Wayne McAllister
Wayne Douglas McAllister (November 17, 1907 – March 22, 2000) was a Los Angeles-based architect who was a leader in the Googie style of architecture that embraced the automobile and the Space Age. Inspired by tail fins and gleaming chrome, he elevated the drive-in restaurant and the theme hotel to futuristic works of art. His 1941 El Rancho Vegas was the very first resort hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and his iconic 1949 Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California is a California historical landmark.
Also recorded as Wayne Douglas McAllister
Wayne McAllister
Alexis Doine · CC0
- Name
- Wayne McAllister
- Born
- 17 November 1907
- Birthplace
- San Diego, California
- Died
- 22 March 2000
- Place of death
- Arcadia, California
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- architect
- Education
- Sands Hotel and Casino · San Diego High School
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Wayne Douglas McAllister (November 17, 1907 – March 22, 2000) was a Los Angeles-based architect who was a leader in the Googie style of architecture that embraced the automobile and the Space Age. Inspired by tail fins and gleaming chrome, he elevated the drive-in restaurant and the theme hotel to futuristic works of art. His 1941 El Rancho Vegas was the very first resort hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and his iconic 1949 Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California is a California historical landmark.
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wikidata · Q7976455 · wikipedia · Wayne McAllister
In this article
Biography
Biography
He created iconic circular drive-in restaurants in Southern California, including Simon's, Herbert's, and Robert's in the 1930s.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Wayne McAllister • Born — 17 November 1907 • Birthplace — San Diego, California • Died — 22 March 2000 • Place of death — Arcadia, California • Significant Buildings — * Bob's Big Boy (Burbank) • Sands Hotel • Fremont Hotel and Casino
Biography
Biography
McAllister's first major commission was the Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel in 1928, a resort casino and race track that presaged his work in Las Vegas. He designed restaurants and nightclubs, including Pig 'n Whistle, Mike Lyman's, Van De Kamp's, Lawry's, Bob's Big Boy, Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and restaurants and nightclubs at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel including the Biltmore Bowl, home to many Academy Awards ceremonies. After the El Rancho Vegas, McAllister created the original plans for other hotels in Las Vegas, including El Cortez, Desert Inn, Sands Hotel, and the Fremont Hotel and Casino. His partner William Wagner created Binion's Horseshoe in 1961. His obituary in The New York Times reported that he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for Marriott in 1956, becoming a Vice President and supervising the first hotels built by Marriott. He returned to Los Angeles in 1962 where he became an entrepreneur, including the early development of coin-operated photocopying vending machines. The Los Angeles Conservancy held an exhibition on his career at the Pacific Design Center in 1998. McAllister died of a head injury in Arcadia, California at the age of 92.
Selected projects
Selected projects
• Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel, Tijuana, Mexico (1928) • Herbert's Drive In, Los Angeles, California (early 1930s) • El Rancho Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada (1941) • Bob's Big Boy, Burbank, California (1949) • Desert Inn, Las Vegas, Nevada (1950) • Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada (1952) • Fremont Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada (1956)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1907
Wayne McAllister was born on 17 November 1907.
2000
Wayne McAllister died on 22 March 2000.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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San Diego.
Birth place
Arcadia.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Wayne McAllister”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7976455: Wayne McAllister
General reference · Wikidata
Citations
References
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reference work
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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