{"id":229748,"date":"2022-09-01T11:56:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T16:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=229748"},"modified":"2022-09-01T20:17:35","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T01:17:35","slug":"discrepancy-just-when-did-last-original-caesars-palace-employee-begin-working-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/discrepancy-just-when-did-last-original-caesars-palace-employee-begin-working-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Caesars Palace’s Last Original Employee Retires"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last remaining original Caesars Palace employee retired on Wednesday. Blackjack dealer Benny Figgins, 78, started as a porter a month before the casino’s Aug. 5, 1966 opening. (He took a break from the casino in November 1966 before being rehired on April 27, 1967.)<\/p>\n

\"Benny
Retiring Caesars Palace blackjack dealer Benny Figgins receives a hug from Sean McBurney, regional president of Caesars Entertainment. Figgins retired from Caesars after 55 years of service. (Image: Caesars Entertainment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After his final shift this week, Figgins was presented with a commemorative plaque and a string of crystals from the chandelier that hung in the original casino dome. The dome recently underwent an upgrade that included a new chandelier. Figgins then left work for the last time with a limo ride to his home.<\/p>\n

\n

According to an interview with Anthony Bourdain\u2019s Explore Parts Unknown<\/em> website in 2017, Figgins said he was 21 years old when he came off his graveyard shift at the Thunderbird Hotel one night to check out the Caesars Palace construction site. After writing his name on a job sign-up sheet posted on a trailer near the worksite, Figgins said he was hired almost immediately to vacuum floors and clean tables in preparation for the grand opening two months later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was like paradise,\u201d Figgins said of the celebration. \u201cEveryone was here. And Caesars stayed like that for at least five years. You couldn\u2019t get in here! You couldn\u2019t get a reservation. It was packed every night.”<\/p>\n

Many Jobs, Many Celebrities<\/h2>\n

After working as a porter, Figgins worked as a dishwasher at the original Bacchanal restaurant and a busboy in the Circus Maximus showroom. He settled into his final job \u2014 dealing blackjack under the original Palace Casino dome \u2014 in 1971.<\/p>\n

According to Caesars, some of Figgins\u2019 most memorable moments at work included meeting and dealing with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, and Harry Belafonte, all of whom were Caesars’ headliners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“They were all down to earth,” Figgins said.<\/p>\n

Figgins also befriended Joe Louis, who worked as the casino\u2019s host-in-residence following his boxing career.<\/p>\n

Another important person Figgins met while working at the property was his wife, Shirley. According to the company, she retired after working for 38 years for Caesars Palace as a PBX operator and table games dealer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last remaining original Caesars Palace employee retired on Wednesday. Blackjack dealer Benny Figgins, 78, started as a porter a month before the casino’s Aug. 5, 1966 opening. (He took a break from the casino in November 1966 before being rehired on April 27, 1967.) After his final shift this week, Figgins was presented with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":229749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,81886,1],"tags":[82083,23,82617],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCaesars Palace's Last Original Employee Retires - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The last remaining original Caesars Palace employee retired on Wednesday. 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