Jo-Carroll Dennison, former Miss America, has died at the age of 97.

Dennison, a wartime queen pageant, was unique in that she refused to wear a swimsuit while on stage for her year-long reign. This was nearly eight decades before the pageant eliminated the swimsuit contest.

A former Miss Texas, Dennison went on to have a career in Hollywood, appearing in several films and TV series.

CNN reports that she died last month at her California home, leaving behind three grandchildren and two children.

Pageant queen: Former Miss America Jo-Carroll Dennison, who won the title in 1942, has passed away at age 97

Pageant queen: Former Miss America Jo Carroll Dennison, who won in 1942, has been taken away at the age 97

Whole package: Dennison was a wartime pageant queen who stood apart from her peers for refusing to wear a swimsuit on stage during her year-long reign (but did so during the pageant)

Whole package: Dennison was a wartime Pageant Queen who stood out from her peers by refusing to wear swimsuits on stage during her long reign (but did so during pageant).

She died at her home in California last month, leaving behind two children and three grandchildren

She died last month at her California home, leaving behind three grandchildren and two children.

The pageant posted on Instagram that the Miss America Organization was saddened to learn of the passing Miss America 1942, Jo-Carroll Dennison. “We thank her for her service over the past year and will miss her very much,” she wrote on Instagram.

Her friend Evan Mills told CNN that Dennison can ‘serve as a model for young women — and men — in a world where many are tempted to bend to social expectations rather than trusting and following their own moral compass.’

Dennison lived an interesting and varied life in the century that she spent on Earth.

She was born in a men’s state prison in Florence, Arizona in 1923 — though that certainly wasn’t the plan for her father, Harry Arthur Dennison, and mother, Elizabeth Dennison.

The couple was living in Texas at the time, but Dennison’s father wanted her to be born in California — so as they approached the due date, they began to drive. 

They didn’t make it. Elizabeth was in labor and they had to rely on the only doctor that could help them: a prison doctor. 

Pageant world: In 1942 she took a three-day train to Atlantic City, New Jersey, home of the Miss America pageant, where she was up against 29 other young women

Pageant world. In 1942, she took a three day train to Atlantic City (New Jersey), home of Miss America. She was up against 29 other young girls

Winner; Nicknamed 'the Texas tornado' by local newspapers, the then-18-year-old won the swimsuit and talent categories before taking hom the top prize

Winner: Nicknamed “the Texas tornado” by local newspapers, the 18-year-old was awarded the swimsuit and talent categories. He then won the top prize.

At two years old, Dennison joined her family’s traveling medicine show. To bring in customers to purchase their elixirs her parents put on entertaining performances. Dennison was a huge draw because she sang and danced. 

“I was what my father wanted me be. I didn’t really want to be a performer. Nature, reading and learning are my passion,’ she told the Idyllwild Town Crier.

When her father left at age seven, Dennison took those skills on the road to a circus and a carbnical, where she also performed horse tricks. 

After graduating from high school, Dennison enrolled in business school to become a secretary.

But 18 was not her fate. Tyler, Texas-based locak banker asked her for the Miss Tyler title.  

Dennison wrote in her autobiography “Finding My Little Red Hat” that she had’sworn not to perform in public again’ but was promised a swimsuit from a high end department store and she accepted.

She won the pageant, and went on to take home the Miss East Texas and Miss Texas titles. 

'I flat out refused to wear my bathing suit on the stage after the pageant, beginning with my very first tour stop,' she said

She said, “I flat-out refused to wear my bathing suits on the stage after my pageant, which began with my very initial tour stop,”

'I never thought I had won because of the way I looked, but rather because of the way I felt about myself,' she said

She stated, “I didn’t think I won because of how I looked, but because of the feelings I had about myself.”

Dennison's win was reported on with a heavy focus on her looks. In fact, The Wilkes-Barre Record reported on her height and weight — 5'5" and 118 lbs. — in an article about her win

Dennison’s win was covered with a heavy focus upon her looks. In fact, The Wilkes-Barre Record reported on her height and weight — 5’5″ and 118 lbs. — in an article about her win

In 1942, she traveled three days by train to Atlantic City, New Jersey for the Miss America pageant. There she faced 29 other young women. 

Local newspapers called him “the Texas tornado” when he was 18 years old. He won the talent and swimsuit categories before winning the top prize.  

‘I think I won because I’m from Texas and sang “Deep in the Heart of Texas,”‘ she said. ‘I won all three categories in the pageant — the bathing suit, evening gown and talent sections. As far as I know, I’m still the only one that’s won all three.’

Although the pageant is more balanced in recent years it was still dominated by Dennison’s looks. In fact, The Wilkes-Barre Record reported on her height and weight — 5’5″ and 118 lbs. — in an article about her win. 

Still, Dennison wasn’t all that interested in being a sex object — and despite winning the swimsuit category, she refused to parade around in a swimsuit at any point during her year-long rein. 

‘I was the first one who refused to wear a bathing suit because I didn’t think it was what I was about,’ she said. 

‘Back in 1942, the pageant was supposed to be about looks,’ she recently said at the Miss America 100th Anniversary Gala. “Yet, I never thought that I had won because I looked good. It was because of how I felt about myself. With this in mind, I flat out refused to wear my bathing suit on the stage after the pageant, beginning with my very first tour stop.

“I’m so happy that Miss America has embraced the principle and focused upon the totality of each candidate,” she said. 

Dennison also spoke of her reign in an historic period, with World War II as a backdrop.

Bathing beauty: However, she did wear a swimsuit during her Hollywood career

Beauty at the beach: She did however wear a swimsuit throughout her Hollywood career.

Moving up: When her reign ended, Dennison signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. She starred in several movies, including The Jolson Story (pictured)

Moving up: Dennison signed an eight-year contract with 20th Century Fox when her reign came to an end. She appeared in several movies, including The Jolson Story. 

Under conract: She would earn a graduated salary beginning at $100 a week and also appeared in the wartime propaganda film Winged Victory

Under conract: She would earn a graduated salary beginning at $100 a week and also appeared in the wartime propaganda film Winged Victory

‘It was a great honor to win the pageant in the first year of World War II. Miss America, she said, “I toured the country visiting military bases and defence plants, as well as boat yards.”

She also visited hospitals and served in service camps and sold war bond.

She recalled, “The military men who came and saw me on different stages, or danced alongside them, or just met, were beaming and cheered.”

“But I could tell that they weren’t reacting enthusiastically to a pretty girl or to an individual person. Miss America was a tangible symbol for the country they enlisted in defense of.

She was however, very popular. According to Stars and Stripes, photos of her  that ran in Life magazine made her the G.I.s’ second most popular ‘pinup girl,’ following Betty Grable. 

Dennison signed a seven year contract with 20th Century Fox after her reign ended. She would be earning a graded salary of $100 per week. 

Silver screen: She was in Winged Victory with Judy Holliday (far left) and Jeanne Crain (center)

Silver screen: She was seen in Winged Victory alongside Judy Holliday (far right) and Jeanne Crain, (center).

Fun! She became a regular at Gene Kelly’s Saturday night parties, which were also attended by the likes of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Gregory Peck

Fun! She became a regular at Gene Kelly’s Saturday night parties, which were also attended by the likes of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Gregory Peck

Wed: In 1945, at age 21, she married comedian Phil Silvers. The pair divorced five years later, and she remarried CBS producer and director Russell Stoneham, whom she also divorced

She married Phil Silvers in 1945 at 21 years old. The pair divorced five years later, and she remarried CBS producer and director Russell Stoneham, whom she also divorced

She was a star in many movies, including The Jolson Story (wartime propaganda film) and Winged Victory (wartime propaganda film). A few episodes of Dick Tracy featured her. 

At 21 years old, she married Phil Silvers in 1945. Even though the couple divorced five years later Silvers opened doors for her in Hollywood. According to the New York Times, she became a regular at Gene Kelly’s Saturday night parties, which were also attended by the likes of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Gregory Peck. 

‘There were two pianos at Gene and Betsy Kelly’s house and everyone would gather around and sing six-piece harmonies,’ she recalled. Greta Garbo was the biggest star that excited everyone. Even the stars were star struck by her arrival in town. It was an exciting moment in my life.

Dennison stated that her Miss America past led to some people thinking she was a ditz. In her autobiography, she recalled Groucho Marx telling her, ‘You’re almost articulate — for a bathing beauty.’

After some time on screen, she worked behind the scenes of television productions and went on to marry In 1954, Russell Stoneham, director and producer at CBS, was born.

Before the couple split in the ’70s, they had two children, Peter (and John) before divorcing in 1981. 

'It was being Miss America that made the crucial change in the path of my life,' she said

She said, “It was being Miss America who made the crucial difference in my life’s path.”

Dennison said that even though she has a successful Hollywood career, people are most impressed with her Miss America background. 

“Whenever I’m introduced, to whomever they may be,” nobody talks about the many adventures that I’ve had. They always say, “She is a former Miss America, you know.” People are still fascinated and eager to say “Oh, really?”

‘Looking back over my life, I saw that my many marvelous adventures and experiences would not have happened to me had I not won the Miss America pageant,’ she said. 

‘It was being Miss America that made the crucial change in the path of my life.’

She said she was also ‘glad to be alive long enough to witness how the women’s struggle against inequality, sexual harassment and abuse has finally come into focus’ 

“And I hope future Miss Americas are able to help further the progress of healing our country’s divisions along racial lines and fighting voter suppression. They can also motivate us all to confront the spectres that climate change is threatening.”

From boardwalk babes and bikinis to banished, Ahistory of swimsuits on Miss America 

When the Miss America pageant launched in 1921, the bathing suit contest was a major component — even though, at the time, women at Atlantic City beaches couldn’t show any bare skin and had to wear stockings, according to the Washington Post. 

The majority of contestants wore swim costumes that had loose tops or skirts, and paired them with stockings to cover their legs. 

Yet the pageant allowed three contestants, including that year’s winner Margaret Gorman, to break the rule by rolling down their stockings.

Gorman was in her swimsuit when she was crowned, and would remain the winner for two and a-half decades. 

Protests over loose morals led the pageant to be canceled in 1928, with critics saying that competitions that ‘featured bobbed hair and bare limbs’ were too risqué.

The swimsuit portion of Miss America was a major part in the early days, though swimwear was quite conservative. Contestants are seen at the pageant in 1925

Miss America’s swimsuit competition was a big part of the early days. But swimwear was more conservative than it was today. The 1925 pageant features contestants.

But it was revived in 1933 — and the swimsuit competition was back.

In 1935, a talent segment was added to the show. But in the same year contestants started wearing swimwear with high heels on stage. 

Slowly, some winners started pushing back and began parading around naked. Jo-Carroll Dennison refused to wear swimwear for her appeances in 1942, and Miss America 1951, Yolande Betbeze, followed suit.

Betbeze’s protest had consequences. Catalina swimwear was a sponsor at the time of the pageant. Her actions led to Miss USA being created. 

Two-pieces were first worn by contestants in 1947. But it was so scandalous that they brought back one-pieces in 1949. This was also the first time that the winner was announced in an evening dress instead of swimwear. 

Skirted one-piece swim styles were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The bikini was a hugely popular style on American beaches during the last decade. However, Miss America contestants were forbidden from wearing two-pieces. 

Even in the 1980s, even though neon and G-strings were everywhere from Venice Beach, California to the Jersey Shore, California, one-pieces were rare on the pageant stage.

But though the swimwear remained conservative compared to what most people were wearing, protests continued to grow against the Miss America pageant, accusing it of objectifying women — with the swimsuit competition a particular sticking point.

Yet the swimsuit contest remained, and in the late 1990s, bikinis hit the stage once again. In 1997, the then-CEO of the Miss America Organization, Leonard Horn, said that women would now have the choice to wear whatever style they pleased — with a few exceptions.

Thongs were still prohibited. Competitors were also told that the bottoms of suits could not be more than an inch below their navel. Some women still prefer one-piece suits. 

Miss America announced that it was doing away with the swimsuit competition altogether in 2018 (the last swimsuit competition, in 2017, pictured)

Miss America announced it would end the swimsuit contest in 2018. (The last swimsuit competition was in 2017 pictured). 

Officially, contestants weren’t scored for how they looked in their swimsuits. The swimsuit competition round was renamed the Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit round — and it became a much smaller per cent of the final score. 

In 2018, Miss America announced that the swimsuit competition would be ending. 

Other pageants may not have followed their lead. Miss USA was founded by a swimwear company and still has a swimsuit contest.

However, Miss Teen USA contest — which features young women aged 14 to 19 — eliminated its swimwear contest in 2016.