Mary Ann Mobley, actress and Miss America 1959, dies at 77
Mary Ann Mobley, who stepped into the spotlight as the first Miss Mississippi to become Miss America and later hit the silver screen opposite Elvis Presley, has died. She was 77.
She died Tuesday morning at her Beverly Hills home from complications of breast cancer, her family said in a statement.
The Brandon, Miss., native graduated from Ole Miss in 1958, became Miss America the next year at age 21 and served out her year term before trying her hand at acting.
After working for several years on stage - with costars including Betty Grable in "Guys and Dolls" - and on TV, Mobley landed her first film gig: 1965's "Girl Happy" with Presley.
She rejoined the King for another 1965 film, "Harum Scarum," and took home that year's Golden Globe for most promising newcomer.
"When I was a little boy growing up in Mississippi, there were two Mississippi stars who I idolized...," said 40-year friend Sam Haskell, chairman and chief exec of the Miss America Organization, in a statement Tuesday. "One was Elvis Presley and the other was Mississippi's first Miss America Mary Ann Mobley."