Mary Ann Mobley is one of the few Miss Americas to have true success as an actress or TV personality (the others are "Barnaby Jones" (1973) beauty Lee Meriwether, TV hostess Phyllis George and Eraser (1996) heroine Vanessa Williams). After serving as Miss America 1959, Mobley soon became a sought-after guest star in episodic television of the 1960s, appearing on many hit shows of that era - "Perry Mason" (1957) "Mission: Impossible" (1966), "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964) "The Virginian" (1962), to name a few. Her most important contribution to 1960s pop culture, though, was appearing opposite Elvis Presley in two films - Harum Scarum (1965) and Girl Happy (1965). Her success in film led to a 1965 Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer, an award she shared with Mia Farrow and Celia Kaye. She also starred in a number of other B-movies of the 1960s, such as Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) and For Singles Only (1968).Her TV and film output decreased in the 1970s as she raised her daughter, Clancy, with her husband, Gary Collins. During that decade, her TV appearances were mostly guest roles on shows such as the iconic series "Love, American Style" (1969), "Fantasy Island" (1978), "The Love Boat" (1977) and the game show "Match Game 73" (1973), on which she was a frequent panelist alongside such other famous wiseacres as Betty White, Brett Somers, Patti Deutsch and Charles Nelson Reilly. She and Collins also appeared a number of times performing death-defying high-wire acts and other athletic, outrageous stunts on the annual TV event Circus of the Stars (1977) (TV).In the 1980s, she starred as step-mom "Maggie McKinney" in the final season of "Diff'rent Strokes" (1978), appeared in a recurring role as alcoholism counselor "Dr. Beth Everdene" on the prime-time soap "Falcon Crest" (1981) and continued to pop up as a guest star on series like "Hotel" (1983) and "Matt Houston" (1982) and game shows like _"Hollywood Squares, The" (1966)_ and "Body Language" (1984).She also acted as her husband's frequent guest co-host on his successful talk shows "Hour Magazine" (1980) and "The Home Show" (1988), as well as on installments of the Miss America Pageant. In the 1990s, she made guest appearances on the sitcoms "Designing Women" (1986), "Hearts Afire" (1992), "Hardball" (1994) and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (1996). She and Collins were also hosts of an oft-run late 1990s TV infomercial for "SelectComfort", a specialty bed product. Also during the 1990s, she toured in the popular play "Love Letters" with her husband, and performed a cabaret act at the Cinegrill in Hollywood.Mary Ann and other "Match Game"/"Hollywood Squares" regulars of the 1970s and 1980s (such as Charo, Nipsey Russell, Paul Lynde and Jo Anne Worley) were riotously spoofed on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) in a 2002 game show sketch called "Super Buzzers" with Tina Fey playing Mary Ann. Mary Ann and her husband soon got a chance to demonstrate their own good humor, appearing as themselves in a satiric infomercial parody on the Showtime series "Dead Like Me" (2003) in 2003 (the fake infomercial was for a no-effort body-toning contraption - which spontaneously com-busts!).

Miss Mississippi 1958.Daughter, Clancy Collins White, is a Paramount television executive.Miss America 1959.Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1987.Mary Ann was originally cast as "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (1966), but was ultimately replaced by Stefanie Powers.She was cast as the original Batgirl on "Batman" (1966) but was replaced by Yvonne Craig.Mother of Clancy Collins White, a Senior Vice President with MGM Television.She suffers from the painful condition Crohn's Disease and is an advocate for research and fund-raising for the disease.Measurements: 34 1/2 -22-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)Started off her TV career as a singing regular on variety shows. She later performed a number of musical roles in summer stock, including "Brigadoon", "Guys and Dolls", "Hello, Dolly!" and "The King and I".Born in Biloxi, Mary Ann was voted into the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame along with fellow Mississipian William Faulkner. Mary Ann was the first woman to be so honored.A tireless humanitarian, Mary Ann has taken a particular interest in world hunger and children with learning disabilities, and has been an active participant with the March of Dimes for over 25 years.During the 1959 'Miss America' contest, Mary Ann sang, for the talent portion, a highly formal, operatic rendition of Puccini's "Un Bel Di" that segued into a belt version of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" as she stripped down into something skimpier. She won the crown.Described herself as an "avid" scuba diver.She was considered to be a panelist for the updated version of "The Match Game" (1962) in 1998, but turned down the offer due to illness.Mother-in-law of Dean White. UpdateYou may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.Add resumeWith our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb.Click here to add your resume and/or your photos to IMDb. Browse biographies section by nameA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z