King lives on in Vegas; Tribute keeps Elvis' memory alive

By Ed Koch
<koch@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN

August 15, 1997 

On the day Presley died, Darrin Race, who pays tribute to Elvis in daily afternoon shows in front of the Aztec Inn casino on Las Vegas Boulevard, was getting his broken arm put into a cast at University Medical Center after falling off a wall that surrounded the North Las Vegas mobile home where he lived.

"I remember my sister in the waiting room telling my mother that she had heard a lady say that Elvis had died, and we later heard it on the radio," said Race, 32, who also portrayed a young Elvis in "The Watcher" TV series, which was shot locally.

Race became interested doing a tribute Elvis after attending a 1977 show at the Tropicana hotel-casino featuring veteran Elvis impersonator Alan Meyer. Like Meyer, Race portrays Elvis during all three stages of his career -- the '50s teen heartthrob, the '60s movie idol and the '70s Las Vegas mainstay.