Peter Lawford might have been a “Rat Pack” member, but he was always the odd one out. Unlike other pack members, he wasn’t very good at dancing or singing. Plus, there was the small matter of him being British – the only one in the group. Lawford was thrown out of the pack eventually but was still a defining presence in the entertainment world during the ‘50s.
He would often spend his time in Vegas. The actor also happened to be the brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy. Here you can see him helping actress Judy Holliday out of a pool in the Sands Hotel in 1953. Lawford and Holliday would soon appear together in the romantic comedy “It Should Happen to You” (1954).
Harry Belafonte
Any retrospective of the 1950s would be incomplete without the incomparable Harry Belafonte. There was no denying his magnitude as a performer. His artistry was so compelling that it enabled him to do things no other Black performer could. Belafonte defiantly broke segregation laws that ruled Las Vegas during the era.
He could achieve this simply by virtue of his stature as a musician, smashing every racial barrier. Some rightfully credit Belafonte with helping pave the way for desegregation in the city. Here, he is pictured walking nonchalantly on the grounds of the Riviera Hotel & Casino where he played a four-week residency.
Jayne Mansfield With Her Dogs
Actor and singer Jayne Mansfield was always at home in Las Vegas. She was as vibrant and outrageous as the city, taking to it like a ship to the sea. While there are pictures galore of Manfield as a glamorous starlet, few capture just how effortlessly she belonged in Vegas like this 1959 picture.
She’s out and about in Sin City - not making media appearances but buying ice cream with her two dogs. Mansfield was an up-and-coming star. But a dearth of good roles kept her away from making Hollywood’s A-list. She also tragically died young, never having realized her full potential.
The Opera Singer
Celebrated opera singer Marguerite Piazza was a Las Vegas headliner originally born and raised in New Orleans. Piazza was also a radio and TV star during the 1950s, and she took her act on the road for 15 years from New York and Boston to Las Vegas.
As a Las Vegas regular, the opera singer transitioned into a jazz career, performing at the supper-club circuit in popular venues. But that’s only scratching the surface of what was a remarkable life and career. Piazza also had six children, survived cancer, saw four marriages and the deaths of her husbands, and rallied after losing a child under tragic circumstances.
The Dream Girl
Jayne Mansfield was a hugely iconic sex symbol in the 1950s and early 1960s. Everyone wanted to be her. She shot to fame after a minor part in the CBS show "Lux Video Theatre." Here, the actor poses by one of her absolute favorite spots in Las Vegas - the Dunes Hotel poolside in 1955.
Mansfield wasn’t just an actor and the very personification of a Hollywood blond bombshell. She was a singer and Playboy Playmate too. Mansfield more than made her mark in the cutthroat entertainment industry. But fans today might not know Mansfield as well as her famous daughter – actor Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."