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Mr. Las Vegas Wayne Newton recalls masked past

Updated April 20, 2020 - 1:16 pm

Wayne Newton refers to a decades-old photo and says, “I was the original Masked Singer.”

Mr. Las Vegas referred to his masked past, some 55 years ago. Last week he sent along a photo from United Press International (because this was 1965), showing him wearing a white surgical mask while picking up a Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper in L.A. The newsstand worker was also in a mask.

The paper’s front-page headline topped a story about heavy air pollution in Los Angeles, calling for a “‘Smog War” to offset the crisis.

Newton has suffered from asthma since he was a child. He wore the mask after doctors told him to protect his lungs so he could make an upcoming gig at the Coconut Grove.

On Saturday, Newton sent his sequel photo, at his Las Vegas home with his pooch Bailey, Eclectus parrot Simon and rescue cat Aiden.

Newton is masked anew. As he said, “Look at how far we’ve come!”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.

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