy added: "Because of the fact that I knew Danny-- he was my Dad-- sometimes he would go without the medication. And I can't, I can't believe people would just say that just to say it. Where's the truth behind it?"


The children were brought out to speak with the media a few weeks after their father's death. At time, they claimed they had no inkling that Danny Gans had any medical problems, except for high blood pressure.

In the latest interview, Amy also said she was sad that her father will not be around to give her and her sister away in marriage.

The family has since moved back to California. Emily has started high school. Emily is checking out colleges. Andrew, who, like his father, had a potential baseball career ended by injury, has taken up acting.

Once again, their mother Julie, Gans' widow, who discovered his body and called 911, did not participate in the interview.

See the entire interview here.

Danny Gans' garage emptied for auction

The family of the late Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans is selling off the entertainer's car collection.

Ten vehicles owned by the The Man of Many Voices, who died suddenly in May 2009, will cross the block during the Third Annual Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas Collector Car Auction, which runs from September 23rd through 25. The Gans fleet will be sold during a SPEED television broadcast billed "as a tribute to the memory of the Las Vegas icon."

Steve Davis, Barrett-Jackson president, says: "Danny was a renaissance man blessed with many talents. His career, which spanned professional sports, music, comedy and theater, endeared him to fans of all ages and backgrounds worldwide. We're honored that his family would ask Barrett-Jackson to share his love of car collecting with the world. His amazing collection will be the cornerstone of our event in the City of Lights, which he loved as much as he enjoyed performing for his fans.

"Danny's collection was as multi-faceted as the man himself. Like many collectors, he sought a variety of cars, ranging from Resto-Mod versions of those he wanted as a young man to late model iron that caught his eye. Each was personalized, driven by him and bears a memorable license plate.

"The cars were meticulously maintained and Danny often drove them to work. Not only are they wonderful collectibles, they're a piece of Vegas history with celebrity provenance."

The news release announcing the auction also includes quotes from Gans' three children.


Gans' son Andrew:

"Talking about cars and helping my dad bring them to life was always something I looked forward to while growing up. He loved the hobby and relished every nut, bolt, motor and paint job. Even selecting a license plate was important him. His cars were more than sheets of metal, rubber and glass. Each was a cherished work of art and he was the artist who made sure every detail was refined and exact. When the cars were finished, he and I would take the first ride together."

Daughter Amy:

"While my mother designed our house, there was no doubt the garage belonged to my dad. He wanted it to reflect the 1930s and 40s era. My dad carefully planned every inch to reflect the passion he had for his collection. Once the garage door opened you were immediately drawn in and treated to a piece of automotive history and in every direction you would look, you were taken to a new destination. Now, the cars will go into the garages of those who want to celebrate his life, as well as cherish the cars he loved so passionately."

And youngest child Emily:

"I'm glad that our family is working with the Barrett-Jackson team to showcase my dad's precious car collection. Barrett-Jackson attracts collectors who love cars as much as my dad did. Their auction is similar to my dad's shows because there's always something for everyone. I know my dad's cars are in good hands and his legacy will be treated with great care and respect."

Gans' wife Julie, who told police she awakened in the middle of the night to find her husband's lifeless body in bed next to her, is maintaining the silence she's kept since his death. She and the family moved from the death mansion in Henderson, Nevada, to the Los Angeles area shortly after the tragedy.

Barrett-Jackson will sell Gans' 1932 Ford 3-window coupe, 1934 Ford 3-window coupe, 1955 Chevrolet Cameo pickup and 1955 Chevrolet 210 2-door sedan. The group also contains a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko SC tribute car, 1970 Plymouth Barracuda coupe, 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, 2003 Chevrolet Corvette coupe, 2000 Dodge Viper and 2008 Harley-Davidson Street Glide FLHX.

The Chevrolet Cameo pickup and Chevrolet 210 sedan are heavily customized.

"The black 210 with the plate 'DBL5' includes touches that reflect the showman's personality, such as his logo embroidered into the trunk.

"The black on black 2000 Viper coupe has silver stripes and wears the plate 'TMOMV' (The Man of Many Voices)."

"The amethyst black 2003 Corvette coupe is a stunner with ghost purple flames, a 5.7 supercharged V8, Borla exhaust and custom wheels; its plate reads 'DDG.' The 2008 Harley is a 105th anniversary edition clad in black with purple ghost flames. The full dress bike is slathered in chrome and has the plate 'GANS.'"

The program for Danny Gans' memorial

More than 1,000 friends, fans and colleagues joined in the Encore Theatre on the Las Vegas Strip for music, memories, tears and laughter in the memorial for Danny Gans. Speakers included Gans' boss Steve Wynn and his estranged wife Elaine, Mayor Oscar Goodman (who declared May 21st Danny Gans Day in Las Vegas), pastors Gary Morefield and Benny Perez Donny Osmond and Gans’ children, Andrew, 19, Amy, 16, and Emily, 14.

Said Wynn:

“I marveled at the remarkable ability this man had to entertain.

“The Dalai Lama says, as an observation, if you experience enough of life you will come to the conclusion the only way to live a happy life is to make happiness for other people. I believe that to be true, and I can say with confidence that our friend Danny Gans had a most successful life.”

Gans family thanks us for remembering

The family of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans has thanked Tabloid Baby.com for remembering the first anniversary of his sad, untimely and mysterious passing on May 1st.


We take no satisfaction in the knowledge that we were the only news organization to mark the approach and date of this tragic milestone. There was no surprise that the Las Vegas media and its flamboyant leading figures deliberately avoided mention of the anniversary. They were exposed over the past twelve month with their embarrassing, shameful and deliberate refusal to investigate the circumstances that led to the musical impressionist's death.


Gans 'widow and children, however, made special mention this week on the revamped and very much alive official Danny Gans website, thanking us and fans around the world for our acknowledgment:

The family is truly touched by your kind emails, blogs and notes that have been received from around the world remembering Danny and supporting us at this time. Our day was spent with family and a few friends sharing memories of Danny, yet mindful of the magnitude of our loss and to that of his fans everywhere.We thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Please keep in touch.

-Julie, Amy, Andrew & Emily Gans

Man of Many Cars: Danny Gans collection brings in $500,000 at auction

Danny Gans' car collection raked in more than half a million dollars when they were put up for bid last weekend as the highlight of the annual Barrett-Jackson auction at the Mandalay Bay.

The three children of the late Las Vegas musical impressionist and superstar were there to watch the nine vehicles and Harley Davidson motorcycle go on the block. Son Andrew brought down the hammer on each sale.

Harley Davidson clutch cover reads:"Danny Gans The Man of Many Voices"

Said daughter Amy: "We felt sad to see them just sitting in the garage and felt we should share them with people who also had a passion for them.

"We feel an overwhelming love for the cars and for Dad."