Carson Wayne Newton was born on April 3, 1942 in Roanoke, Virginia to father Patrick, an auto mechanic, and mother Evelyn. Newton’s father was part Powhatan Indian and part Irish. His mother was part Cherokee Indian and part German heritage. In later years, Wayne’s pal Frank Sinatra nicknamed him “Injun. Read this informative article and learn some more little known facts about Wayne Newton you’ll find interesting!
His Career
Newton started out singing when he was just six years old. He also learned to play the guitar and piano at an early age. A little known fact about Wayne Newton is that he suffers from acute asthma. He and his family later moved to Phoenix due to his ailment. There, he and his older brother Jerry started a duet. They performed on a local TV show, and ended up with a five-year gig in Las Vegas, after a booking agent caught their act. The Newtons recorded songs for Capitol and George Records.
By 1963, Wayne Newton was a solo act. “Danke Schoen” (translated to English, it means “thank you very much”) was released that same year by Capitol Records. It became a Top 20 hit, as well as Newton’s signature song. “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” was originally recorded by Vaughn Monroe. The song climbed to #4 on the Billboard Charts in 1948. Newton recorded it in 1965, and it became one of his hits as well.
In 1972, Wayne Newton moved to the Chelsea record label where he recorded “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast.” The song became a number one hit for him.
In the 1980’s, Newton settled into Las Vegas. He enjoyed lengthy gigs at hotels like the Aladdin and the Stardust. He was a prolific performer (and still is today, working two shows a night.) A little known fact about Wayne Newton is that he had chalked up more than 25,000 Las Vegas shows by 1994.
“Mr. Las Vegas” as he was nicknamed, owned a part of the Aladdin Hotel for a couple years. Newton also snatched up real estate all over the city. He’s been such a prominent celebrity there, that a street in front of the McCarran Airport was renamed “Wayne Newton Boulevard.”
Besides singing, Newton has acted in such movies as Licence to Kill, (1989), The Dark Backward, (1991), Night of the Running Man, (1994), Vegas Vacation, (1997), Ocean’s Eleven, (2001) and Elvis Has Left the Building (2004). A little known fact about Wayne Newton is that he and Elvis Presley were good friends. He’s quoted as saying, “When I first met Elvis, we had so much in common and became fast friends.”
Family Life
Wayne Newton married Elaine Okamura in 1968. The couple have a daughter named Erin. They divorced in 1985.
The six-foot-two-inch entertainer then married attorney Kathleen McCrone in 1994. A little known fact about Wayne Newton is that his youngest daughter, Lauren Ashley, was born in 2002 with the assistance of a surrogate mother.
Today…
In the early 90’s, the Internal Revenue Service went after the popular entertainer/real estate investor for $341,000 in back taxes. In 2005, the IRS again filed against Newton and his wife for nearly $2 million in taxes and penalties. Newton is quoted as saying, “If it were not for the bad things that’ve happened to me, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”
Besides breeding Arabian horses, Newton enjoys water skiing.
He is a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”. A little known fact about Wayne Newton is that he’s always wanted to learn how to dance. So, he found this to be the perfect opportunity. Newton is rather concerned, though, about his left knee, which was replaced in 2002.
