Veteran Las Vegas showman Moore dies

Bill Moore, a veteran show producer who gave Las Vegas audiences eyefuls of feathers and sequins -- and the country a national punch line with a show called "Nudes on Ice" -- died Thursday of a brain tumor. He was 86.

In the days when Las Vegas entertainment was known for generic show titles with specific ingredients, British producer Moore and partner George Arnold delivered sparkly showgirls, skaters and variety acts packaged under titles such as "Razzle Dazzle" and "City Lites," which ran more than 13 years at the Flamingo Hilton.

"He was the guardian angel of Las Vegas. He came to Las Vegas to help everyone," said Charo, the star with whom Moore had been aligned as a producer and adviser for the rest of his career after his "City Lites" closed at the end of 1994.

"He was the most dignified, wonderful human being I've ever met in my life," Charo added. "He had happiness by giving happiness to other people."

Moore and Arnold, who died in 1997, produced revues in Las Vegas, Northern Nevada and Atlantic City for nearly 35 years. Their credits included the first show at Caesars Palace, "Rome Swings," in 1966 and the "Bal du Moulin Rouge" revue at the Las Vegas Hilton in the early 1980s, with production numbers built around headliners Charo and Suzanne Somers.

"I think we were probably the last of our type," Moore noted after the death of his partner.

But only one title caught the public zeitgeist, a revival of a show Arnold and Moore had done in the 1960s. "Nudes on Ice" was only the latest in a long string of "... on Ice" productions, "Playgirls ..." "Fantasy ..." and "Spice ..." among them. But there was something about the "Nudes."

A title that seemed provocative in the hippie era was by 1988 an easy laugh that got the little revue at the Plaza -- then called the Union Plaza -- name-checked by the likes of Andy Rooney and David Letterman, who made a habit of asking guests whether they had seen it or performed in it. The title also turned up in the sitcoms "Murphy Brown" and "Alf."

"It was great for us," Moore said.

Moore, a native of Gateshead, England, was a dancer and Arnold an ice skater when they decided to produce their own show, "Rhythm on Ice," at the El Cortez in 1960. It was a modest hit and "got us onto the Strip," Moore said in 1988. Once there, they had productions running for more than 30 years and "never had a flop."

In 1988, Moore explained why a previous generation's production shows still pulled an audience. "Whatever's current becomes a fad, and we find that it's very fleeting. If you try to put in current things, it's gone with the wind so fast. Before you know it, it's out."