Abstract
The Kenny Kerr Papers (approximately 1973-2013) contain audiovisual materials, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera that document the career of Las Vegas, Nevada female impersonator Kenny Kerr. The majority of the collection includes recordings of Kerr's performances, including his impersonation revue show
Finding Aid PDF
Date
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Scope and Contents Note
The Kenny Kerr Papers (approximately 1973-2013) contain audiovisual materials, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera that document the career of Las Vegas, Nevada female impersonator Kenny Kerr. The majority of the collection includes recordings of Kerr's performances, including his impersonation revue show
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. The donor, Dennis McBride, acknowledged that they held no copyrights in the donated material when they transferred ownership of the Kenny Kerr Papers (MS-01051) to UNLV. However, some material may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproductions and use or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
Las Vegas, Nevada female impersonator Kenny Kerr was born in Blue Anchor, New Jersey and began performing as a teenager on the East Coast. He was known for his Barbra Streisand impersonation and eventually moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1977 where he performed his show,
Kerr was an outspoken supporter of the gay community in Las Vegas and often donated to community causes and performed in fundraising benefits for Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN), Golden Rainbow, Lighthouse Compassionate Care, and the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. In 1997, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center's Honorarium. Kerr passed away on April 28, 2013 at the age of 60.
Sources:
Friess, Steve, "Remembering Kenny Kerr-Gay Pioneer,"
McBride, Dennis, "Boylesque,"
PGN Staff, "Obituary: Kenny Kerr, iconic drag performer, 60,"
Preferred Citation
Kenny Kerr Papers, approximately 1973-2013. MS-01051. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1hf20
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated by Kris Vidal in 2021; accession number 2021-026. Additional materials were donated in 2022 and 2024 by Dennis McBride; accession numbers 2022-105 and 2024-015.
Processing Note
In 2021, Tammi Kim minimally processed the collection during accessioning. Files were copied off of one optical disc and access files were created. In 2022, Sarah Jones used the donor's provided inventory to create item-level descriptions of photographs. Tammi Kim ingested files off one optical disc and Sarah Jones created access copies. In 2024, Sarah Jones added a single item from a new accession and updated the finding aid. In 2025, Tammi Kim processed digital video files representing select videos from the collection and updated the finding aid inventory.
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Appraisal Note
Tammi Kim performed minimal appraisal on the materials. Duplicate photographic prints were reviewed and discarded.