Jackie Wilson at the Latin Casino

A Philadelphia club moves across the river

The Latin Casino's Cherry Hill story began before the town had that name. Cherry Hill Township's history says the club moved from Philadelphia and opened in Delaware Township at the end of 1960. It became part of an entertainment district around the Garden State Park racetrack and nearby inns. Its stage hosted performers including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Liberace and the Temptations. Later reporting places the club on the Route 70 parcel subsequently occupied by Subaru of America's headquarters. The address, 2235 Route 70 West, identifies the former property; a township site plan identifies its modern block and lot. Neither document identifies where a particular performer stood onstage. Cherry Hill Public Library local history; Cherry Hill Courier site history.

The 1975 season began under financial pressure. In August, Billboard reported a federal tax judgment of more than $2.5 million against the club operator, while Dallas Gerson planned a September reopening. A September follow-up reported approval to transfer the liquor license to a new corporation. Wilson's appearance later that month confirms the showroom was operating, but those articles do not establish how the tax dispute ended.

Wilson's final performance

On Monday, September 29, 1975, Jackie Wilson appeared at the Latin Casino in Dick Clark's oldies revue. A next-day Associated Press report said he collapsed onstage around his performance of “Lonely Teardrops.” Clark called for the curtain and then asked the audience to pray. Wilson was taken to Cherry Hill Medical Center in critical condition. The music trade paper Record World independently confirmed the date, the revue and his critical condition the following day.

Later accounts place the collapse at a particular lyric, but the next-day AP report says he had just finished the number. The exact moment within the song is uncertain. What is clear from the contemporary reports is that the collapse ended his performing career; it did not end his life that night.

From emergency care to Medford

Billboard reported in December 1975, citing a source close to Wilson, that he had emerged from coma about two weeks earlier but was not responding to people around him. A March 1976 account instead placed his emergence in January. The reports disagree on timing, though both describe severe ongoing impairment. Its July report described a court-approved insurance settlement for medical bills. A later Billboard obituary dates his move to Medford Leas to May 1977. Wilson died at a Mount Holly hospital on January 21, 1984, after years of profound disability, as a contemporary UPI report confirmed. His Medford Leas story follows that later chapter.

The venue after the Latin Casino

The building did not immediately disappear. Billboard reported in October 1981 that it had been refurbished as Emerald City, first as a disco and then as a rock club. The operator had filed for bankruptcy, and performances had halted by late September. A January 1982 follow-up reported that a bankruptcy judge rejected a bid for the property and its liquor license; the October halt should not be mistaken for a proven final closing date. Subsequent redevelopment replaced the venue with Subaru's headquarters. This sequence matters when locating Wilson's performance today: the club itself no longer stands. Cherry Hill Public Library local history; Cherry Hill Courier site history.