Search
Lee Meriwether Profile
|
|
Photo gallery |
| (Lee Ann Meriwether) |
|
| 27 May 35 | is born in Los Angeles, California, to Gregg and Ethel Meriwether |
| c. 38 | moves with her family to Phoenix, Arizona, shortly after her brother Don is born |
| c. 46 | when her father is transferred, they move to San Francisco |
| ? | attends George Washington High School |
| 54 | attends City College of San Francisco as a Radio and TV / Theatre Arts major |
| ? | has her first TV role in "The Philco Television Playhouse," opposite Mary Astor |
| 54 | is crowned "Miss San Francisco” |
| is crowned "Miss California" |
|
| 14 August 54 | as "Miss California," she attends the "Miss Nevada" beauty pageant held in Reno, Nevada |
| 15 July 54 | her father, an office employee for a California chemical firm, dies unexpectedly |
| 10 September 54 | wins the swimsuit title at the "Miss America" contest |
| 12 September 54 | is crowned "Miss America of 1955" in Atlantic City. Runner-ups are "Miss New York City," Heather Jo Taferner, 20; "Miss Michigan," Janice Hutton Somers, 19; "Miss Florida," Ann Gloria Daniel, 21; and "Miss District of Columbia," Linda Maud Weisbrod, 21. She receives the sparkling tiara before an audience of 18,000 in the Atlantic City Convention Hall from Evelyn Ay of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, "Miss America of 1954." As for boyfriends, Lee says "there is no one special." She says she just has "some very good friends." After donning the robes as the new queen, she breaks down and sobs backstage. |
| ? | she's reported planning to use her scholarship to attend Pasadena Playhouse School. Her measurements are 34-22-35. |
| October 54 | columnist Walter Winchell tells that "Argentina's Peron fell hard for Lee Ann Meriwether ("Miss America") when they met in Buenos Aires..." |
| September 55 | is on hand to crown Sharon Kay Ritchie, "Miss America of 1956" |
| upon her retirement as "Miss America," she claims she's seeking a career on stage, not marriage. The press reports she picked up $70,000 in cash from television alone, in addition to her $5,000 scholarship. |
|
| 3 November 55 | Marlon Brando escorts her to the gala premiere of his Guys and Dolls in New York |
| 12 January 56 | is crowned "Diamond Queen of 1956" by the president of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America, Inc., during a ceremony at the Del Monico Hotel in New York. Her "diamond tiara, which is valued at $100,000, once belonged to the Austrian imperial family." |
| Late January 56 | the press tags her a budding NBC starlet. "Her daily chore as one of Dave Garroway's 'Today' aides rousts her out of the hay at 4 a.m. and she turns in again at 8 p.m." |
| c. 56 | studies acting with the famed teacher Lee Strasberg |
| Mid-July 56 | is pictured flip skimming along with world water skiing champion Alfredo Mendoza at Cypress Gardens, Florida |
| 30 July 56 | there are rumors she may wed Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, the ex of Marilyn Monroe. Winchell writes in the New York Daily Mirror that the pair didn't deny a report to that effect while he was in their company Saturday night, July 28. DiMaggio's 41; she's 21. |
| End July 56 | she and DiMaggio are seen at Atlantic City's 500 Club. She denies reports that she and Joe were engaged. |
| September 56 | is seen at Armando's with Marty Mills |
| December 56 | is heralded a nominee for the title role in Marjorie Morningstar |
| March 57 | becomes acquainted to actor Frank Aletter through mutual friends |
| August 57 | columnist Jack O'Brian says "Lee Meriwether is the best weather girl of all..." |
| December 57 | about her hopes to achieve recognition as a first-rate actress, she declares "I think it's a real disadvantage to me as an actress ever to have been chosen a 'Miss America'" |
| 31 December 57 | she and Aletter become engaged on New Year's Eve. She'll tell her widowed mother by telephone. |
| 4 January 58 | announces in New York that she will marry Aletter "some time next summer." Aletter, who appears on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, says he gave her a one-carat diamond engagement ring when she accepted him, a week after he proposed. |
| Early January 58 | columnist Earl Wilson reports that she's dating skating champ Dick Button |
| March 58 | will marry Aletter on April 27 |
| Mid-April 58 | her San Francisco wedding will be filmed for NBC's "Today" by Art Linkletter and producer John Guedel. The press tells that she's "getting hitched on April 20." |
| 20 April 58 | marries actor Frank G. Aletter at St. Francis Episcopal Church in San Francisco. He's 32; she's 22. Aletter's a veteran of the Korean War. Both plan to continue their careers. |
| 31 May 60 | her daughter Kyle Kathleen is born in Los Angeles. She'll become an actress. |
| September 60 | is off to Atlantic City to host the crowning of "Miss America." Her 11-week-old daughter accompanies her. |
| 12 November 63 | her daughter Lesley A. is born in Los Angeles. She will become a renowned stunt woman. |
| March 67 | serves as commentator for a spring style fashion show during Les Chapeaux Fleurs, a benefit fashion luncheon held at the Sportsmen's Lodge |
| November 67 | she and her husband attend Camelot A Go Go for benefit of the Exceptional Children's Foundation at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood |
| July 70 | she and Debbie Bryant, "Miss America of 1966," will be co-hostesses for the upcoming "Miss America" show |
| March 71 | the Aletters are reported living on the "unfashionable outer ring of the San Fernando Valley. Their home is a two-story Cape Cod edifice with dormer windows. It gives a feeling of the East Coast. 'We don't entertain at home very often,' she says, 'because people drive all the way out here once and are darned if they'll do it a second time." |
| August 71 | serves as "Miss Bowl-Down Cancer of 1971" at the meeting of the San Fernando Valley Council of American Cancer Society |
| December 71 | the press tells it's "silly talk" about her marriage to Aletter, "just because Frank showed up stag at a Greg Morris party. Lee happened to be on an overnight camping trip with their two Girl Scout daughters, and that was the only reason for her absence." |
| February 74 | divorces Aletter in Los Angeles |
| serves as commentator at Delta Zeta Sorority's 18th annual Flame Fantasy luncheon-fashion show benefit at the Beverly Hilton |
|
| January 75 | is signed by Wide World Tours to cruise aboard the Sun Princess from Los Angeles harbor on March 22, marking a special Easter 10-days cruise that includes stops at Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Mazatian, and Cabo San Lucas. She will have her two daughters and mother with her. |
| May 75 | is good will ambassador of Granada Hills |
| September 75 | she and her ex, Frank Aletter, are noted at Greg Morris' celebrity golf tournament held in Hartford, Connecticut. "They flew to the tournament on the same plane but carefully avoided each other." |
| October 75 | is elected honorary chairman of the fifth annual awards banquet of the President's Club of California State University in Northridge |
| November 75 | will host the 49th annual New York Macy's Parade |
| June 77 | is honorary general chairwoman for the annual Hope Sunday campaign to raise funds on behalf of the City of Hope |
| July 77 | rides in the celebrity walk opening night at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Forum with her daughter Lesley |
| October 77 | presents the awards at Buckley School's fourth annual Parent-Celebrity Tennis Tournament at the Bernard Gelson ranch in Chatsworth |
| ? | plays frequently at Theatre West, a professional actors' workshop in Hollywood |
| ? | meets Marshall Borden in San Antonio, where they both star in a production of Angel Street |
| 87 | marries actor Marshall Borden |
| 30 December 93 | becomes a grandmother when Kyle’s daughter is born |
| 2 November 96 | attends the 11th American Cinema Awards in Los Angeles |
| 1 March 97 | attends the 13th Soap Opera Digest Awards in Los Angeles |
| Sources: The New York Times, Reno Evening Gazette, The News, Stevens Point Daily Journal, Nevada State Journal, The Lima News, The Marion Star, Chronicle-Telegram, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Oakland Tribune, The Hammond Times, Appleton Post-Crescent, Indiana Evening Gazette, The Herald-Press, Van Nuys News, Van Nuys Valley News, pro.Corbis.com, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography Wikipedia: Lee Meriwether Official Site Batman TV Tribute Site: Lee Meriwether Memory Alpha: Lee Meriwether | |