We finally know the true identity of the woman behind the iconic “Miss Atomic Bomb” photo.
After 25 years of investigation, the Atomic Museum said in a news release that founding museum member Robert Friedrichs discovered that the woman in the cotton mushroom cloud swimsuit is Anna Lee Mahoney.
The woman in Las Vegas News Bureau photographer Don English’s photo has long been identified as Lee Merlin, but birth records and communication with a relative revealed that Lee Merlin was Mahoney’s stage name, according to the museum.
“‘Miss Atomic Bomb’ captured the imagination of a generation and became a global symbol of the Atomic Age,” Friedrichs said in the news release. “To now put a name and story to her face is a tribute to the enduring cultural legacy of that extraordinary time in history.”
Creating the Atomic Age photo
Mahoney was working as a performer at the Sands Hotel Copa showroom in Las Vegas in 1957 when she was featured in English’s photo.
Inspired by the mushroom cloud that, at the time, was becoming a visual symbol of the atomic bomb and nuclear power, English’s team created the cotton mushroom cloud and attached it to a swimsuit to create a photo that “helped cement Las Vegas a cultural epicenter of the Atomic Age,” the museum said.
The photo was taken on May 24, 1957 — the same day as Operation Plumbbomb at the Nevada Test Site, now known as the Nevada National Security Site.
“We have 7.5 million images in the LVCVA Archive, and the ‘Miss Atomic Bomb’ photo is one of the most requested images that we have,” said archivist Kelli Luchs of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Who was Anna Lee Mahoney?
Mahoney was born Aug. 14, 1927, in the Bronx, New York. She trained in ballet and modern dance in Los Angeles and danced in several shows and musicals under the name Lee Merlin.
After years of performing in Las Vegas, she moved to Hawaii in 1962 and worked as a mental health counselor.
She relocated in the late 1990s to Santa Cruz, California, to work for the Cabrillo College Foundation, raising funds for student scholarships.
Mahoney died in 2001 after a battle with cancer, according to the museum.
Exhibit opening to honor discovery
The museum said Friedrichs’ discovery and two-decade search will be honored with a temporary exhibit this summer showcasing how Mahoney’s identity was uncovered, and the image’s evolution through the years.
“Las Vegas played a vibrant and unique role in the Atomic Age, and ‘Miss Atomic Bomb’ has always been a symbol of that era’s colorful history,” Joseph Kent, deputy director and curator of the Atomic Museum, said in a news release. “Thanks to Robert Friedrichs’ tireless dedication, we now have the opportunity to connect her story to the history we preserve at the Atomic Museum.”
Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com.
