What Do Olympic Champ Dara Torres and Wayne Newton Have in Common?

Dara Torres is the first US swimmer to appear in five Olympics. Her first was in 1984 at age 17. Her fifth was in 2008 at age 41. In total, she has won four gold medals, four silver medals, and four bronze medals.

Dara was born and raised in Beverly Hills, California. Her father Ed Torres was a Las Vegas high roller.

About Ed Torres

When Dara was 13, her father Ed Torres bought the Aladdin Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip with partner Wayne Newton. Before the Aladdin, Torres was also a partner in several other Vegas hotel casinos, including the Riviera and the Fremont.

About Wayne Newton and Ed Torres

In 1979, four Detroit mob associate owners of the Aladdin Hotel were convicted of corruption charges and the Aladdin was shut down. In 1980, after a bidding war with comedian Johnny Carson and his partner Ed Nigro, Wayne Newton bought the Aladdin Hotel with partner Ed Torres for $85 million.

Not long afterward, there was a storm of media allegations of Newton having Mafia connections. The singer sued NBC and won a multi-million dollar judgment, thus clearing his name.

In 1982, after months of bickering, Ed Torres bought out his partner and longtime friend Wayne Newton for over $8 million.

About the Aladdin Hotel

The Aladdin Hotel has long had a reputation as a hard luck venue.

In 1962, the English Tallyho Motel was a 450-room motel without a casino. It was built by Edwin Lowe, the creator of the game Yahtzee. It closed a year later, only to reopen in 1964 as the King's Crown Tallyho Inn, but closed six months later after the new owner was denied a gaming license.

In 1966, Milton Prell, the owner of the Sahara Hotel Casino, bought the King's Crown Tallyho Inn, scrapped the English décor theme, gave it a new Arabian Nights theme, and renamed it the Aladdin. In 1967, the Aladdin became famous for hosting the wedding of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.

Years passed and the Aladdin acquired a succession of co-owners, some with criminal pasts. This led to the 1980 acquisition by Wayne Newton and Ed Torres. In 1984, the Aladdin went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, some accusing the controversial Teamsters Union Pension Fund with forcing the proceedings.

In 1987, the Aladdin was bought by a Japanese businessman, becoming the first foreign-owned hotel casino on the Vegas Strip. In 1989, the Nevada Gaming Commission closed down the Aladdin, accusing the businessman of having ties to Japanese organized crime.

After several more owners, the Aladdin resort was imploded in 1998. It was rebuilt and reopened in 2000, but suffered a series of mishaps, including a devastating employees strike. In 2003, it was sold to Planet Hollywood and went through years of massive renovation. In 2007, Planet Hollywood Casino and Resort opened.