What Robert Friedrich had to go was the stage name printed under a photograph in an archival newspaper that showed him posing with other Las Vegas showgirls.
It will take him more than 20 years to unravel the mystery of Lee A. Merlin’s true identity.
Friedrichs, 81, is not a detective. He is a historian, retired scientist, and a scientist who started in the Atomic Age, and is a complicated moment when nuclear history blurs between fear and the appeal of nuclear weapons.
Between 1951 and 1992, hundreds of nuclear tests were conducted in the desert outside Las Vegas, almost underground. However, from the 1950s to the early 1960s, it was a huge mushroom cloud from the explosion of nuclear weapons on earth that captured the public’s imagination.
Las Vegas tried to take advantage of the trend and sent photographers to the challenge in 1957 to shoot promotional ads for nuclear tourism. He got the idea to capture a lead dancer at the Sands Hotel in a swimsuit shaped like a fluffy mushroom cloud. In the photo, the heeled showgirl smiles with her arms stretched out as the desert unfolds behind her like a stage. Images played a key role in shaping Las Vegas’s city of fantasy and spectacles. However, little was known about the stars in the photographs – up until now.
I’ll chase the clue
Friedrichs first tried to find the missed atomic bomb around 2000. The Atomic Museum is set to open in Las Vegas in a few years, and as a founding member, he was “opposed to hope” that she was still alive and able to attend the grand opening.
What started as a simple question? Who was she? – Became Friedrich’s obsession, lasting his career and living longer than his friends.
Friedrich filled the stack of binders with clues and potential leads that led him to the “The Man of South Dakota.” On my days off I would look through online newspaper archives or sift through special collections in the library.
He tracked the photographer from that famous photo shoot and interviewed former showgirls who confirmed the stage name of the Miss Atomic Bomb. However, the woman’s real name still escaped him.
The leads have dried up and months have passed.
The mystery didn’t keep him at night, but he said that when he was awake it consumed his thoughts. He stared at the photos from time to time, wondering if she would give up the answer.
Then something unexpected happened last winter. He spoke at the Atomic Museum about his search, and the next day the audience sent him a copy of the obituary. The details were outstanding. The woman was once a lead dancer at the Sands Hotel.
Her name was Anna Lee Mahony.
Beyond the stage name
She was born on August 14, 1927 in the Bronx. After training in New York’s ballet, Mahony performed in shows and musicals at her stage name, Lee A. Merlin.
By 1957 she was a lead dancer at the Copa Showroom at the Sands Hotel and a frequent haunt of Rat Pack and gangs. According to her obituary, she performed for an elite audience, including Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.
After hanging her dance shoes, Mahoney worked as a mental health counselor for 30 years before moving to Hawaii to get married. She died in Santa Cruz, California in 2001 after a fight with cancer.
Her photos are one of the most requested of the 7.5 million images stored in the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Visitors Bureau archives. It inspired Halloween costumes, and former Playboy Bunny Holly Madison recreated it in 2012. One of the famous outtakes of filming appears in the background of an episode of the police television drama “Crime Story,” set in the 1960s.
“It’s really amazing that a one click on the shutter could have such an impact,” Friedrich said.
A temporary exhibition featuring decades of searches will be held on June 13th at the Atomic Museum.
“It’s about the Miss Atomic Bomb, Anna Lee Mahony,” said Joseph Kent, the museum’s assistant director and curator.
New friends and old stories
Over the years, the project has become deeply personal to Friedrich.
He and photographer Don English became quick friends after their first meeting. Before the Atomic Museum was open to the public, Friedrich incorporated English to tour the space. English brought the original camera he used to take in the infamous photos before.
English posed in the lobby for a photo with life-size cardboard cutouts of “Miss Atomic Bomb.” Friedrichs jokes that he is his favorite of all the photos he has gathered about her over the course of 25 years.
English passed away in 2006 long before Friedrich solved the mystery. Instead, he called English’s daughter to share the news.
“She was really excited that we had this in bed,” Friedrichs said.
And then there was a showgirl who had been talking to Friedrich for hours. They shared the stage names and stories about Vintage Vegas – flashy dinners, photo shoots, and gorgeous gifts like a beautiful citrine ring that they got from a man who wanted to marry her.
Women got a glimpse into the Atomic Age, their lives as Copa Showgirls, and how they became Las Vegas icons, but the captions and their names in the photos were sometimes omitted entirely.
And finally, with the help of a private investigator who donated his time, Friedrich unveiled the conclusive evidence linking the name of the Miss Atomic Bomb to all Social Security numbers.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to be perfected in my life,” Friedrichs said with tears in tears.
Curiosity wasn’t his only motivation to solve the mystery. The missing name was a gap in the historical record, he said, and he wanted to fix it.
“It’s like knowing someone is the first president of the United States, what was his name?”
