LAS VEGAS, Nevada: Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans, an impressionist who sold more tickets on the Strip than the Rat Pack or Elvis Presley, died early Friday, his manager said. He was 52.

Gans, best known for his touching impersonation of entertainer George Burns, began a five-year headline gig at tycoon Steve Wynn's Wynn Las Vegas hotel in February. Prior to that, he spent 11 years at the Mirage.

Gans earned Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year honors 11 years in a row in the reader poll conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal but was not well known beyond Las Vegas.

The cause of death was unknown. Gans's manager Chip Lightman expressed his shock at the impressionist's passing.

"The guy was healthy as an ox," Lightman said. "I s poke to Steve Wynn several times this morning and both of us were shocked. I was with Danny the day before yesterday. Healthy as an ox. I mean, all he ate was egg whites and spinach and worked out religiously."

Gans was a former minor league baseball player who turned to performing after a career-ending injury.

He appeared as a player in the film "Bull Durham" and found success in his 1995 one-man show in New York before moving the next year to Las Vegas.