All Robert Friedrichs needed to go on was a stage identify he discovered printed below an archival newspaper picture that confirmed her posing with different Las Vegas showgirls.
It could take him greater than twenty years to unravel the thriller of Lee A. Merlin’s true identification.
Friedrichs, 81, is not a detective. He is a historian and a retired scientist who bought his begin through the atomic age, an advanced second in American historical past when the road was blurred between worry and fascination with nuclear energy.
Between 1951 and 1992, lots of of nuclear assessments have been carried out, principally underground, within the desert exterior Las Vegas. But it surely was the large mushroom clouds from the above-ground nuclear blasts that captured the general public’s creativeness all through the Fifties and early Nineteen Sixties.
Las Vegas sought to capitalise on that craze, and in 1957 despatched a photographer out on project to shoot a promotional advert for nuclear tourism. He bought an thought to seize the lead dancer on the Sands Lodge in a swimsuit within the form of a fluffy mushroom cloud. Within the picture, the high-heeled showgirl is smiling with arms outstretched because the desert unfolds behind her like a stage.The picture performed a key function in shaping Las Vegas ‘ identification as a metropolis of fantasy and spectacle. But little was identified concerning the star of the picture – till now.
Chasing clues
Friedrichs first got down to discover Miss Atomic Bomb round 2000. The Atomic Museum was set to open in Las Vegas in just a few years and as a founding member, he was “hoping towards hope” that she was nonetheless alive and will attend the grand opening.
What began as a easy query – Who was she? – turned an obsession for Friedrichs that outlasted careers and outlived pals.
Friedrichs stuffed stacks of binders with clues and potential leads, like one which led him “to a man in South Dakota.” Days off have been spent both combing via on-line newspaper archives or sifting via particular collections on the library.
He tracked down the photographer from that well-known photoshoot and interviewed former showgirls who confirmed Miss Atomic Bomb’s stage identify. However the lady’s actual identify nonetheless eluded him.
Leads dried up and months changed into years.
The thriller did not preserve him up at night time, however he stated when he was awake, it consumed his ideas. He would generally stare on the picture, questioning if she’d ever hand over the reply.
Then, final winter, one thing sudden occurred. He gave a chat on the Atomic Museum about his search, and the following day, an viewers member despatched him a duplicate of an obituary. A element stood out: The girl had as soon as been the lead dancer on the Sands Lodge.
Her identify was Anna Lee Mahoney.
Past the stage identify
She was born on Aug 14, 1927, within the Bronx. Mahoney skilled in ballet in New York earlier than performing in exhibits and musicals below her stage identify, Lee A. Merlin.
By 1957, she was the lead dancer on the Sands Lodge’s Copa showroom, a frequent hang-out of the Rat Pack and mobsters. She carried out for elite audiences, together with Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, based on her obituary.
After hanging up her dancing sneakers, Mahoney labored for 30 years as a psychological well being counselor, moved to Hawaii and bought married. She died in 2001 in Santa Cruz, California, after a battle with most cancers.
Her {photograph} is among the most requested of the 7.5 million photos saved within the Las Vegas Conference Middle and Guests Authority’s archive. It has impressed Halloween costumers, and former Playboy Bunny Holly Madison recreated it in 2012. One of many outtakes from the well-known shoot seems within the background of an episode of “Crime Story,” a police TV drama set within the Nineteen Sixties.
“It is simply actually superb that one click on of the shutter might have such an impression,” Friedrichs stated.
A brief exhibit showcasing the decades-long search opens June 13 on the Atomic Museum.
“It is about Miss Atomic Bomb, about Anna Lee Mahoney,” stated Joseph Kent, the museum’s deputy director and curator, “however it’s additionally about Robert’s quest to seek out out her actual identification.”
New pals and previous tales
Through the years, the mission had turn into deeply private for Friedrichs.
He and the photographer, Don English, turned quick pals after their first assembly. Earlier than the Atomic Museum opened to the general public, Friedrichs took English inside to tour the house. English introduced the unique digital camera he used to take the notorious picture.
English posed within the foyer for a photograph with a life-sized cardboard cutout of “Miss Atomic Bomb.” Friedrichs jokes it is his favourite of all of the photographs he is collected of her in 25 years.
English died in 2006, lengthy earlier than Friedrichs solved the thriller. As an alternative he referred to as English’s daughter to share the information.
“She was actually excited that we had gotten this put to mattress,” Friedrichs stated.
After which there have been the showgirls who spent hours speaking with Friedrichs. They shared their stage names and tales about classic Vegas – fancy dinners, photoshoots and lavish presents like a phenomenal citrine ring that certainly one of them bought from a person who needed to marry her.
The ladies offered a glimpse into the atomic period, life as Copa showgirls and the way they turned icons of Las Vegas, but have been generally misidentified in picture captions or their names altogether omitted.
And eventually, with the assistance of personal investigators who donated their time, Friedrichs uncovered conclusive proof linking all of Miss Atomic Bomb’s names to a single Social Safety quantity.
“It is one thing I at all times hoped can be accomplished in my lifetime,” stated Friedrichs, teary-eyed.
His motivation to resolve the thriller did not come from curiosity alone. The lacking identify was a niche within the historic file, he stated, and he needed to repair it.
“It is type of like realizing somebody was the primary president of the USA, however what was his identify once more?”
