When Merv Griffin Owned Resorts Casino Atlantic City (5/26/93)

A few days ago we shared an iconic Resorts Casino Hotel Atlantic City photo that had not seen the light of day in 44 years.

Today, thanks (again) to photographer Gregg Kohl … we are unveiling another iconic photograph from the 15th Anniversary of Resorts Casino Hotel … when it was owned by the legendary Merv Griffin.

I worked for Mr. Griffin for two years. He was a true gentleman, a wonderful owner, and a great, kind, and decent man.

This photo, taken on May 26, 1993, by Kohl is filled with nationally celebrity star power and local, county, and state elected legends.

Here’s the lineup of this incredible photo from front and center and then left to right:

Steve Lawrence
Merv Griffin
Senator Steve Perskie
Senator Bill Gormley
Atlantic City Mayor, future Assemblyman & Senator Jim Whelan
Atlantic County Executive Dick Squires
Zsa Zsa Gabor

“By the time 15 years rolled around at Resorts Casino Hotel, The Atlantic City Press was a full-color daily newspaper and doing well,” said Kohl.

Kohl also shared with us that the 15 year anniversary Resorts Casino Hotel special event on the Atlantic City Boardwalk did not draw the mass media that covered the first day of gambling on May 26, 1978.

The iconic photograph that Kohl took on May 26, 1978 was the first color photograph to ever appear in the Atlantic City Press.

If you missed our elaborate coverage about Day 1 at the then Resorts International Hotel and Casino, here is a link:

It was now 15 years later and The Atlantic City Press was a full-color newspaper.

According to Kohl, “Color print film was the status quo for all assignments in 1993. The Press had purchased a full array of the most up-to-date equipment in that time era for developing film and making prints.”

“Digital photography was not quite there yet and we still made contact prints (an 8 x 10 sheet of paper with 36 tiny images on it), from this, editors would circle the images they wanted enlarged to go into the actual paper,” said Kohl.

Kohl could see that the times were changing in his business.

“I was still running around all over Atlantic City and south jersey covering every type of event. The only difference was that at this time, I was starting to see minor changes on the inner workings of the newspaper and I had already started planning my exit (from The Atlantic City Press) that would come in 1996,” said Kohl.

Kohl has operated his own, thriving photography business ever since.

The modern equipment of today has been a total game-changer.

“When I walk into a job today, we have the most current digital cameras and lenses that make my job so much easier with instant autofocus and the ability to let the camera do all the work, my job now is to focus on the best image to select after the event is complete,” said Kohl.

As always, one picture is worth a thousand words. Like the photo above, with Steve Lawrence re-enacting the iconic craps scene from opening day at Resorts … 15 years later.