Delivering Knockouts from Boxing to Bocelli
The proud queen of resorts had withered into an old hag, a shadow of her former self. Her once loyal crowds, lured by cheap airfare, traded in visits to the town for excursions to Florida, Nevada and the Caribbean. Atlantic City had fallen on hard times by the 1960s and most everyone had given up. Except for Frank Gelb.
Gelb remembered the summers from his childhood, trips from Philadelphia for a long, luxurious month by the sea. They were among the best memories of his life.
“In the 1950s, the Boardwalk was lined with rolling chairs,” remembered Gelb. “Everyone was dressed up. They’d go to Steel Pier and see the shows. Atlantic City was in its heyday.”
The lure of the city brought Gelb back again and again as a young adult, even as the town was deteriorating. “My father had a furniture business,” he said. “I would work for him for nine months then spend the summer in Atlantic City.”
Gelb didn’t just play on the beach. He used the money made over the winter to produce shows. It was his dream to become a producer fulltime, and he knew Atlantic City needed a draw.
He worked with the original Atlantic City Convention Center, now known as Boardwalk Hall, to bring big name talents like Joey Bishop and Dick Shawn. He created a summer series variety show and brought in a circus. When he hosted a Roller Derby, he had the teams skate on the Boardwalk to attract attention. He also brought in a portable swimming pool for an Esther Williams style synchronized swimming show known as the Water Follies.
Through it all, he worked with the local hotels and motels to promote the shows and create room packages that included tickets. At the end of the season, Gelb would return to Philadelphia, broke and in need of his job at the store. “I was learning the business,” he said. “I never ended up making any money. I kept funneling the cash into shows.”
But the furniture business provided another opportunity. “One of the part-time truck drivers for the store was a very good professional boxer,” he said. “He asked if I could help promote him. I thought to myself, I couldn’t afford to buy the Philadelphia Eagles, why not get involved in another sport? So I became the manager for Leroy “Hurricane” Roberts. We traveled overseas to Germany and England promoting him. He became a world ranked fighter in the late 1960s. That fighter led me to other fighters. At one time, I managed the best contenders to come from Philadelphia.”
Gelb represented Jimmy Young who fought and lost to Muhammad Ali, though many people questioned the decision according to Gelb. He managed world champion Matthew Saad Muhammad and Tyrone Everett, and while he stayed primarily in Philadelphia in those early days, Gelb would bring boxing to Atlantic City.
The turning point came in 1976 when they voted to allow casino gaming. When Resorts International opened in 1978, Gelb was there. In fact, he had an office.
“The casino industry changed the entire picture of Atlantic City for the better,” said Gelb. “I was an independent producer and promoter with shows in all the casinos but based in an office at Resorts.”
That would be Gelb’s office for the next 17 years, an arrangement “grandfathered” and honored by subsequent owners of Resorts.
Gelb had finally made it. He was able to quit the furniture business, move to the shore and focus on promotion full-time. He was given the keys to the Steel Pier Theatre where he ran boxing and wrestling events for three summers.
“I did all of the closed circuit fights, the big world title
fights,” he said. “Resorts always was the biggest supporter
and financed most of those events.” Gelb drove Atlantic City’s
golden era of pro boxing through the 1980s and early 90s, and for
his accomplishments would be named to the New Jersey Boxing Hall
of Fame.
This was a busy time for Gelb Promotions. A single Saturday in 1980
showed just how far Gelb had come. That day, in the same place,
he booked a magic show, Atlantic City’s first world title
fight and a performance by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.
Not only did Gelb arrange to have the fight televised on ABC’s
Wide World of Sports, but he had ringside celebrities Faye Dunaway
and Frank Sinatra, the latter whom would return hours later for
his own show.
In 1991, Gelb promoted the Foreman vs. Holyfield World Heavyweight Championship at the Convention Center. The fight set several records in the boxing world including attendance, media coverage and pay-per-view sales.
Gelb didn’t stop there. He was introduced to Luciano Pavarotti and began producing shows for the opera megastar. Pavarotti led to an introduction to Andrea Bocelli, and for the last six years, Gelb Promotions has served as his exclusive North American promoter. Gelb is bringing Bocelli to Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, June 17 in a sold-out show.
Gelb sees Atlantic City back on top as the queen of resorts. “There’s no question that Atlantic City has changed,” he said. “In the 60s and 70s, it was primarily a Philadelphia market. The casinos broadened that market. Now it’s from New England to the Baltimore/Washington area. Now you’ll see headliners in every property or production shows in every property and some form of entertainment other than gaming. Even in the old high flying days, we never had anything like that. With the Walk and the Pier opening, it’s just a fabulous new era. And there is going to be even more growth in the future. I don’t think Atlantic City has even reached its potential.”
Gelb has put his company in the capable hands of son Bruce, but still remains active. It seems he can’t leave the industry that he fell in love with so long ago.
“On June 17, when I enter Boardwalk Hall, I’ll see 15,000 people and there will be this excitement, this aura. The city will be all geared up. The cab drivers, waitresses and rolling chairs will be making more money that night. And I’ll know I’m the producer and I helped create it all. It’s an extraordinary high.”