New TV series ‘Vegas’ has a local twist

By Todd Rohde~CORRESPONDENT

                  A bit of Hollywood glitter is shining on Twin Lakes these days. The new TV series “Vegas,” which premiered last week about the life of Sheriff Ralph Lamb, has a local connection.

                  That’s because Lamb’s wife Rae Cornell, the daughter of the late Fred and Joan Cornell, grew up and lived most of her youthful days in Twin Lakes. She was also a 1961 graduate of Wilmot High School and resided in the area until she moved out to Los Angeles when she was 19-years old.

                  When most people think of Las Vegas, what usually comes to mind is elaborate casinos, entertaining shows and gambling. Or they may associate the city that never sleeps with gourmet dining, fancy shopping stores and exclusive high-rise hotels continually trying to out-do the ones surrounding them.

                  That’s a far cry from what the city used to be viewed as a half a century ago, around the 1960s, when crime, mobsters and financial scams tried to overtake Sin City.

                  Someone had to be brought in to take care of business, clean things up, keep things safe and prevent the city from becoming corrupt.

                  Enter Ralph Lamb, the man who stepped up to the plate. Far from being an easy task, Lamb accepted a four-year appointment as the Sheriff of Clark County. In that position he would make a name for himself and his department, playing a huge role in bringing order to the city during a tough era when mobsters were attempting to overtake and run the city.

                  Lamb, now 85 and a fourth-generation rancher, served as the Sheriff from 1961 until 1979. He headed the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which was a joint city/county police force for the City of Las Vegas and Clark County. It is the largest law-enforcement agency in the state of Nevada as well as one of the largest in the whole country.

                  That’s what the new TV series, “Vegas,” which airs every Tuesday at 9 p.m. on CBS is all about, portraying Lamb’s days as Sheriff during the 1960s as he strove to keep order amongst the mobsters.

                  The cast includes Dennis Quaid as Sheriff Ralph Lamb, the main protagonist, and Michael Chiklis as Vincent Savino, the main antagonist playing a real-life crime boss. Others include Jason O’Mara as Ralph’s younger brother Deputy Jack Lamb, Taylor Handley as Ralph’s son Dixon Lamb, Carrie-Anne Moss as assistant district attorney Katherine O’Connell and Sarah Jones as Mia Rizzo.

                  It was years later though in the 1970s, while performing in Las Vegas as a singer/dancer in the entertainment business, where Cornell Lamb first met Sheriff Lamb. Each were very big into horses and it was their love for horses that also brought their love for one another together.

                  “It was a very fun time to be out in Vegas as there was a lot going on from the entertainment to the night life and being married to the Sheriff meant that we got to be a part of it all and in style,” Cornell Lamb said.

                   The happy couple wound up getting married in 1982 and have been together for the last 30 years. They have two places of residence as Cornell Lamb currently lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and he still resides in the North Las Vegas metropolitan area.

                  “We both travel back and forth between places throughout the year, as he comes here and I go there to see one another,” Cornell Lamb said. “I like to be around and spend time with my daughter and granddaughter, while he still has a lot of friends, ties and business to do back there so it works out well for both of us.”

                  The couple recently attended the premier of Vegas Sept. 25 along with 500 others at the Green Valley Resort in Las Vegas. It featured a dinner, several guest speakers, numerous politicians both past and present along with showing the first episode on the big screen.

                  “It was really fun and for a good cause, as we raised $50,000 for the injured police fund and Steve Wynn donated another $50,000 towards it,” Cornell Lamb said.

                  “None of the cast or crew were part of the premier as they had their own in LA, but it was a great way to kick off the new series.”

                  The whole idea for the producing the story of Lamb’s work as Sheriff during the 60s first surfaced in the 1970s when they were going to produce a book and then a movie about his days during the pivotal era. But nothing ever became of it until now, when producer Nicholas Pileggi liked the same idea and decided that they had more than enough material to coordinate a new TV series.

                  “I’m so glad that they are finally doing a series telling the story behind Ralph’s accomplishments as Sheriff, as it’s an interesting array of events and it means a lot to him as well,” Cornell Lamb said. “If the series is perceived well by the viewers this season, then they are hoping that it will be a returning series each year feeding off of the one before it. What makes it so interesting is that they (the producers) actually consulted Ralph to get the real scoop on what really took place from the person who experienced it first hand.”

                  Check your local TV listings to see “Vegas” on Tuesday nights.


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