Danny Gans: Passed away at fifty two

Danny Gans:  Passed away at fifty two

Singer-actor-impressionist Danny Gans, who spent over a decade as one of the most popular entertainers in Las Vegas, died on Friday. He was only fifty two years old.

Danny Gans was pronounced dead in his bed shortly after police and paramedics were summoned to his home at around 3:45 a.m. The police spokesman Todd Rasmussen has revealed this news.

According to the spokesperson foul play was not suspected but  police were investigating "according to standard procedure”.

Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy released a statement by saying that a medical examination would be done on Friday. However  it could take several weeks to receive laboratory results and determine the cause of death.

Chip Lightman, Danny Gans' manager and longtime friend,  added that Gans was in good health but slept poorly after Wednesday's show and took a nap during late Thursday afternoon. He stayed in bed till the evening, and his wife, Julie, summoned the police when she was unable to rouse him after 3 a.m.

"This makes no sense,"  "I managed him 18 years and health was never an issue,"added Lightman, who said that Gans did not use illegal drugs, did not smoke and had no apparent medical issues.

Lightman described Gans, who had a bit part as third baseman Deke in the 1988 baseball film "Bull Durham," as an energetic person who looked after his diet, loved to perform, and relished his involvement in Las Vegas area fundraisers and philanthropic causes.

Danny Gans was mourned by two Las Vegas entertainment legends, Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn.

"We were blessed to be touched by his generous spirit, kind heart and insurmountable talent." Siegfried & Roy made the above-mentioned statement.

Daniel Davies Gans grew up in Torrance, Calif., met his wife in college in San Luis Obispo, and parlayed a comedy and impression routine that he developed on bus rides as a minor league baseball player into a fledgling entertainment career.

After Gans hurt his leg playing baseball, he made a first comedy club appearance on a dare. It strated working and began honing his routine as a variety show performer in Palm Desert, Calif., before making a tour to the country as a banquet performer for business groups.

In the year 1995, Gans started a one-man show, "Danny Gans on Broadway: The Man of Many Voices," at the Neil Simon Theater in New York.

Danny Gans' dexterity switching through the voices of John Travolta, Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, Wayne Newton, Woody Allen, Robin Leach, Bill Cosby and others in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" impressed Kuchwara, who characterized Gans' humor as "the cozy comedy of ... nudge-nudge, wink-wink reaction."

All the officials at Wynn Resorts, where Danny Gans had performed for 4 nights a week at the 1,500-seat Encore Theater since Feb. 10, and at The Mirage, where he performed from April 2000 to November 2008, said they were stunned by Gans' sudden death.

"The loss of Danny to his wife Julie, his children Amy, Andrew and Emily is at this moment impossible to comprehend," added Steve Wynn, who installed Gans as a headliner when he owned The Mirage and hired him again to perform at Encore, a sister property to the Wynn Las Vegas.

Gans worked his way up in Las Vegas, after taking the decision of leaving Broadway in the year 1997 to be closer to his family in La Canada Flintridge, Calif., Lightman said.

He became a headliner at the Stratosphere hotel-casino, and the next year Danny went to the Rio hotel-casino before Wynn brought him to The Mirage on the Strip.

Lightman continued, "This town allowed Danny to go home and be with his family every night and not be on the road," "That meant the world to him, it really did. And Las Vegas embraced him and made him a household name."

Gans held a pro-am golf tournament for raising money for the Danny Gans Junior Golf Academy, which provides finances for golf programs for children, and helped raising some $250,000 in order to build the Lili Claire Family Resource Center for promoting awareness of Williams Syndrome and other neurogenetic disorders and birth defects. Gans also hosted an annual 5K run and children's walk in Henderson to benefit the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Lightman added that Danny Gans was excited in recent weeks about the plans for shooting a music video to accompany a compact disc he was recording, thereby using several voices to sing the song "What a Wonderful World," made famous by Louis Armstrong.

"It's got Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, George Burns as the voice of `God,' Kermit the Frog, and closes with Louie Armstrong," added Lightman.

Lightman said that it was among Gans' favorite songs.

Lightman added, "It was something he was so proud of”.