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Bess Myerson
Myerson in 1957
Born	(1924-07-16) July 16, 1924 (age 100) The Bronx, New York
Alma mater	Hunter College Julliard School Columbia University
Occupation(s)	Model, city commissioner, TV show celebrity, city official, philanthropist
Known for	First Jewish American Miss America
Title	Miss America 1945
Spouse(s)	Allan Wayne (1946-) (divorced) Arnold M. Grant

Bess Myerson (born July 16, 1924) became the first Jewish American and the first Miss New York (1945) to win Miss America pageant in 1945. She appeared on various television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, she was involved in New York City politics.

Miss America

Myerson was born in The Bronx, New York. She lived with her parents (Russian-Jewish immigrants Louis and Bella Myerson) in the Shalom Aleichem Co-operative with 250 other Jewish families. Myerson studied piano and flute at the The High School of Music & Art. She wanted to buy a black Steinway grand piano which she could not afford. Myerson decided to participate in the Miss America pageant after someone joked that it would be a way to buy the piano.

While competing in the Miss America pageant, Myerson refused, despite entreaties, to use a pseudonym that "sounded less Jewish." She faced anti-semitism after winning the Miss America title, " including the withdrawal of three of the annual beauty pageant’s five sponsors from the arrangement by which the queen would represent the company during her year-long reign." She later campaigned for civil rights, in particular, working with the Anti-Defamation League.

Career

She graduated from Hunter College in 1945 with a degree in music. She used the scholarship money won as Miss America to pay for graduate studies at the Juilliard School and Columbia University.

In 1954, Myerson was a panelist on The Name's the Same, a television game show. From 1958 through 1967, she was a panelist on I've Got a Secret. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Myerson enjoyed a successful television career as a TV personality, actress and commercial pitchwoman for myriad popular products.

Throughout the late 1970s and the beginning of his mayoral ambitions, Myerson was a frequent public companion of Congressman Ed Koch and chaired his campaign for Mayor.

In 1980, Myerson ran for the Democratic nomination for New York's U.S. Senate seat against Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci, and former New York City mayor John Lindsay. Myerson lost to Holtzman by a slim margin.

Marriages

She married Allan Wayne, a doll company executive, in October 1946. They had one daughter, Barbara, before divorcing.Her second marriage was to Arnold Grant.

Later years

In the 1980s, Myerson's life was darkened by a legal controversy (colloquially known as "the Bess Mess"). Her lover, sewer contractor Carl Andrew Capasso, who had been convicted of tax fraud, was accused of bribing Judge Hortense Gabel by arranging for a job for Gabel's daughter in Myerson's department. Myerson was also indicted and resigned her positions with the City of New York. She was ultimately acquitted.

On May 27, 1988, Myerson was arrested for shoplifting in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after she left the Hills Department Store with several items for which she had not paid. On July 15, 1988, she pleaded guilty to retail theft and was fined. The arrest occurred while she was believed to be visiting Capasso at the Allenwood Detention Camp.

Myerson is currently living in Santa Monica, California, and is suffering from dementia.

See also

• Dworkin, Susan, 1987. Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson's Own Story. ISBN 1-55704-000-1
• Shana Alexander, 1991. When She Was Bad. Dell.

References

1. ^ Green, David (2014-07-16). "This day in Jewish history / A Jewish Miss America who scandalized the press is born". Haaretz.
2. Bess Myerson Is One Tough Customer
3. ^ "Jewish Women's Archive: Bess Myerson". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
4. ^ People & Events: Breaking the Color Line at the Pageant
5. "Milestones, Oct. 28, 1946". Time. October 28, 1946. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
6. "Carl "Andy" Capasso". Find a Grave. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
7. ^ "Miss America Wins Again". Time Magazine. January 2, 1989. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
8. "Bess Myerson Is Accused Of Shoplifting". New York Times. May 28, 1988. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
9. "Myerson Pleads Guilty to Shoplifting Charge in Pennsylvania". New York Times. July 16, 1988. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
10. "Ed Koch's pal, former Miss America Bess Myerson, was a constant at his side". Daily News (New York). February 2, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2014.

External links

• Bess Myerson at IMDb
• Bess Myerson on the Jewish-American Hall of Fame site

Template:Persondata

• 1924 births
• American game show hosts
• Jewish American actresses
• Living people
• Miss America winners
• Actresses from New York City
• Women in New York politics
• American female models
• Jewish female models
• American television actresses
• 20th-century American actresses
• Jewish activists
• American activists
• Beauty pageant hosts
• People from the Bronx
• Hunter College alumni
• Juilliard School alumni
• Columbia University alumni