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Nancy Austin Papers (MS-00613)

Abstract

The Nancy Austin Papers (1966-1978) consist of newspaper clippings and photographs documenting the career of Las Vegas, Nevada entertainer Nancy Austin. The photographs document Austin’s entertainment career as well as other business ventures, including her own clothing line for plus-size women, called Pudgy Playmates.

Finding Aid PDF

Date

1966-1978

Extent

0.46 Cubic Feet (1 box)
0.42 Linear Feet

Scope and Contents Note

The Nancy Austin Papers (1966-1978) consist of newspaper clippings and photographs documenting the career of Las Vegas, Nevada entertainer Nancy Austin. The photographs in the collection document Austin’s entertainment career as well as other business ventures, including her own clothing line for plus-size women, called Pudgy Playmates.

Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by subject.

Biographical / Historical Note

Las Vegas, Nevada comedic entertainer Nancy Byrne Austin was born in Silver Springs, Maryland in 1934. She received her education at the University of Maryland, earning a degree in Education. She taught elementary school for a short time before committing full time to show business. She began performing comedy in New York City in the 1950s and moved to Las Vegas in the early 1960s. Austin made an initial impression as one of the original cast members of the popular Las Vegas daytime review Bottoms Up. She and her husband, Las Vegas entertainer David London, also performed a morning radio show in the 1970s called "Coffee with the Londons."

Austin appeared in many movie and television programs including The Carol Burnett Show and several television episodes of Vega$. She was also involved with charities and organizations in Las Vegas and opened the first women’s plus-size dress shop in Las Vegas in 1970. She designed and made many of the clothes herself. The store expanded to three locations and operated successfully for 15 years. Austin died in 1995 at the age of 60.

Preferred Citation

Nancy Austin Papers, 1966-1978. MS-00613. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Acquisition Note

Materials were donated in 1998 by David London to the Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center and subsequently transferred to the Special Collections Department, Lied Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Accession number; 2005-031.

Processing Note

Material was processed by Joyce Moore in 2005. In 2014, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Ian M. Baldwin revised and enhanced the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards. Subsequently, Ian M. Baldwin entered the data into ArchivesSpace.

Resource Type

Papers

Collection Type

EAD ID

US::NvLN::MS00613

Separated Materials

A six-hour taped interview with Nancy Austin's husband, David London, has been removed from this collection and housed in Special Collections with the other Arnold Shaw tapes.

Finding Aid Description Rules

Describing Archives: A Content Standard
English