Townsend, Brigham M., 1907-1987

Brigham M. Townsend was a newspaper columnist who was active in Las Vegas, Nevada between the 1940s and 1950s. He was born Francis Joseph Kilduff in California on October 15, 1907. While living in California, he was a professional violinist, a studio musician, and the house manager for the Sid Grauman Theatre, better know as Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. He changed his name to Brigham M. Townsend upon moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1943, when Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel hired him as a publicist. He also served as Public Relations Director for the Hotel Tropicana, and eventually was the director of marketing for all of the Hull Hotels in California and Nevada. Townsend adopted his new name to appeal to the large Mormon presence in Las Vegas. Townsend died June 1987.

Sources:

Genealogy files about "Brigham M. Townsend." Accessed on June 10, 2020 on familysearch.org

Gibson, Elizabeth. It Happened In Nevada: Remarkable Events That Shaped History. Guilford, Connecticut: Morris Book Publishing, LLC. 2010.

Gragg, Larry D. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel: The Gangster, the Flamingo, and the Making of Modern Las Vegas. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC. 2015.

Desert Sun, Volume 45, Number 259. June 2, 1972. California Digital Newspaper Collection. cdnc.ucr.edu. Accessed on June 30, 2020.