The Rise of the Stardust
The Stardust Resort & Casino opened on July 2, 1958, and was instantly the largest hotel in the world with 1,065 rooms. The man behind it, Tony Cornero, was a bootlegger-turned-casino-operator who envisioned the biggest, most spectacular resort Las Vegas had ever seen. But Cornero never lived to see his dream realized — he died of a heart attack at the Desert Inn craps table in 1955 while still trying to raise construction funds.
Various investors, including Moe Dalitz and the Desert Inn group, stepped in to finish the project. The Stardust debuted with the most famous sign on the Strip — a 188-foot-wide electric marquee blazing with a cosmic, space-age theme that captured the atomic optimism of the era. Inside, the Lido de Paris showgirl revue became a Strip institution, running continuously for over three decades and defining the classic Vegas spectacle of feathers, sequins, and French glamour.
The Casino Connection
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Stardust became the epicenter of mob activity in Las Vegas. Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, a professional sports bettor from Chicago, was installed by the Chicago Outfit to run the casino's day-to-day operations. Rosenthal transformed the Stardust into a money machine, introducing innovations like the first sports book in a major casino. But behind the scenes, a massive skimming operation was siphoning millions of dollars from the counting room before it could be reported to the IRS.
Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro served as the mob's enforcer in Las Vegas, ensuring the skim kept flowing to bosses in Kansas City, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The volatile relationship between Rosenthal and Spilotro — along with Rosenthal's wife Geri — became the basis for Martin Scorsese's 1995 film Casino, with Robert De Niro portraying Rosenthal (as "Sam Rothstein") and Joe Pesci as Spilotro (as "Nicky Santoro"). In October 1982, Rosenthal survived a car bombing in the Stardust parking lot when a metal plate under the driver's seat deflected the blast.
Key Facts
Lido de Paris
The legendary showgirl revue ran at the Stardust from 1958 to 1991 — over 30 years of nightly performances. It was the longest-running production show on the Las Vegas Strip and defined the classic Vegas entertainment experience.
The Skimming Operation
Millions of dollars were skimmed from the Stardust counting room and sent to mob bosses in Kansas City, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The operation was one of the largest organized crime schemes in American history and brought down multiple crime families.
The Car Bomb
On October 4, 1982, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal's Cadillac was bombed in the Stardust parking lot. He survived because a metal plate under the driver's seat shielded him from the blast. The bombing was never officially solved.
The Implosion
The Stardust was imploded on March 13, 2007, in a spectacular televised demolition. The 32-story tower came down in seconds. The site was later developed into Resorts World Las Vegas, which opened in 2021.
What's There Now
Visiting the Stardust Site
Address: 3000 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV (now Resorts World Las Vegas)
Status: Demolished in 2006, imploded in 2007. Resorts World Las Vegas opened on the site in 2021.
What to See: While nothing remains of the original Stardust, the Neon Museum on Las Vegas Boulevard North has pieces of the iconic Stardust sign in its collection. Resorts World Las Vegas, a $4.3 billion mega-resort, now occupies the former Stardust footprint.
Nearby: The former sites of the Riviera and New Frontier are both within walking distance along this stretch of the north Strip.
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