Carmichael, Kent

Kent Carmichael, lighting engineer and artist, is responsible for many of the most iconic signs in Las Vegas history. Kent Carmichael was born in December 1933 in Burbank, California, drafted for Korean War as a football player for the U.S. Navy, and served overseas in Korea. After being discharged in 1956 in Long Beach he began working for Interstate Neon for Max and Mo Oggenblick. While working evenings doing spotlight for Ice Follies at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in 1957 Doc and Judy Bayley saw the American flag he projected onto the ice during the finale and brought him to Las Vegas to do spotlights for them at the Hacienda.