The Neon Museum in Las Vegas is putting a vintage Hollywood starlet’s name back in lights. On Wednesday, at a private ceremony in the museum’s Neon Boneyard, a portion of the signage that once fronted the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel and Casino will be relit.
The casino resort was opened in 1992 by the 61-year-old former Hollywood A-lister at 305 Convention Center Drive. Extensive renovations had transformed the 200-room Paddlewheel, which was built on the site in 1983.
The Debbie Reynolds was best known for housing its own MGM movie museum, whose artifacts included pair of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.” (Five are known to survive.)
But the property’s gaming — operated by Jackpot Enterprises — was never enough of a hit to keep Reynolds’ dream financially afloat. Despite going public in 1994 to raise funds, the casino closed in 1996.
Due to the company’s poor financial state, Reynolds was unable to obtain a gaming license to reopen it herself. Chapter 11 bankruptcy was declared in 1997.
Times of the Sign
The sign — based on Reynolds’ signature and installed above a movie reel that replaced the previous casino’s paddlewheel — was delivered to the Neon Museum in 2004. Since then, it’s been displayed among the museum’s more than 250 non-functional neon signs.
But its “Debbie” portion was recently restored thanks to donations from Todd Fisher (Reynolds’ son), the Debbie Reynolds Estate, and the YESCO sign company.
What Occupies the Casino’s Space Now?
A year after the Debbie Reynolds closed, the World Wrestling Foundation (WWF) — today’s World Wrestling Entertainment – purchased the property at auction for $10.6 million. Vince and Linda McMahon had planned to bulldoze and replace it with a $100 million new casino hotel called the WWF.
Obviously, their dream never even got off the ground. From 2001 to 2009, the property continued life as the Greek Isles Hotel, then as the Clarion Hotel and Casino from 2009 to 2014.
It was finally demolished in 2015, and its former footprint will now supposedly become developer Lorenzo Doumani’s $850 million Majestic Las Vegas hotel.
Debbie’s Legacy
Reynolds was best known for starring in movies including 1952’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” for topping the Billboard charts with the song “Tammy” in 1957, and for having her own TV variety show in 1969.
She became a resident of Las Vegas in 1962, the same year she kicked off her holiday spectacular at the Riviera, which paid her a then-record $1 million for three months of annual shows.
Gen-Xers and Millennials would later come to know her best as the mother of Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
Mother and daughter were extremely close throughout their lives. In fact, most fans don’t consider it a coincidence that Reynolds died on Dec. 28, 2016, only a day after her daughter’s untimely death.
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