May Bradford was born May 11, 1879 in Missouri. Her parents named her Cora May, but she almost always went by the name May. Growing up, she lived in mining camps in New Mexico, Colorado, and Oregon, where her father worked. She graduated from high school in Carthage, Missouri. She attended Stanford and studied art and mathematics, earning her degree in 1902. She then taught high school for one year in Seattle, Washington to earn the money to go to Paris and study art and was able to spend the next year in Paris.

Willard H. George (1889-1956) was a Los Angeles, California based furrier who designed, created, and supplied furs to movie studios during the Golden Age of Hollywood (1920s-1960s). George was the son of Sadie Kiel George, and great-grandson of early Las Vegas, Nevada settler Conrad Kiel, owner of the Kiel Ranch in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

John Kell Houssels Jr. was born in Denver, Colorado on December 11, 1922. His family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when he was eight years old, and his father recieved one of Nevada's first gambling licenses. John Kell, also known as Ike, would follow in his father's footsteps and go on to help Las Vegas gain fame as an entertainment destination. After serving in the military and finishing his undergraduate education at West Point Military Academy in 1945, he went to law school at Stanford. After finishing his schooling, he returned to Las Vegas.