Editing Louis Prima (section)

===A new act===
In 1954, Prima was offered a stay at [[Sahara Hotel and Casino|The Sahara]] in [[Las Vegas]] to open his new act with Keely Smith. He enlisted New Orleans saxophonist [[Sam Butera]] and his backing musicians, The Witnesses. The act was a hit, and ultimately led Prima to sign with [[Capitol Records]] in 1955.<ref name="Prima"/> The act performed regularly in Las Vegas for the rest of the decade.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lentz |first1=Harris M. III |title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017 |date=2018 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-3318-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMpZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT380 |access-date=September 16, 2018 |page=366|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pleasekillme.com/sam-butera/|title=The Lost Testament of Sam Butera |date=16 February 2021 }}</ref>

He released his first album with Capitol Records, ''[[The Wildest!]]'', in September 1956. Some of the popular songs include his medley of [[Just a Gigolo (song)#"Just a Gigolo"/"I Ain't Got Nobody" medley|"Just a Gigolo"]] and "I Ain't Got Nobody".<ref name="Prima"/> In 1957, the couple released ''The Call of the Wildest''. Keely worked with other artists to release the album ''I Wish You Love'', and received a Grammy for it in 1958.<ref name="Prima"/>

She earned ''Billboard'' and ''Variety's'' number one female vocalist award in 1958–59, and the Playboy Jazz Award in 1959.<ref name="Prima"/> The duo also redid "[[That Old Black Magic]]", which was a Top 40 hit for two months. It earned the duo a Grammy. The couple also had two daughters together, one of whom, Toni, became an actress and singer in her own right.<ref>{{IMDb name|0697516|Toni Prima}}</ref> Prima decided to relocate his acts to the [[Desert Inn]] because he would take in $3 million for producing twelve weeks' worth of acts a year for five years.<ref name="Prima"/>

Prima signed with [[Dot Records]] in 1959 and produced eight albums,<ref name="Prima"/> headlined by ''Wonderland By Night'' and ''On Stage'' in 1961. The couple was constantly performing and it affected their marriage. An attempted vacation boating down the Atlantic coast ended up grounded in the [[Intracoastal Waterway]] until rescued by the Coast Guard.<ref name="Prima"/>

In January 1961, Prima was invited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the inaugural gala for President [[John F. Kennedy]]; the two played "Old Black Magic" together. The constant performances and Prima's infidelities were too much for Smith. That noted, Smith also had an affair with Frank Sinatra, prior to her divorce from Prima in 1961. After finishing up their contract at the Desert Inn, she filed for divorce at the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Nevada in Las Vegas.<ref name="Prima"/>

After Smith was out of his life and his performances, Prima tried to prove that he did not need her. In the ''New York Post'', there was a suggestion that Smith should rejoin for an act in New York's Basin Street East nightclub. Prima said, "I have no desire whatsoever to have any dealings with Keely Smith under any conditions…There is nothing in the world or no one that could ever make me accept this woman in our act."<ref name="Prima"/>

Prima's father died in 1961, the same year as the divorce from Smith. His mother died in the winter of 1965.<ref name="Prima"/>

In 1962, he tried to form his own recording company called Prima One Records.<ref name="Prima"/> He filled Smith's spot with [[Gia Maione]], a waitress who was 21 years old. He did his best to make her famous by producing her first album "This Is … Gia." It was funded entirely by him, and it was unsuccessful. They married and had a daughter, [[Lena Prima|Lena]], later a New Orleans–based singer and recording artist with [[Basin Street Records]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lena-prima-mn0001975710/biography|title=Lena Prima &#124; Biography & History|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref> and his only son, [[Louis Prima Jr.]], the last of his six children.{{Citation needed|date= October 2012}} He was also in the middle of making appearances in Las Vegas and promoting the film ''[[Twist All Night]]''.<ref name="Prima"/>

In 1967, Prima landed a role in [[Walt Disney]]'s animated feature ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'', as the raucous [[orangutan]] [[King Louie]]. He performed the hit song "[[I Wan'na Be like You (The Monkey Song)|I Wan'na Be like You]]" on the soundtrack, leading to the recording of two albums with [[Phil Harris]]: ''The Jungle Book'' and ''More Jungle Book'', and covering MC duties and singing the theme song "Winnie the Pooh", for the 1967 album entitled ''Happy Birthday Winnie the Pooh'', all of these on [[Disneyland Records]]. He can be heard on the soundtrack of another cartoon feature, ''[[The Man Called Flintstone]]''.