Posted on 12/09/2014 8:17:31 PM PST by massmike
Actress, philanthropist and former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley died Tuesday morning in Beverly Hills, Calif., after a second battle with breast cancer, one of her daughters has announced in a statement to NBC News. She was 75.
Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, Mobley, was crowned Miss America in 1959 and became one of the few Miss Americas to launch a successful TV and movie career. She graduated from "Ole Miss" in 1958 and was the university's first Carrier Scholar and the first woman voted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.
In 1962, Mobley made her successful Broadway debut in the musical "Nowhere to Go But Up" which then led to a role in "Guys and Dolls." The acclaim from those two shows helped her to land roles opposite Elvis Presley in "Girl Happy" and "Harum Scarum" and earned her a Golden Globe in 1965 for "Most Promising Newcomer."
Mobley also also appeared as a guest star on on many hit television series, including "Perry Mason" and "The Love Boat." In the 1980s, she starred as stepmother Maggie McKinney in the final season of "Diff'rent Strokes" and an alcoholism counselor on "Falcon Crest."
Mobley was married to the late actor and talk show host Gary Collins, whom she met on the set of "Three on a Couch," the 1966 comedy she made with Jerry Lewis. They had two daughters, Clancy Collins-White, senior vice president of drama development at Warner Bros. Television, and Melissa Collins; and one son, Guy William Collins.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
That poor woman suffered a great deal in her last few years. Her husband, Gary Collins, became an alcoholic, got arrested several times for DUI. This was all happening while she was battling breast cancer. She suffered from Crohn’s Disease too.
A true Southern Lady. RIP.
RIP to a beautiful Southern lady who performed with Elvis and was one of Hollywood’s token Republicans.
I did too until a couple of years ago. I was watching an episode of "Match Game" on the Game Show Network when Rayburn and the panelists got into a brief discussion about William F. Buckley, and how brilliant he was. Rayburn opined: "too bad he's not on OUR side."
Me too. What really gets me is the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 is now 34 years ago.
Not surprising. After all, Rayburn is(or was) Hollywood so liberalism would (sadly) have been the norm.
However, Mary Ann Mobley and her husband Gary Collins were Republicans.
Here she is with Bert Parks at the Miss America pageant 1958.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhPR5JJzXec
It’s interesting to hear much more pronounced her Southern accent was at the time.
According to wiki Gene cashed his chips in 1999. Married for 56 years with one child and was a WWII vet.
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