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{{Short description|American actress and politician (1924–2014)}} | |||
{{Infobox person | |||
{{Infobox officeholder | |||
|name = Bess Myerson | |||
|image = Bess Myerson 1957.jpg | | image = Bess Myerson 1957.jpg | ||
| |
| caption = Myerson in 1957 | ||
| birth_date = {{birth date|1924|7|16}} | |||
|alt = | |||
| birth_place = New York City, U.S. | |||
|caption = Myerson in 1957 | |||
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|12|14|1924|7|16}} | |||
|birth_name = | |||
| death_place = ], U.S. | |||
|birth_date = July 16, 1924 | |||
| known_for = {{hlist|''']'''|''']'''}}Only ] and first ] selected as Miss America, and subsequent television, and New York City political career. | |||
|birth_place = ], U.S. | |||
| alma_mater = ] | |||
|death_date = December 14, 2014 (aged 90) | |||
| occupation = Model, city commissioner, TV show celebrity | |||
|death_place = ], U.S. | |||
| |
| height = 5 ft 10 in | ||
| spouse = {{unbulletedlist|Allan Wayne|Arnold M. Grant}} | |||
|nationality = United States | |||
| children = ] | |||
|known_for = Only ] and first ] elected Miss America | |||
| party = ] | |||
|education = | |||
| office = ] | |||
|alma_mater = ] | |||
| predecessor = {{unbulletedlist|Gerard Maxwell Weisberg|as ]}} | |||
|occupation = Model, city commissioner, TV show celebrity | |||
| appointed = ] | |||
|title = ]<br>] 1945 | |||
| |
| term_start = 1969 | ||
| |
| term_end = 1973 | ||
| office1 = ] | |||
|spouse = Allan Wayne<br>Arnold M. Grant | |||
| |
| appointed1 = ] | ||
| term_start1 = 1983 | |||
| term_end1 = 1987 | |||
| signature = Bess_Myerson_Signature_from_the_Goldman_Collection.png | |||
}} | |||
'''Bess Myerson''' (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model, and television actress who in 1945 became the first ] ]. Her achievement, in the aftermath of ], was seen as an affirmation of the Jewish place in American life. She was a heroine to parts of the Jewish community,<ref name="Times obit">{{Citation |last1=Nemy |first1=Enid |title=Bess Myerson, New Yorker of Beauty, Wit, Service and Scandal, Dies at 90 |date=January 5, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/nyregion/bess-myerson-miss-america-and-new-york-official-tarnished-in-scandal-dies.html?_r=0 |work=] |access-date=2015-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107002836/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/nyregion/bess-myerson-miss-america-and-new-york-official-tarnished-in-scandal-dies.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-date=2015-01-07 |last2=McDonald |first2=William |author-link=Enid Nemy}}</ref><ref name="Daily News obit">{{Cite news |last=Fermino |first=Jennifer |date=5 January 2015 |title=Ex-Miss America, New York City Politician Bess Myerson dead at 90 |work=The Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-miss-america-nyc-pol-bess-myerson-dead-90-article-1.2066425 |url-status=live |access-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106203828/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-miss-america-nyc-pol-bess-myerson-dead-90-article-1.2066425 |archive-date=6 January 2015}}</ref> where "she was the most famous pretty girl since ]".<ref name="Times obit" /> | |||
Myerson made frequent television appearances during the 1950s and 1960s. She was a commissioner in the ], served on presidential commissions from the 1960s through the 1980s, and ran unsuccessfully for the ]. Her career in public service ended in the late 1980s when she was indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. She was acquitted after a highly publicized trial.<ref name="Times obit" /> | |||
'''Bess Myerson''' (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014), was an American model, television actress, politician, and civil rights activist who was crowned ]. | |||
==Biography== | |||
At the time of her death, Myerson was the only ] ]. With ] just ending and details regarding the atrocities committed against the Jewish people during ] finally being fully disclosed, Myerson winning the title was seen as a remarkable achievement. According to her obituary in the '']'', Myerson's win made her "a hero to the Jewish community."<ref name="Daily News obit">{{cite news|last1=Fermino|first1=Jennifer|title=Ex-Miss America, New York City politician Bess Myerson dead at 90|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-miss-america-nyc-pol-bess-myerson-dead-90-article-1.2066425|accessdate=7 January 2015|work=The Daily News|date=5 January 2015}}</ref> Myerson biographer Susan Dworkin stated, "In the Jewish community, she was the most famous pretty girl since ]."<ref name="Times obit"> {{Citation | last = Nemy | first = Enid | author-link = Enid Nemy | |||
Myerson was born in ], ],<ref name="harbio">{{Cite web |last=Green |first=David |date=2014-07-16 |title=This Day in Jewish history/A Jewish Miss America Who Scandalized the Press Is Born |url=http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.605276?v=503B9CC881CBD6429FF0EA9AA147268D |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170503/http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.605276?v=503B9CC881CBD6429FF0EA9AA147268D |archive-date=2015-09-24 |access-date=2014-07-16 |publisher=Haaretz}}</ref> to Louis Myerson and Bella (née Podell), who were Jewish ]. Myerson's father worked as a ], ] and ]. After Myerson's birth, the family moved from the ] to ], a cooperative apartment complex in the northern Bronx.<ref name="harbio" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-08-07 |title=New York Historic Districts Council |url=http://www.6tocelebrate.org/site/shalom-aleichem-houses/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228044915/http://6tocelebrate.org/site/shalom-aleichem-houses/ |archive-date=2017-02-28 |access-date=2017-04-26 |publisher=6tocelebrate.org}}</ref><ref>Dworkin, 10-11</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Adam Wisnieski |date=May 25, 2011 |title=Shalom Aleichem Owner Will Fight to Stay |url=http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Shalom-Aleichem-owner-will-fight-to-stay,48649?page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107050627/http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Shalom-Aleichem-owner-will-fight-to-stay,48649?page=2 |archive-date=January 7, 2015 |access-date=January 6, 2015 |publisher=] |page=2}}</ref> She had three siblings: a younger sister, Helen; an elder sister, Sylvia; and a brother, Joseph, who died at age 3, before Myerson was born.<ref name="Times obit" /><ref>Dworkin, pp. 10, 26</ref> | |||
| last2 = McDonald | first2 = William | title = Bess Myerson, New Yorker of Beauty, Wit, Service and Scandal, Dies at 90 | |||
| journal = ] | date = January 5, 2015 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/nyregion/bess-myerson-miss-america-and-new-york-official-tarnished-in-scandal-dies.html?_r=0 | | |||
accessdate = 2015-01-07 }}</ref> | |||
Bess's upbringing emphasized the importance of scholarship over physical beauty. In addition to tradesmen, her neighbors included poets, writers and artists. Myerson reached her adult height when she was 12, and she towered over other children, something that she said made her feel "awkward and gawky" during her ]. Myerson recalled one of her worst childhood memories was playing the tall and thin ] character ] in an elementary school play.<ref>Dworkin, p. 36</ref><ref name="LA Times obituary" /> | |||
Seen frequently on television during the 1950s and 1960, Myerson was a regular on the celebrity quiz show '']''. Upon starting a political career, she held the position of commissioner in the New York City government through two administrations and ran unsuccessfully for the ] from New York in 1980. During the late 1980s, she was tried in federal court on multiple charges, though she was later acquitted.<ref name="Times obit"/> | |||
Myerson began studying piano when she was 9 years old and was in the second class of New York's ] in 1937, graduating in 1941.<ref>Dworkin, p. 41</ref> She went to ], graduating with honors in 1945 with a ] degree in music.<ref name="Times obit" /><ref name="harbio" /><ref name="encycomp">{{Cite web |title=Jewish Women's Archive: Bess Myerson |url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/myerson-bess |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719015240/http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/myerson-bess |archive-date=July 19, 2011 |access-date=September 4, 2011 |website=Jewish Women's Archive}}</ref> To support herself and her family while in college, she gave piano lessons for fifty cents an hour, and worked as a music counselor at a girl's summer camp in Vermont.<ref name="harbio" /><ref>Dworkin, pp. 1, 57</ref> | |||
==Early life== | |||
Myerson was born in ].<ref name="harbio">{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.605276?v=503B9CC881CBD6429FF0EA9AA147268D|title=This day in Jewish history/A Jewish Miss America who scandalized the press is born|last=Green|first=David|date=2014-07-16|publisher=Haaretz}}</ref> to parents Louis Myerson and Bella (née Podell), both ]. Myerson's father worked as a ], ] and ]. After Myerson's birth, the family moved from the ] to the Shalom Aleichem Houses, a Yiddish housing cooperative completed in 1927.<ref></ref><ref>Dworkin, 10-11</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Shalom-Aleichem-owner-will-fight-to-stay,48649?page=2 | title=Shalom Aleichem owner will fight to stay | publisher=The Riverdale Press | date=May 25, 2011 | accessdate=January 6, 2015 | author=Adam Wisnieski | pages=2}}</ref><ref name="harbio"/> She had three siblings: a younger sister, Helen, an older sister, Sylvia, and a brother, Joseph, who died at three years of age before Myerson was born.<ref>Dworkin, pp. 10, 26</ref><ref name="Times obit"/> | |||
===Miss America=== | |||
<nowiki> </nowiki>Myerson began studying piano when she was nine years old and was in the second class of New York's ] in 1937, graduating in 1941.<ref>Dworkin, p. 41</ref> She went on to Hunter College, graduating with honors in 1945 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music.<ref name="encycomp">{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/myerson-bess|title=Jewish Women's Archive: Bess Myerson|work=Jewish Women's Archive|accessdate=September 4, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Times obit" /><ref name="harbio" /> To support herself and her family while in college she gave piano lessons for fifty cents an hour, and worked as a music counselor at a girl's summer camp in Vermont.<ref>Dworkin, pp. 1, 57</ref><ref name="harbio" /> | |||
By the time she was 21, Myerson was {{convert|5|ft|10|in|cm}} tall with "luxuriant brown hair".<ref name="Times obit" /> Myerson was entered without her knowledge into the Miss New York City competition by John C. Pape, a retired steel magnate and amateur photographer who had employed her as a model while she was in college. When Myerson was told about the pageant by her sister Sylvia, who was acquainted with Pape, Myerson was angry because she felt that the beauty business was "embarrassing". However, she was persuaded to compete by Sylvia, and she competed in the swimsuit competition using a borrowed bathing suit.<ref>Dworkin, p. 69</ref> | |||
Myerson enjoyed competing in the pageant, in which she stood out from the other contestants because of her height. On August 15, 1945, the day of ] (]), she won the competition for the pageant and moved on to the Miss America competition, partly motivated by the $5,000 scholarship awarded to the winner.<ref>Dworkin, p. 72</ref> She told interviewers that she wanted to buy a black ] with the scholarship money.<ref name="harbio" /><ref name="LA Times obituary" /><ref name="nymag">{{Cite news |last=Berman |first=Susan |date=14 November 1977 |title=Bess Myerson Is One Tough Customer |work=] |url=http://nymag.com/news/politics/49908/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107194848/http://nymag.com/news/politics/49908/ |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> | |||
==Miss America== | |||
By the time she was 21, Myerson was {{convert|5|ft|10|in|cm}} tall with "luxuriant brown hair".<ref name="Times obit"/> Two accounts exist on how Myerson became a pageant contender. According to one, she wanted to buy a black ] and decided to compete for Miss America after someone joked that it would be a way to afford and buy the piano.<ref name="harbio"/><ref name=nymag>{{cite news|last1=Berman|first1=Susan|title=Bess Myerson Is One Tough Customer|url=http://nymag.com/news/politics/49908/#|accessdate=5 January 2015|work=New York|date=14 November 1977}}</ref> According to the other, her sister entered her photo in the Miss New York City competition without her knowledge.<ref name="Times obit"/> | |||
Myerson was the ] entry in the 1945 Miss America pageant,<ref name="Times obit" /> and she competed in the talent portion of the contest by performing the music of ] and ].<ref name="LA Times obituary" /> Prior to the competition, she was pressured to use a pseudonym that "sounded less Jewish". Despite revelations of the Holocaust in the previous months, America was still widely perceived as an ] society that manifested hostility toward people of Jewish ancestry. Myerson refused<ref name=encycomp/><ref name="pbs">{{Cite web |title=Breaking the Color Line - American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/missamerica-breaking-color-line/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405154103/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/peopleevents/e_inclusion.html |archive-date=2016-04-05 |access-date=2022-05-07 |publisher=]}}</ref> and was subjected to substantial ].<ref name="Times obit" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Halper, Donna |title=Invisible Stars: A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting |publisher=] |year=2014 |isbn=9780765636706 |edition=2nd |pages=132–133 |author-link=Donna Halper}}</ref> After she won the title on September 8, 1945, three of the pageant's five sponsors withdrew from having her represent their companies as Miss America.<ref name="harbio" /><ref name=encycomp/><ref name=pbs/> | |||
She paid for graduate studies at ] and ] with the pageant scholarship money.<ref name="harbio" /> An aspiring ], she briefly gave recitals on the ] circuit before realizing that audiences were more interested in seeing her in a bathing suit.<ref name="LA Times obituary" /> In 1946, she played in a ] popular music concert with members of the ].<ref name="Times obit" /><ref>Carnegie Hall "Pops" program, 31 May 1946, at NY Philharmonic Archives: https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/2bf0a890-e4fd-4630-a4aa-a63bbb845def-0.1/fullview#page/13/mode/1up</ref> | |||
While Myerson was on her year-long tour as Miss America, she encountered "No Jews" signs posted in places such as hotels and country clubs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eckstrom |first=Kevin |date=6 January 2015 |title=Bess Myerson on Being the First (and Only) Jewish Miss America |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/bess-myerson-on-being-the-first-and-only-jewish-miss-america/2015/01/06/9a09d16a-95e5-11e4-8385-866293322c2f_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107231906/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/bess-myerson-on-being-the-first-and-only-jewish-miss-america/2015/01/06/9a09d16a-95e5-11e4-8385-866293322c2f_story.html |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> Such experiences led her to conduct lectures on behalf of the ] titled "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate".<ref name="encycomp" /><ref name="NPR-1-6-15">{{Cite web |last=McCallister |first=Doreen |date=6 January 2015 |title=From Miss America to Tabloid Fodder: Bess Myerson Dies at 90 |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/06/375323845/bess-myerson-dies-at-90-from-miss-america-to-tabloid-fodder |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106180816/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/06/375323845/bess-myerson-dies-at-90-from-miss-america-to-tabloid-fodder |archive-date=6 January 2015 |access-date=7 January 2015 |publisher=] |department=The Two Way (blog)}}</ref> Myerson became a vocal opponent of antisemitism and racism, and her speaking tour became the highlight of her Miss America reign.<ref name="VOA obit">{{Cite news |date=5 January 2015 |title=Bess Myerson, First Jewish Miss America, Dies at 90 |publisher=] |url=http://www.voanews.com/content/bess-myerson-miss-america-dies/2586999.html |url-status=live |access-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107040348/http://www.voanews.com/content/bess-myerson-miss-america-dies/2586999.html |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> | |||
With the scholarship money Myerson won as Miss America she paid for graduate studies at ] and ].<ref name="harbio"/> | |||
In 2015, ] observed that at the time when she won the pageant, emaciated concentration camp survivors had just shed their prison clothes. "Bess Myerson represented the resurrection of the Jewish body—the journey from degradation to beauty."<ref name="RNS -1-6-15">{{Cite news |last=Salkin |first=Jeffrey |date=6 January 2015 |title=Why Bess Myerson Still Matters |newspaper=] |agency=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/why-bess-myerson-still-matters-commentary/2015/01/06/379a2d0c-95d8-11e4-8385-866293322c2f_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108000643/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/why-bess-myerson-still-matters-commentary/2015/01/06/379a2d0c-95d8-11e4-8385-866293322c2f_story.html |archive-date=8 January 2015}}</ref> | |||
== |
===Television and politics=== | ||
], Myerson, and ], 1977]] | |||
Myerson became an activist for civil rights, and spoke on behalf of the ] in the period immediately after her winning the pageant.<ref name=encycomp/> She was a vocal opponent of antisemitism and racism.<ref name="VOA obit">{{cite news|title=Bess Myerson, First Jewish Miss America, Dies at 90|url=http://www.voanews.com/content/bess-myerson-miss-america-dies/2586999.html|accessdate=7 January 2015|work=Voice of America|date=5 January 2015}}</ref> | |||
A few years after hearing her speak at an ADL function, television producer Walt Framer hired Myerson for the 1950s game show '']''. She was the "Lady in Mink" modeling the grand prize mink coat, and introducing guests and prizes, throughout the 1951 to 1959 network run of the program.<ref name="LA Times obituary" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lepson |first=Lisa |title=Bess Myerson |url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/myerson-bess |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110080748/http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/myerson-bess |archive-date=10 January 2015 |access-date=7 January 2015 |website=Encyclopedia |publisher=]}}</ref> Recognized for her wit and hard work, in 1954 Myerson was a panelist on the game show '']'' and from 1958 through 1967 a panelist on '']''.<ref name="Times obit" /> She regularly substituted for ] on the '']''.<ref name="LA Times obituary" /> She was also a host of the television broadcast of the Miss America pageant from 1954 to 1968.<ref name="LA Times obituary" /> | |||
Myerson stepped down from her other commitments in 1969 when appointed by Mayor ] to become the first Commissioner of the ].<ref>Dworkin, p. 220.</ref><ref name="Times 3 Feb 1969">{{Cite news |date=3 February 1969 |title=Lindsay Names Bess Myerson to Aid Shopper |work=] |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/02/03/77437246.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=19 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419023343/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/02/03/77437246.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |archive-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> Her career as a commercial pitchwoman for a number of products throughout the 1950s and 1960s had led to her becoming a consultant to several consumer products companies. In her consumer affairs position, which she held until 1973, she became a pioneer in ] law.<ref name="Times obit" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=William |date=5 January 2015 |title=Bess Myerson, First Jewish Miss America, Television Star and NYC's First Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Dies at 90 |url=http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/bess-myerson-first-jewish-miss-america-television-star-and-nyc-s-first-consumer-affairs-commissioner-dies-at-90-1.9776254 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106215216/http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/bess-myerson-first-jewish-miss-america-television-star-and-nyc-s-first-consumer-affairs-commissioner-dies-at-90-1.9776254 |archive-date=6 January 2015 |access-date=6 January 2015 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
She also served on several ] on violence, mental health, workplace issues and hunger in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name="Times obit" /> Myerson was a frequent public companion of then-Congressman ] throughout the late 1970s and the beginning of his mayoral ambitions, and chaired his successful 1977 campaign for New York City mayor.<ref name="harbio" /><ref name="BermanInterview">{{Cite news |last=Susan Berman |author-link=Susan Berman |date=November 14, 1977 |title=Bess Myerson Is One Tough Customer |work=] |url=http://nymag.com/news/politics/49908/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318023543/http://nymag.com/news/politics/49908/ |archive-date=March 18, 2015}}</ref> | |||
In the ], Myerson vied for the Democratic nomination in New York against Congresswoman ], Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci, and Lindsay. Myerson lost to Holtzman by a wide margin. Holtzman was subsequently defeated by ].<ref name="harbio" /> | |||
In 2002, Myerson appeared in the ] '']'' as a former Miss America interviewee.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 27, 2002 |title=Miss America |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/filmmore/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511111623/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/missamerica/filmmore/index.html |archive-date=2015-05-11 |access-date=2015-05-12 |publisher=PBS}}</ref> | |||
In 1980, Myerson vied for Democratic nomination in New York's ] race against Congresswoman ], Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci, and former New York City mayor ]. Myerson lost to Holtzman by a slim margin. Holtzman was subsequently defeated by ], who had defeated incumbent Senator ] in the Republican primary.<ref name="harbio"/> | |||
===The "Bess Mess"=== | ===The "Bess Mess"=== | ||
After |
After serving in the Koch administration in 1983 as Commissioner of the ], Myerson's career became overshadowed by controversy. She became romantically involved with a married sewer contractor, ]. It soon emerged that ]—the judge involved in Capasso's divorce case—had started socializing with Myerson. Judge Gabel's daughter (Sukhreet) was also hired by Myerson. After Gabel cut Capasso's child support payments, investigations began as to whether Gabel had been bribed. In April 1987, after Myerson invoked the ], she was forced to resign her position in the Koch administration. The scandal became known as the "Bess Mess".<ref name="Times obit" /> | ||
Myerson, Capasso and Gabel were indicted a year later and tried on federal charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and using interstate facilities to violate state bribery laws, accused of conspiring to reduce Capasso's child support payments.<ref name="Capasso obit" /> With Sukhreet as the prosecution's chief witness, the main issue at the ] trial was whether Myerson's decision to hire Sukhreet constituted bribery. After four months of trial proceedings, all three defendants were acquitted.<ref name="Times obit" /><ref name="LA Times obituary" /><ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine |date=January 2, 1989 |title=Miss America Wins Again |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956639,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429025553/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956639,00.html |archive-date=April 29, 2007 |access-date=November 26, 2010}}</ref> Capasso remained in prison, having previously been convicted of unrelated tax charges.<ref name="Capasso obit">{{Cite news |last=Saulny |first=Susan |date=15 March 2001 |title=Carl A. Capasso, 55, Figure in 80's Trial with Bess Myerson |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/15/nyregion/carl-a-capasso-55-figure-in-80-s-trial-with-bess-myerson.html |url-status=live |access-date=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111051418/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/15/nyregion/carl-a-capasso-55-figure-in-80-s-trial-with-bess-myerson.html |archive-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> | |||
==Personal life== | ===Personal life=== | ||
In October 1946, Myerson married Allan Wayne, a recently discharged U.S. Navy ]. |
In October 1946, Myerson married Allan Wayne, a recently discharged U.S. Navy ]. They had one daughter, Barbara, born in 1947.<ref name=encycomp/> The marriage was marred by domestic violence, and the couple divorced after eleven years.<ref name="Times obit" /><ref name=encycomp/><ref name="nymag" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 28, 1946 |title=Milestones, October 28, 1946 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804056,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219224424/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804056,00.html |archive-date=February 19, 2011 |access-date=September 4, 2011}}</ref> Myerson's second marriage was to attorney Arnold Grant, who legally adopted her daughter in 1962. The couple divorced in the early 1970s. Daughter Barbara became an actress, director and screenwriter who is better known as ].<ref name=encycomp/> | ||
Before her federal trial began, Myerson was arrested in May 1988 for ] at a ] in ].<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 28, 1988 |title=Bess Myerson Is Accused of Shoplifting |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/28/nyregion/bess-myerson-is-accused-of-shoplifting.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109093311/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/28/nyregion/bess-myerson-is-accused-of-shoplifting.html |archive-date=January 9, 2011}}</ref> She pleaded guilty to retail theft and was ordered to pay a fine.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Myerson Pleads Guilty to Shoplifting Charge in Pennsylvania |date=July 16, 1988 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/16/nyregion/myerson-pleads-guilty-to-shoplifting-charge-in-pennsylvania.html |access-date=April 23, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424204141/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/16/nyregion/myerson-pleads-guilty-to-shoplifting-charge-in-pennsylvania.html |archive-date=April 24, 2014 |work=] |agency=]}}</ref> | |||
Myerson was very connected to her Jewish roots, and was filmed in conversation with the ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Modest Queen, Disc 106, Program 424 |url=https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/player_cdo/aid/1974202/jewish/A-Modest-Queen.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117193249/https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/livingtorah/player_cdo/aid/1974202/jewish/A-Modest-Queen.htm |archive-date=2022-11-17 |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=chabad.org}}</ref> She donated funds to help build "Bessie's Bistro" at the ] in memory of her parents Bella and Louis Myerson, who lived in the neighborhood near the Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Communications |first=Florida International University-Digital |title=Historic Buildings |url=https://jmof.fiu.edu/about/historic-building/ |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=jmof.fiu.edu |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
Myerson survived ] in the 1970s and experienced a mild stroke in 1981, from which she made a full recovery. In 2013 she was reported to be suffering from ].<ref name="LA Times obituary" /><ref name="JWeekly 1995">{{cite news|last1=Soloff|first1=Emily D.|title=Bess Myerson reflects on fame, Miss America and Judaism|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/1739/bess-myerson-reflects-on-fame-miss-america-and-judaism|accessdate=5 January 2015|work=JWeekly.com|date=6 October 1995}}</ref><ref name="People - June 1987">{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Michelle|title=Downfall of An American Idol: How Did Miss America Bess Myerson, Famous for Her Beauty and Brains, Get Entangled in a Growing Political Scandal?|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20096618,00.html|accessdate=5 January 2015|work=People|date=29 June 1987}}</ref><ref name="Daily News 2013">{{cite news|last1=Dillon|first1=Nancy|title=Ed Koch's pal, former Miss America Bess Myerson, was a constant at his side|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/koch-pal-myerson-constant-side-article-1.1253714|accessdate=5 January 2015|work=The Daily News|date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Myerson died on December 14, 2014 in ], at the age of 90. Her obituary states her final years were spent in "relative obscurity." Myerson's death was not announced immediately and was not publicly known until early January 2015.<ref name="Times obit" /><ref name="LA Times obituary">{{cite news|last1=Woo|first1=Elaine|title=Bess Myerson, Miss America who rose in politics and fell in scandal, dies at 90|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bess-myerson-20150105-story.html#page=1|accessdate=6 January 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=5 January 2015}}</ref> | |||
Myerson survived ] in the 1970s and experienced a mild ] in 1981, from which she made a full recovery. She moved to Florida in 2002, and later moved to California, where she remained until her death. In 2013, she was reported to be suffering from ].<ref name="LA Times obituary" /><ref name="JWeekly 1995">{{Cite news |last=Soloff |first=Emily D. |date=6 October 1995 |title=Bess Myerson Reflects on Fame, Miss America and Judaism |work=JWeekly.com |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/1739/bess-myerson-reflects-on-fame-miss-america-and-judaism |url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318165354/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/1739/bess-myerson-reflects-on-fame-miss-america-and-judaism/ |archive-date=18 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="People - June 1987">{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Michelle |date=29 June 1987 |title=Downfall of an American Idol: How Did Miss America Bess Myerson, Famous for Her Beauty and Brains, Get Entangled in a Growing Political Scandal? |work=] |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20096618,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027085309/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20096618,00.html |archive-date=27 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Daily News 2013">{{Cite news |last=Dillon |first=Nancy |date=2 February 2013 |title=Ed Koch's Pal, Former Miss America Bess Myerson, Was a Constant at His Side |work=] |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/koch-pal-myerson-constant-side-article-1.1253714 |url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027051301/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/koch-pal-myerson-constant-side-article-1.1253714 |archive-date=27 October 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Notes== | |||
{{Reflist|2}} | |||
===Death=== | |||
Myerson died on December 14, 2014, in ], at age 90. Her death was not immediately announced publicly, but it was confirmed by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office three weeks after she died.<ref name="LA Times obituary">{{Cite news |last=Woo |first=Elaine |date=5 January 2015 |title=Bess Myerson, Miss America Who Rose in Politics and Fell in Scandal, Dies at 90 |work=] |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bess-myerson-20150105-story.html#page=1 |url-status=live |access-date=6 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105223518/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bess-myerson-20150105-story.html#page=1 |archive-date=5 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Adam |date=January 5, 2015 |title=Bess Myerson, a Miss America Tarnished by Scandal, Dies at 90 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/bess-myerson-a-miss-america-tarnished-by-scandal-dies-at-90/2015/01/05/4d0373a4-94fe-11e4-8005-1924ede3e54a_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215111152/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/bess-myerson-a-miss-america-tarnished-by-scandal-dies-at-90/2015/01/05/4d0373a4-94fe-11e4-8005-1924ede3e54a_story.html |archive-date=December 15, 2017 |access-date=December 18, 2017 |newspaper=]}}</ref> She was interred at ] in Santa Monica.{{Citation needed |date=September 2024}} | |||
==See also== | |||
* {{Portal-inline|Biography}} | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist|2}} | |||
* {{cite book|last1=Dworkin|first1=Susan|title=Miss America, 1945 : Bess Myerson and the year that changed our lives|date=2000|publisher=Newmarket Press|location=New York|isbn=1557043817|edition=1st pbk.}} | |||
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
* {{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Shana |url=https://archive.org/details/whenshewasbadsto00alex |title=When She Was Bad: The Story of Bess, Hortense, Sukhreet & Nancy |date=1990 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0394576063 |location=New York |author-link=Shana Alexander}} | |||
* {{ |
* {{Cite book |last=Dworkin |first=Susan |title=Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson and the Year that Changed our Lives |date=2000 |publisher=Newmarket Press |isbn=1557043817 |edition=1st pbk. |location=New York}} | ||
* {{Cite news |last=Morrisroe |first=Patricia |date=30 March 1987 |title=Bess and the Mess |work=New York magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3eQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30}} | |||
*{{cite book|last1=Preston|first1=Jennifer|title=Queen Bess : the unauthorized biography of Bess Myerson|date=1990|publisher=Contemporary Books|location=Chicago|isbn=0809245302}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Preston |first=Jennifer |url=https://archive.org/details/queenbessunautho00pres |title=Queen Bess: An Unauthorized Biography of Bess Myerson |date=1990 |publisher=Contemporary Books |isbn=0809245302 |location=Chicago}} | |||
*{{cite book|last1=Shindle|first1=Kate|authorlink1=Katherine Shindle|title=Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain.|date=2014|publisher=Univ Of Texas Press|location=Austin|isbn=0292739214}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Shindle |first=Kate |title=Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain. |date=2014 |publisher=Univ Of Texas Press |isbn=978-0292739215 |location=Austin |author-link=Katherine Shindle}} | |||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{Commons}} | |||
{{Portal|Biography}} | |||
*{{IMDb name|0616898}} | * {{IMDb name|0616898}} | ||
* {{URL|https://www.chabad.org/1974202|Bess Myerson in conversation with the Lubavitcher Rebbe}} | |||
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{{Authority control}} | |||
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. --> | |||
| NAME = Myerson, Bess | |||
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | |||
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American model, city commissioner, TV show celebrity; first Jewish-American and first Miss New York elected Miss America | |||
| DATE OF BIRTH = July 16, 1924 | |||
| PLACE OF BIRTH = ], U.S. | |||
| DATE OF DEATH = December 14, 2014 | |||
| PLACE OF DEATH = ], U.S.}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myerson, Bess}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Myerson, Bess}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 23:51, 12 December 2024
American actress and politician (1924–2014)Bess Myerson | |
---|---|
Myerson in 1957 | |
Commissioner of New York City Department of Consumer Affairs | |
In office 1969–1973 | |
Appointed by | John V. Lindsay |
Preceded by |
|
Commissioner of New York City Department of Cultural Affairs | |
In office 1983–1987 | |
Appointed by | Ed Koch |
Personal details | |
Born | (1924-07-16)July 16, 1924 New York City, U.S. |
Died | December 14, 2014(2014-12-14) (aged 90) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Spouses |
|
Children | Barra Grant |
Alma mater | Hunter College |
Occupation | Model, city commissioner, TV show celebrity |
Known for | Only Jewish American and first Miss New York selected as Miss America, and subsequent television, and New York City political career. |
Signature | |
Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model, and television actress who in 1945 became the first Jewish Miss America. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an affirmation of the Jewish place in American life. She was a heroine to parts of the Jewish community, where "she was the most famous pretty girl since Queen Esther".
Myerson made frequent television appearances during the 1950s and 1960s. She was a commissioner in the New York City government, served on presidential commissions from the 1960s through the 1980s, and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. Her career in public service ended in the late 1980s when she was indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. She was acquitted after a highly publicized trial.
Biography
Myerson was born in the Bronx, New York, to Louis Myerson and Bella (née Podell), who were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Myerson's father worked as a housepainter, handyman and carpenter. After Myerson's birth, the family moved from the South Bronx to Shalom Aleichem Houses, a cooperative apartment complex in the northern Bronx. She had three siblings: a younger sister, Helen; an elder sister, Sylvia; and a brother, Joseph, who died at age 3, before Myerson was born.
Bess's upbringing emphasized the importance of scholarship over physical beauty. In addition to tradesmen, her neighbors included poets, writers and artists. Myerson reached her adult height when she was 12, and she towered over other children, something that she said made her feel "awkward and gawky" during her preadolescence. Myerson recalled one of her worst childhood memories was playing the tall and thin Popeye cartoon character Olive Oyl in an elementary school play.
Myerson began studying piano when she was 9 years old and was in the second class of New York's High School of Music and Art in 1937, graduating in 1941. She went to Hunter College, graduating with honors in 1945 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. To support herself and her family while in college, she gave piano lessons for fifty cents an hour, and worked as a music counselor at a girl's summer camp in Vermont.
Miss America
By the time she was 21, Myerson was 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm) tall with "luxuriant brown hair". Myerson was entered without her knowledge into the Miss New York City competition by John C. Pape, a retired steel magnate and amateur photographer who had employed her as a model while she was in college. When Myerson was told about the pageant by her sister Sylvia, who was acquainted with Pape, Myerson was angry because she felt that the beauty business was "embarrassing". However, she was persuaded to compete by Sylvia, and she competed in the swimsuit competition using a borrowed bathing suit.
Myerson enjoyed competing in the pageant, in which she stood out from the other contestants because of her height. On August 15, 1945, the day of Japan's surrender (VJ Day), she won the competition for the pageant and moved on to the Miss America competition, partly motivated by the $5,000 scholarship awarded to the winner. She told interviewers that she wanted to buy a black Steinway grand piano with the scholarship money.
Myerson was the Miss New York entry in the 1945 Miss America pageant, and she competed in the talent portion of the contest by performing the music of Edvard Grieg and George Gershwin. Prior to the competition, she was pressured to use a pseudonym that "sounded less Jewish". Despite revelations of the Holocaust in the previous months, America was still widely perceived as an Anglo-Saxon Protestant society that manifested hostility toward people of Jewish ancestry. Myerson refused and was subjected to substantial antisemitism. After she won the title on September 8, 1945, three of the pageant's five sponsors withdrew from having her represent their companies as Miss America.
She paid for graduate studies at Juilliard and Columbia University with the pageant scholarship money. An aspiring pianist, she briefly gave recitals on the vaudeville circuit before realizing that audiences were more interested in seeing her in a bathing suit. In 1946, she played in a Carnegie Hall popular music concert with members of the New York Philharmonic.
While Myerson was on her year-long tour as Miss America, she encountered "No Jews" signs posted in places such as hotels and country clubs. Such experiences led her to conduct lectures on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League titled "You Can't Be Beautiful and Hate". Myerson became a vocal opponent of antisemitism and racism, and her speaking tour became the highlight of her Miss America reign.
In 2015, Religion News Service observed that at the time when she won the pageant, emaciated concentration camp survivors had just shed their prison clothes. "Bess Myerson represented the resurrection of the Jewish body—the journey from degradation to beauty."
Television and politics
A few years after hearing her speak at an ADL function, television producer Walt Framer hired Myerson for the 1950s game show The Big Payoff. She was the "Lady in Mink" modeling the grand prize mink coat, and introducing guests and prizes, throughout the 1951 to 1959 network run of the program. Recognized for her wit and hard work, in 1954 Myerson was a panelist on the game show The Name's the Same and from 1958 through 1967 a panelist on I've Got a Secret. She regularly substituted for Dave Garroway on the Today Show. She was also a host of the television broadcast of the Miss America pageant from 1954 to 1968.
Myerson stepped down from her other commitments in 1969 when appointed by Mayor John V. Lindsay to become the first Commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. Her career as a commercial pitchwoman for a number of products throughout the 1950s and 1960s had led to her becoming a consultant to several consumer products companies. In her consumer affairs position, which she held until 1973, she became a pioneer in consumer protection law.
She also served on several presidential commissions on violence, mental health, workplace issues and hunger in the 1960s and 1970s. Myerson was a frequent public companion of then-Congressman Ed Koch throughout the late 1970s and the beginning of his mayoral ambitions, and chaired his successful 1977 campaign for New York City mayor.
In the 1980 United States Senate election, Myerson vied for the Democratic nomination in New York against Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci, and Lindsay. Myerson lost to Holtzman by a wide margin. Holtzman was subsequently defeated by Al D'Amato.
In 2002, Myerson appeared in the documentary film Miss America as a former Miss America interviewee.
The "Bess Mess"
After serving in the Koch administration in 1983 as Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Myerson's career became overshadowed by controversy. She became romantically involved with a married sewer contractor, Carl Andrew Capasso. It soon emerged that Hortense Gabel—the judge involved in Capasso's divorce case—had started socializing with Myerson. Judge Gabel's daughter (Sukhreet) was also hired by Myerson. After Gabel cut Capasso's child support payments, investigations began as to whether Gabel had been bribed. In April 1987, after Myerson invoked the Fifth Amendment, she was forced to resign her position in the Koch administration. The scandal became known as the "Bess Mess".
Myerson, Capasso and Gabel were indicted a year later and tried on federal charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, and using interstate facilities to violate state bribery laws, accused of conspiring to reduce Capasso's child support payments. With Sukhreet as the prosecution's chief witness, the main issue at the U.S. District Court trial was whether Myerson's decision to hire Sukhreet constituted bribery. After four months of trial proceedings, all three defendants were acquitted. Capasso remained in prison, having previously been convicted of unrelated tax charges.
Personal life
In October 1946, Myerson married Allan Wayne, a recently discharged U.S. Navy captain. They had one daughter, Barbara, born in 1947. The marriage was marred by domestic violence, and the couple divorced after eleven years. Myerson's second marriage was to attorney Arnold Grant, who legally adopted her daughter in 1962. The couple divorced in the early 1970s. Daughter Barbara became an actress, director and screenwriter who is better known as Barra Grant.
Before her federal trial began, Myerson was arrested in May 1988 for shoplifting at a department store in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She pleaded guilty to retail theft and was ordered to pay a fine.
Myerson was very connected to her Jewish roots, and was filmed in conversation with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. She donated funds to help build "Bessie's Bistro" at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU in memory of her parents Bella and Louis Myerson, who lived in the neighborhood near the Museum.
Myerson survived ovarian cancer in the 1970s and experienced a mild stroke in 1981, from which she made a full recovery. She moved to Florida in 2002, and later moved to California, where she remained until her death. In 2013, she was reported to be suffering from dementia.
Death
Myerson died on December 14, 2014, in Santa Monica, California, at age 90. Her death was not immediately announced publicly, but it was confirmed by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office three weeks after she died. She was interred at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica.
See also
References
- ^ Nemy, Enid; McDonald, William (January 5, 2015), "Bess Myerson, New Yorker of Beauty, Wit, Service and Scandal, Dies at 90", The New York Times, archived from the original on 2015-01-07, retrieved 2015-01-07
- Fermino, Jennifer (5 January 2015). "Ex-Miss America, New York City Politician Bess Myerson dead at 90". The Daily News. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Green, David (2014-07-16). "This Day in Jewish history/A Jewish Miss America Who Scandalized the Press Is Born". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
- "New York Historic Districts Council". 6tocelebrate.org. 2013-08-07. Archived from the original on 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- Dworkin, 10-11
- Adam Wisnieski (May 25, 2011). "Shalom Aleichem Owner Will Fight to Stay". Riverdale Press. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- Dworkin, pp. 10, 26
- Dworkin, p. 36
- ^ Woo, Elaine (5 January 2015). "Bess Myerson, Miss America Who Rose in Politics and Fell in Scandal, Dies at 90". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- Dworkin, p. 41
- ^ "Jewish Women's Archive: Bess Myerson". Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
- Dworkin, pp. 1, 57
- Dworkin, p. 69
- Dworkin, p. 72
- ^ Berman, Susan (14 November 1977). "Bess Myerson Is One Tough Customer". New York. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ^ "Breaking the Color Line - American Experience". PBS. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
- Halper, Donna (2014). Invisible Stars: A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting (2nd ed.). M. E. Sharpe. pp. 132–133. ISBN 9780765636706.
- Carnegie Hall "Pops" program, 31 May 1946, at NY Philharmonic Archives: https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/2bf0a890-e4fd-4630-a4aa-a63bbb845def-0.1/fullview#page/13/mode/1up
- Eckstrom, Kevin (6 January 2015). "Bess Myerson on Being the First (and Only) Jewish Miss America". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
- McCallister, Doreen (6 January 2015). "From Miss America to Tabloid Fodder: Bess Myerson Dies at 90". The Two Way (blog). National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- "Bess Myerson, First Jewish Miss America, Dies at 90". Voice of America. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- Salkin, Jeffrey (6 January 2015). "Why Bess Myerson Still Matters". The Washington Post. Religion News Service. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- Lepson, Lisa. "Bess Myerson". Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- Dworkin, p. 220.
- "Lindsay Names Bess Myerson to Aid Shopper" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 February 1969. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
- Murphy, William (5 January 2015). "Bess Myerson, First Jewish Miss America, Television Star and NYC's First Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Dies at 90". Newsday. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- Susan Berman (November 14, 1977). "Bess Myerson Is One Tough Customer". New York. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- "Miss America". PBS. January 27, 2002. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2015-05-12.
- ^ Saulny, Susan (15 March 2001). "Carl A. Capasso, 55, Figure in 80's Trial with Bess Myerson". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- "Miss America Wins Again". Time. January 2, 1989. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
- "Milestones, October 28, 1946". Time. October 28, 1946. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
- "Bess Myerson Is Accused of Shoplifting". The New York Times. May 28, 1988. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- "Myerson Pleads Guilty to Shoplifting Charge in Pennsylvania". The New York Times (Press release). Associated Press. July 16, 1988. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
- "A Modest Queen, Disc 106, Program 424". chabad.org. Archived from the original on 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- Communications, Florida International University-Digital. "Historic Buildings". jmof.fiu.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- Soloff, Emily D. (6 October 1995). "Bess Myerson Reflects on Fame, Miss America and Judaism". JWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- Green, Michelle (29 June 1987). "Downfall of an American Idol: How Did Miss America Bess Myerson, Famous for Her Beauty and Brains, Get Entangled in a Growing Political Scandal?". People. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- Dillon, Nancy (2 February 2013). "Ed Koch's Pal, Former Miss America Bess Myerson, Was a Constant at His Side". The Daily News. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- Bernstein, Adam (January 5, 2015). "Bess Myerson, a Miss America Tarnished by Scandal, Dies at 90". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
Further reading
- Alexander, Shana (1990). When She Was Bad: The Story of Bess, Hortense, Sukhreet & Nancy. New York: Random House. ISBN 0394576063.
- Dworkin, Susan (2000). Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson and the Year that Changed our Lives (1st pbk. ed.). New York: Newmarket Press. ISBN 1557043817.
- Morrisroe, Patricia (30 March 1987). "Bess and the Mess". New York magazine.
- Preston, Jennifer (1990). Queen Bess: An Unauthorized Biography of Bess Myerson. Chicago: Contemporary Books. ISBN 0809245302.
- Shindle, Kate (2014). Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain. Austin: Univ Of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0292739215.
External links
Awards and achievements | ||
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Preceded byVenus Ramey | Miss America 1945 |
Succeeded byMarilyn Buferd |
Preceded byBobby MacAdam | Miss New York 1945 |
Succeeded byJune Jenkins |
New York pageant winners | |
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Miss New York |
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Miss New York USA |
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Miss New York Teen USA |
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Mrs. New York |
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Miss New York World |
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- 1924 births
- 2014 deaths
- Activists from New York (state)
- American game show hosts
- American people of Russian-Jewish descent
- American television actresses
- Beauty pageant hosts
- Beauty queen-politicians
- Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica
- Candidates in the 1980 United States elections
- Columbia University alumni
- Commissioners in New York City
- Female models from New York (state)
- Hunter College alumni
- Jewish American actresses
- Jewish American activists
- Jewish American people in New York (state) politics
- Jewish American women in politics
- Jewish female models
- Juilliard School alumni
- Miss America 1940s delegates
- Miss America winners
- Miss New York winners
- New York (state) Democrats
- New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
- Actresses from the Bronx
- The High School of Music & Art alumni
- Women in New York (state) politics
- 20th-century American actresses
- 20th-century American politicians