- Yolande Betbeze
Yolande Betbeze (born 1929 in
Mobile, Alabama ) wasMiss America in 1951.Betbeze entered
Miss Alabama for the scholarship opportunities the pageant presented. Having been educated in aconvent school , she was reluctant to pose in aswimsuit and refused to do so after she won Miss America.That led the swim suit company, Catalina, to withdraw their
sponsor ship of the Miss America pageant and eventually brought about the creation of the rivalMiss USA pageant.The Miss America Organization has claimed that Betbeze's actions were pivotal in directing pageant progress towards recognizing intellect, values, and leadership abilities, rather than focusing on beauty alone. From then on the Miss America pageant concentrated more on scholarship than beauty.
Betbeze was an
opera singer and did gain a reputation in that area. She was occasionally seen "dating" baseballerJoe Dimaggio , although it was later revealed they were only close friends. [ [http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/dimaggiobook1.html ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - DiMaggio book: Business and pleasure ] ] She married Matthew Fox, and they had one daughter. After Fox's death, she moved toGeorgetown, Washington, D.C. where she was part of a fun-loving and elite crowd called "The Swing Set". Fact|date=April 2008 She is currently linked to Cherif Guellal through common law marriage. Betbeze has been active in thefeminist movement .References
External links
* [http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1950/1951.asp Yolande Betbeze's bio on the Miss America site]
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