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Best Known For
With a handful of hits to his credit, singer Wayne Newton has spent more than five decades as one of Las Vegas's most popular entertainers.
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Wayne Newton Performs for Elvis' Ghost (Celebrity Ghost Stories) (0:00)
Wayne Newton Performs for Elvis' Ghost
Wayne Newton is paid a surprise visit by the ghost of his dear friend Elvis Presley while performing in Las Vegas.
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Play NowWayne Newton. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:32, Jun 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098.
Wayne Newton. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098 [Accessed 20 Jun 2013].
"Wayne Newton." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 20 2013, 06:32 http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098.
"Wayne Newton," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098 [accessed Jun 20, 2013].
"Wayne Newton," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098 (accessed Jun 20, 2013).
Wayne Newton [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098.
Wayne Newton, http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098 (last visited Jun 20, 2013).
Wayne Newton. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/wayne-newton-9542098. Accessed Jun 20, 2013.
Newton sued the news network for libel, claiming the reports were false and had damaged his reputation and his business. In 1986, Newton won a $19 million settlement (which later reduced to over $5 million) in the case. A federal appeals court, however, overturned the ruling in 1990, and Newton tried to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court rejected Newton's appeal the following year.
In 1992, Newton experienced another legal challenge. He ended up declaring bankruptcy,
claiming to have $20 million in debt. Later in the decade, Newton also engaged in a legal battle with singer Tony Orlando over a theater in Branson, Missouri, that the pair once shared.
Television and Film Work
For the part, Newton has often been asked to play himself, the quintessential cabaret performer, on television and in films. Sometimes, however, he has been able to take on a different role. On the big screen, Newton played an evangelist in the 1989 James Bond film License to Kill starring Timothy Dalton. He also appeared in comic Andrew Dice Clay's The Adventures of Ford Fairlane the following year. Also that year, Newton's first major hit, "Danke Schoen," enjoyed some renewed popularity. Actor Matthew Broderick lip-synched the song during a scene in the hit comedy Ferris Bueller.
More recently, Newton has tackled the world of reality television. He launched his own reality competition, The Entertainer, in 2005, to find the next great Las Vegas act. Two years later, Newton showed off his moves on Dancing with the Stars, competing against the likes of actress Jane Seymour and singer Marie Osmond. He experienced some heart problems around the time he appeared on the show and curtail his activities for health reasons for a time.
Personal Life
Newton lives in Las Vegas with his second wife Kathleen and their daughter Lauren. He has a daughter named Erin from his first marriage to Elaine Okamura.
Set on more than 50 acres, Newton's lavish home, Casa de Shenandoah, is expected to be open to the public beginning in 2012. There visitors can view his collection of mementos and tour the grounds. Newton has been raising Arabian horses there for decades.
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