Las Vegas television pioneer dies at 82

Friday, Jan. 6, 2006 | 8:19 a.m.

Born: Toole, Utah, 1923.

Education: Graduated from the University of Utah in 1948.

Honors: In July 2003 the Clark County Nevada Heritage Museum established an exhibit on Merle Bunker, including the magic glasses from "The Cinderella Show."

Survivors: Husband of 59 years, B. Allen Bunker; two sons, Brent Bunker and Randy Bunker; daughters Robyne Fullagar and Jennifer Hall; 19 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.

Donation: In Merle Bunker's memory to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 3800 N. Central Ave., Suite 700, Phoenix, AZ 85012.

For a dozen years in the 1950s and '60s, thousands of Las Vegas children at 4 p.m. weekdays tuned in to Channel 8 to watch Merle Bunker in the role of Miss Cinderella, to have fun and learn valuable lessons about manners and behavior.

On "The Cinderella Show," Merle dressed in fashionable gowns and looked through her magic glasses to introduce cartoons or announce birthdays of studio audience members and children watching at home.

Friends and relatives say Bunker was far ahead of her time, producing her own local TV show and giving young children a place to share their thoughts.

Merle D. Bunker, a member of the KLAS Channel 8 Hall of Fame, died on New Year's Day at her home in Mesa, Ariz. She was 82. Services are today in Mesa.

"For a lot of Las Vegans like myself, Merle's show was our first exposure to television and being on television," said Patrick Gaffey, cultural program supervisor for Clark County Parks and Recreation and a longtime friend.

"Her show was a real community event. It was apparent that she really liked kids. When she asked children questions, she was genuinely interested in listening to their answers."

"The Cinderella Show" ran on KLAS from 1956 to 1968. Merle produced more than 3,800 shows featuring more than 30,000 children in the studio audience.

Bunker's niece, Janelle Kreimeyer of Henderson, said her aunt was a pioneer in local television.

"For a woman to produce her own show in that era was quite remarkable," Kreimeyer said. "But for her, it was not about women's lib. It was about kids and getting across messages about family values."

At age 17, Merle attended the Utah State Fair, where television was introduced to the state. She won the Miss Television of 1940 beauty pageant at that event.

In 1944 Warner Bros. Studio named Merle the "Most Photogenic Girl" at the University of Utah and gave her a Hollywood screen test.

In the late 1940s, Merle moved to Las Vegas, where she worked for the city as director of the Wildcat Lair, a downtown club for teenagers.

Merle was a longtime public relations company owner and community leader in Mesa, where she was named outstanding citizen of 1987. She also was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ed Koch can be reached at 259-4090 or at koch@lasvegassun.com.