The old guy kicked the bucket early this morning around 5am at a local nursing home. And in the last several weeks, his spirits were high as he kept his cranky, “dirty-old-man” sense of humor. Wall had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia for several years, and was being cared for by his friends Carrie Proffit and Ken Owens. Proffit was at his side when he passed.
“He said he always wanted a big celebration when he died,” says Owens. Plans are in the works for a stage production to honor and celebrate his life. Several showrooms are already offering their venues to accommodate this unique event.
1958. That’s the year we first saw the curtain rise on Breck Wall’s Bottoms Up – the legendary comedy/vaudeville show that played in Las Vegas for decades. Wall and his onstage colleagues including David Harris, Carrie Proffit, Sue Motsinger, and Jimmy Emmerson created unique characters and sketches that left audiences rolling in the aisles. One of the most recent renditions of the show took place in the afternoons at the Flamingo Las Vegas main showroom.
Wall was also known for his ability to gossip. He penned a bi-weekly gossip column titled “Brec-a-Brac” for the now defunct Callback News/Dirt Alert trade paper. His insight and commentary in his column (often beginning with ‘Shhh…’), were often the source for breaking news in the entertainment industry.
Odd Trivia: Breck Wall testified before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy on August 5, 1964 because of a business relationship he had with Dallas club owner Jack Ruby, prior to Ruby's assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald who assassinated President Kennedy. (You can even read his testimony here.)
Details on the celebration of Breck Wall’s life will be released soon.