Abstract
The Norman Kaye Photograph Collection (approximately 1950-1970) consists of black-and-white photographic prints of Norman Kaye and the Mary Kaye Trio in performance at the Hotel Last Frontier in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Norman Kaye Photograph Collection (approximately 1950-1970) consists of black-and-white photographic prints of Norman Kaye and the Mary Kaye Trio in performance at the Hotel Last Frontier in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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 and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
Norman Kaye was born Norman Kaaihue on September 22, 1922. He and his sister Mary were born into a Hawaiian show-business family, and played in their father's band, Johnny Kaaihue's Royal Hawaiians. After serving in the army during World War II, Kaye and his sister formed a group that evolved into the Mary Kaye Trio. They first played Las Vegas, Nevada in 1947.
In 1954, Kaye moved to Las Vegas to work the at the Hotel Last Frontier. In addition to his casino performances, he appeared in numerous movies and television shows. He was inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame in 1999 and the March of Dimes selected his song "Throw a Dime My Way" as their theme song, from a field of over 39,000 entries. Kaye also served as chairman of the Las Vegas Golden Circle, an organization that helped fund the Las Vegas Community Theatre.
Kaye was active in the business community, founding Norman Kaye Real Estate, and establishing a brokerage firm in Southern Nevada in 1963. Kaye was a sponsor and committee member of the Urban League of Las Vegas and served on the boards of several hospitals and charitable organizations in Las Vegas. In 1967, he was appointed by Governor Grant Sawyer as the Poet Laureate of the State of Nevada.
Norman Kaye died September 17, 2012.
Source:
Weatherford, Mike. "Norman Kaye of Mary Kaye Trio dies." Las Vegas Review-Journal. September 17, 2012. Accessed March 30, 2020. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/norman-kaye-of-mary-kaye-trio-dies/
Preferred Citation
Norman Kaye Photograph Collection, approximately 1950-1970. PH-00061. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1970 by Norman Kaye; accession number 1971-009.
Processing Note
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Melise Leech wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.