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 in 1942, has been taken away at the age 97

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 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 Miss America. She was up against 29 other young girls

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.

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,”

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 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.

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

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
‘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 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

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.

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.”