Mary Ann Mobley Profile

Mary Ann Mobley

17 February 37	is born in Biloxi, Mississippi
?	her mother marries attorney J. David Williams
September 57	is crowned “Miss Football” in Berkeley, California
?	studies speech and English at the University of Mississippi
?	sings in the choir at Brandon Methodist Church in Brandon, Mississippi
9 August 58	is crowned “Miss Mississippi” in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, city auditorium
6 September 58	is crowned “Miss America” in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Joanne Lucille MacDonald, “Miss Iowa,” places second, and Anita Bryant, “Miss Oklahoma,” third. Mary Ann receives the crown from the hands of Marilyn Van Derbur, “Miss America of 1958.” She wins a total of $10,000 in scholarships, $15,000 in clothes, furs, an auto and a television set.
8 September 58	she and her twelve-year-old sister, Sandra, pose at the Park Lane Hotel in New York
21 October 58	cuts the ribbon to mark the formal opening of the expanded 18-story Deposit Guaranty Building in Jackson, Mississippi
August 59	will crown the new “Miss Maryland” at the beauty pageant to be held in Silver Spring, Maryland
7 August 59	crowns Carole Annette Weiler “Miss Ohio” in a beauty pageant held in Mansfield, Ohio
January 60	studies acting with Lee Strasberg
February 60	is a featured singer with the Glenn Miller – Ray McKinley Band on TV’s “Be Our Guest” show
March 60	comedian George de Witt, MC of “Be Our Guest,” has her fired even though he denies it
March 61	is signed to be mistress of ceremonies at the “Miss Vermont” beauty pageant on May 19
April 61	columnist Earl Wilson reports her “in St: Claire’s Hospital, while medics try to learn what’s causing a mysterious fever…”
May 61	Wilson returns to her: “Ex-‘Miss America’ Mary Ann Mobley cancelled summer stock plans – she’ll be recuperating from a mysterious virus for another two months…”
Mid-May 61	Wilson tells that she’s recuperating from mononucleosis
October 61	auditions for Richard Rogers’ No Strings
November 61	will fly to Hollywood for a Warner Brothers screen test
	Wilson reports: “Ex-‘Miss America’ Mary Ann Mobley, entering her horse at the Louisiana State Horse Show, writes: ‘This is worse than competing in the ‘Miss America’ contest…”
February 62	graces the Daytona 500 race held at Daytona Beach, Flori
April 62	is expected to do Bye, Bye Birdie in summer stock
July 62	is noted at Sasso’s with Jim Mitchum
21 November 64	is one of ten Stars of Tomorrow at the 12th Annual Deb Star Ball at the Hollywood Palladium
65	is "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." in the pilot episode, but when the series is filmed, she is replaced by Stefanie Powers
	wins the part of April Dancer in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” over Ulla Strömstedt
July 65	her wedding with Jim Drury is off and both are dating elsewhere
October 66	the press tells that her dating habits are giving her a “girl around town“ image
24 November 67	marries TV actor Gary Ennis Collins at the Methodist Church in Brandon, Mississippi. He’s 29; she’s 28. More than 400 persons, including Governor and Mrs. Paul Johnson of Mississippi, attend. She wears a floor-length white gown trimmed in lace with a lace veil.
?	she and Collins settle in Benedict Canyon, California
12 October 68	her daughter, Mary Clancy, is born in Los Angeles. She will become a TV executive.
13 October 12	becomes the widow of Gary Collins, who dies at age 74 in Biloxi, Mississippi
9 December 14	dies at age 77 in Beverly Hills from breast cancer

Sources: Drive-In Dream Girls by Tom Lisanti, Albuquerque Journal, The Albuquerque Tribune, The Delta Democrat-Times, The Salisbury Times, Sunday News and Tribune, Tri-City Herald, Kingsport News, Raleigh Register, Evening Banner, Delaware County Daily Times, The Progress-Index, The Post-Register, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Modesto Bee, The Lima News, The Times Recorder, Screen Stories, Movie Life, www.Ancestry.com, pro.Corbis.com
Recommended Books: Drive-In Dream Girls by Tom Lisanti
Links: Filmography