A True Las Vegas Entertainment Icon

A Gentleman

A Friend

An Unselfish Giver

A Great American

Sweet Louie had always expressed the desired to be remembered as when he was among us.... alive and full of love.... and that's how we will keep his memory in our hearts. 

Nelson Sardelli

 R.I.P. 'SWEET LOUIE'

Marvin "Sweet Louie" Smith, a member of the R & B group The Checkmates, died Saturday, hours before a show on a Caribbean cruise ship, according to his agent.

Smith, 68, fronted The Checkmates with Sonny Charles, who founded the group about 40 years ago.

Their biggest hit, "Black Pearl," reached No. 13 in 1969 and landed them appearances with Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson and headliner gigs in Las Vegas. They opened for Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr. and the Fifth Dimension.

The Checkmates also spent time as the house band for "Playboy After Dark," a syndicated show featuring Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

"Sweet Louie" wowed crowds with Louis Armstrong's version "It's a Wonderful World." He performed it last month at the mock funeral for former Nevada Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren. See it on YouTube.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Marvin "Sweet Louie" Smith, one half of the R&B duo the Checkmates, has died. He was 68.

"His name was really fitting," said fellow Las Vegas entertainer and close friend, Nelson Sardelli, 73. "He was really a sweet guy, a generous guy and was loved and will be missed by many."

Smith died Saturday aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean, where he was performing.

Smith's counterpart was Sonny Charles, a friend since childhood in Fort Wayne, Ind. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was too heartbroken to say much.

But he said Smith spent some of his last moments doing what had brought him the most joy: performing.