Steve Rossi, a regular favorite on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other television variety shows of his time, has died at 82. Rossi was the other half of the comedic partnership with Marty Allen, Allen & Rossi.
Another close friend of Rossi for 40 years, Michael Flores, informed The Associated Press that Rossi was responsible for introducing him to famous celebrities, such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. During Flores' interview on Sunday, he informed the press that he wanted to see Rossi in Las Vegas on Friday and visited him in his hospice care. Flores mentioned that his good old friend was already very weak from his battle with esophageal cancer, but claimed to have not been suffering from pain at all.
Flores said, "I met every major entertainer in the country through Stevie, and I'm going to miss him." They first met at the Silver Nugget Casino, of which Flores was the manager. Rossi became his acquaintance as they were introduced by another hotel owner who was a common friend of them both. Rossi was in the area as he was producing some burlesque shows at a different property.
It was The Las Vegas Sun's Sunday edition that first reported about Rossi's death.
The Allen and Rossi partnership were quite famous back then, as they were regulars in famous comedy shows, such as "The Mery Griffin Show" and "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." Together, they also toured different comedy bars all over the United States and even headlined shows in major casinos all over Las Vegas. According to The Las Vegas Sun, the duo was very close in their friendship and in their business partnership in the 60s era, but parted ways in 1968.
They also appeared multiple times on the famous show of Ed Sullivan, but this time, they were oftentimes accompanied by The Beatles. Allen informed The Sun, "Everyone remembers those shows with The Beatles and they were great, but we appeared on all the shows. There wasn't a talk show on TV that didn't want Allen & Rossi."
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