Abstract
Collection is comprised of Ffolliott "Fluff" LeCoque's professional and personal papers (1879-2015), documenting her life and career working as a dancer and later as company manager for Las Vegas entertainment productions; most notably the long-running Jubilee! show produced by Donn Arden for the MGM Grand and Bally's Hotel-Casinos. Materials include personal letters, drawings, professional papers, newspaper clippings, photographs, magazines, commericially produced sheet music, and related ephemera.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The collection (1879-2015) is comprised of newspapers, magazines, commercial sheet music, photographs, and documentation primarily relating to Ffolliott "Fluff" LeCoque's career as a dancer and stage manager in Las Vegas, Nevada. These materials offer insight into Las Vegas's entertainment industry, particularly as it relates to stage productions involving showgirls, and significant historical documentation on the production Jubilee! as well as LeCoque's involvement with the show.
Additional materials document aspects of LeCoque's high school and college life and include personal sketches and drawings, magazine headshots of Hollywood actors, a sequined jacket, and an oil-painting, painted by LeCoque, of her mother.
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 roughly by theme.
Biographical / Historical Note
Ffolliott "Fluff" LeCoque (1923-2016) was born Ffolliott Charlton in Butte, Montana in 1923 where her father was a miner. She grew up in Seattle, developing an early interest in acting and dance. LeCoque attended the University of Washington, actively participating in a sorority before graduating with a degree in theater. Before moving permanently to Las Vegas, Nevada, LeCoque danced for 18 months in Hollywood Extravaganza, a Donn Arden & Ron Fletcher production in Paris, France. She then moved on to another Arden-Fletcher production at the Lookout House, a "Syndicate" club in Covington, Kentucky, and then to California where she spent a decade as both dancer and company manager at the Moulin Rouge in Los Angeles.
In 1947, LeCoque was hired as a singer with the Chuck Gould Orchestra, performing on a six-week contract at the Last Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada for $35 a week. The following year, Donn Arden asked LeCoque to join his company as a dancer in Lido in Paris at the newly opened Thunderbird Hotel; she was soon named "Miss Thunderbird" and became the show’s principal dancer.
LeCoque worked for Arden for the remainder of her performing career, as both a dancer and company manager, retiring from the stage at the age of 43. In 1973, Arden asked LeCoque to serve as company manager for his new show, Hallelujah Hollywood!, at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino. This was the beginning of a new career that spanned the next four decades. As Arden's company manager, LeCoque auditioned thousands of showgirls and dancers over the years to appear in Arden shows, particularly the long-running Jubilee!
"Fluff" LeCoque retired for a second time in 2012 at the age of 87, and passed away in her Las Vegas home in December 2015 at the age of 92.
Sources:
Katsilometes, John. “’Jubilee’ icon Fluff LeCoque dies at age 92,” Las Vegas Sun (Las Vegas, NV), December 10, 2015.
Archuleta, Jon. “Las Vegas ‘Jubilee’ dancer, manager Fluff LeCoque dies at 92,” Fox5, February 19, 2016, http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/30726471/las-vegas-jubilee-dancer-manager-fluff-lecoque-dies-at-92.
Clarke, Norm. “Vegas entertainment pioneer LeCoque dies,” Las Vegas Review Journal (Las Vegas, NV), December 10, 2015.
LeCoque, F., Marshall, J., Las Vegas Women in Gaming Entertainment Oral History Project, & Women's Research Institute of Nevada. (1998). An interview with Fluff LeCoque : An oral history. Las Vegas, Nev.]: University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Preferred Citation
Ffolliott "Fluff" LeCoque Papers, 1879-2015. MS-00826. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2016 by Diane Palm; accession number 2017-002.
Processing Note
A rough inventory of the accession was created by Maggie Bukowski and Tammi Kim in 2017. To prepare the inventory, the described materials were reviewed to create a contents list, estimate dates, and identify materials. In 2017, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Melise Leech and Chris Bruce rehoused and arranged the materials, and revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards.