A Day in the Life with Las Vegas Chorus Girl Kim Smith in 1954

For chorus girls the best place in the country is Las Vegas, where no gambling club feels competitively safe without a full-scale floor show to pull customers in. The work is steady, the pay good and the recreation plentiful. Kim Smith, who gets $128 a week at the time for dancing in two shows nightly, works hard indoors and plays harder outdoors, lavishing on the Nevada town an athletic affection no crapshooter could comprehend.

Free from boredom ("There are so many things to do it's hard to choose"), she has no fear of too little or too much masculine attention ("You have all these interesting people here and there are guards"). Unless movie studios or matrimony intervenes, 21-year-old Kim wants to keep capering. "I am having more fun," Kim said, "than anyone else in the whole world."

Kim Smith (R) learning to ride like a cowboy.

Kim Smith, at the swimming pool in the Sands Hotel.

Kim Smith (fore) and her roomate at lake Mead.

Kim Smith (R) playing in the snow with a friend.

Kim Smith while at a ski lodge.

Kim Smith (R) and her roomate playing slot machines.

Kim Smith (L) and her roommate after leaving a casino.

Las Vegas Chorus Girl, Kim Smith, during a show.

(Photos by Loomis Dean/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)