Las Vegas ambassador extraordinaire

By Mary Manning

Friday, May 9, 2008 | 2 a.m.

World War II fighter pilot G. Barney Rawlings came to Las Vegas in 1947 to sing — launching a half-century career as a performer, emcee and executive director of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

It was something of a second life for Rawlings. As an Army Air Corps pilot, he had flown 35 combat missions in B-17 bombers over Europe, logged 282 hours in the air and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, three battle stars and six air medals.

Rawlings, 86, died of melanoma Thursday at his Las Vegas home, his daughter Darlene Richards said.

Rawlings, who retired from the Army Air Corps Reserve as a major general, was the convention bureau’s assistant manager in the late 1950s when he was asked to show off the town to a Hollywood actor. Rawlings and Ronald Reagan bonded on that trip, and they became lifelong friends.

Rawlings was born in Provo, Utah, on April 29, 1922. He came to Southern Nevada on Labor Day 1947 to sing for three nights at the Railroad Pass Casino for $150 — a far better gig than he’d had at a Utah nightclub, where he earned $5 a night while attending the University of Utah as a law student.

The casino crowd included Last Frontier Hotel show producer Hal Braudis, who auditioned Rawlings the next day. Two days later Braudis hired Rawlings, and he never looked back.

As a local emcee who could also sing, Rawlings performed a record 3,128 consecutive shows at the old Thunderbird Hotel. Such roles ceased to exist in the modern mega-showroom era.

In 1953 Rawlings added to his entertainment resume by becoming the sales and convention director at the Thunderbird. Four years later he was hired as assistant manager of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

He went to the Riviera in 1963 as vice president of sales and in 1968 became executive director of marketing for the Sands. At the same time, he served as national director of the Nevada Hotel Sales Management Association and vice chairman of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce’s Aviation Committee.

In 1969, Rawlings was appointed executive director of the visitors authority, earning $25,000 a year.

Rawlings’ wife of 49 years, Hazel, died in 1989 of cancer, and 18 years ago he married Christine Ann Puff Russell, who helped him with his production business.

In addition to his wife he is survived by daughters Darlene Richards of Las Vegas, Kathleen Danielson of Snowflake, Ariz., and Nancy Rawlings of Las Vegas; a son, Brent Rawlings of Las Vegas; five stepchildren, Rocky Russell, Christy Pyhtila, Brandon Russell, Angel Lemmon and Polly Falk; and 28 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

A viewing is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. May 16 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel, 3400 W. Charleston Blvd. Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. May 17 in the chapel, with a viewing from 9 to 10 a.m. Burial will be at Bunkers Memory Gardens Cemetery, 7251 W. Lone Mountain Road.