Danny Gans was An Avid Supporter of Golf
If you ever got the chance to see Danny Gans perform on the Las Vegas strip, consider yourself fortunate. He was called the “Man of Many Voices” and was the Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year for 12 consecutive years. He died in his Henderson, NV home this week of undisclosed causes. While his death comes as a huge loss to the entertainment industry, the world of golf is also saddened. Gans loved the game of golf, and aside from appearing at Pebble Beach, the Bob Hope and other tournaments, he hosted his own charity golf tournament in Las Vegas every year. He also was a proud supporter of the Las Vegas First Tee Chapter and championed local junior golf programs. At the fourth annual Danny Gans Invitational Golf Tournament, which he hosted, more than $75,000 was raised for Boys Town of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association. He also funded the Danny Gans Golf Academy, which allows children to learn how to play golf for free. In addition, he was involved with the Lili Claire Foundation, performing annually to raise research money for William’s Syndrome.
I was fortunate enough to meet Danny Gans before the only performance of his that I saw. I was working with The Golf Channel at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals tournament last October, when another producer, two cameramen and myself were led into his backstage dressing room at the Mirage. We’d been given an in because Danny had done an interview with the channel years back. Here he was, 10 minutes before his award winning show, greeting four men he’d never met before and talking about golf and hopefully doing a golf segment with The Golf Channel in the coming months.
He went out and burned it up that night. The packed house at the Mirage loved every second of it. I was amazed at his talent, both with his voice, but also his athleticism. Danny Gans didn’t get the chance to film that Golf Channel segment, but his contributions to the game of golf shouldn’t go unnoticed.
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