Sam Distefano
| Sam Distefano | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
December 20, 1926 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | April 13, 2015 (aged 88) |
| Occupation | Vice-president of Playboy, talent executive at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, jazz pianist |
| Spouse(s) | Marjorie Pamela McNarry (1967-1978) |
| Children | Mike Distefano, Jazz Pianist/Drummer, Talent Manager |
Sam Distefano (December 20, 1926 – April 13, 2015) was vice-president of Playboy Enterprises and the Riviera Hotel and Casino, and a Chicago jazz pianist.
Distefano was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, in December 1926. His parents were both immigrants from Sicily. His mother was a seamstress at Hart Schaffner & Marx and his father was a meat plant worker at Swift & Company. Distefano had one sister. He was elected editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper at Tilden Technical High School and interviewed President Dwight Eisenhower at the Drake Hotel for the paper when he was 16.
As a teen and young adult, Distefano worked jazz clubs on piano in the Chicago area. He studied time and motion engineering at the IT&T Institute and attended college briefly at the University of Illinois at Navy Pier before being drafted into the military in the early 1950s.
It was during this period that his lifelong close friendship with jazz pianist Bill Evans began. During the Korean War, Distefano and Evans were stationed at Fort Sheridan and were bunkmates in the same platoon. This enabled Distefano to further develop his jazz piano playing.
Distefano was accepted into the 5th Army Band on trumpet and bass, called upon to perform Taps at many Chicago funerals, assigned percussion parts, and was awarded the National Defense Service Marksmanship Medal for having demonstrated perfect firearms skills and proficiency in combat training.
After serving in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1955, Distefano moved to Miami and invested in a nightclub named the Crab Shanty, which he renamed the "Stut N' Tut". He performed there on piano with jazz trombonist Carl Fontana.
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