Yolande Fox
Yolande Margaret Betbeze Fox (November 28, 1928 – February 22, 2016) was an American singer, feminist, activist and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 1951.
Early life
Betbeze was born on November 28, 1928, in Mobile, Alabama, to William, a butcher, and Ethel Betbeze.[1][2] Betbeze was raised in a Catholic family of French Basque descent, and she attended convent schools.[3]
Career
She captured her first crown in 1949 when she won Mobile's "Miss Torch" pageant.[3] In 1950, Fox (then Betbeze) entered Miss Alabama for the scholarship opportunities the pageant presented.[4] As Miss Alabama, she traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to compete in the Miss America 1951 pageant. Having been educated in a convent school, she was reluctant to pose in a swimsuit and refused to do so after she won Miss America.[5] That led the swimsuit company, Catalina, to withdraw their sponsorship of the Miss America pageant and eventually brought about the creation of the rival Miss USA pageant.[2]
Fox's Miss America title, although won in 1950, was for 1951 and is the first Miss America title to be "postdated" in this manner. Due to the change, there was no Miss America 1950. The Miss America Organization has claimed that Fox's (then 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.[2]
Fox was active in the feminist movement. After her one-year reign as Miss America, she was active in the NAACP, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), and SANE (The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy); and studied philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.
Fox was an opera singer and did gain a reputation in that area. She continued to sing, appearing with the Mobile Opera Guild (now the Mobile Opera), and helped found an off-Broadway theater.[3]
Personal life
She married movie magnate Matthew Fox, the former president of Universal Pictures, in 1954.[6] They had one daughter, Yolande "Dolly" Fox Campbell.[5] Her husband died after 10 years of marriage.
After her husband's death, she moved to Georgetown, Washington, D.C., purchasing the Newton D. Baker House from Michael Whitney Straight and his then wife Nina Gore Auchincloss. The home had previously been the residence of Jacqueline Kennedy after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.[7]
Fox had a relationship with Cherif Guellal, with whom she raised her grandchild, Yolande Paris Campbell, until Guellal's death in 2009.[8]
In the early 1990s, Yolande Fox was contacted by the writer Philip Roth, who was researching the Miss America beauty pageant for his novel American Pastoral. Roth studied Fox's scrapbooks and interviewed her about the culture surrounding the pageant in the late 1940s; he later said, "She was very smart, very funny....She just opened up whole ideas for me that I couldn't have had on my own."[9]
Fox died on February 22, 2016, in Washington, D.C. of lung cancer.[1] She was survived by her daughter and granddaughter.
References
- ^ a b Bernstein, Adam (February 25, 2016). "Yolande Betbeze Fox, a Miss America who rebelled, dies at 87". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- ^ a b c Ericson, Sally Pearsall (April 17, 2014). "A famous Mobilian you should know: Yolande Betbeze Fox, an outspoken beauty queen". Press-Register. Mobile, AL: Advance Publications. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Yolande Betbeze". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
- ^ "Miss Alabama History". Miss Alabama. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
- ^ a b Watkins, Mia (September 9, 2014). "Yolande Betbeze Fox: Alabama's first Miss America reflects on title more than 60 years later". The Huntsville Times. Huntsville, AL: Advance Publications. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Tauber, Michelle; Neill, Mike; Russell, Lisa; Fowler, Joanne; Dam, Julie; Tresniowski, Alex; Miller, Samantha; Dougherty, Steve; Yu, Ting (October 16, 2000). "American Beauties: 80 Years". People.
- ^ Staff (December 7, 1975). "Mrs. Onassis, 'Gracious Full of Pep,' D.C. Socialite Says". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
- ^ "Society News from Across the Nation". New York Social Diary.
- ^ Sykes, Christopher. "Researching Miss America," Web of Stories, Mar. 18 2013.
External links
- Yolande Betbeze's bio on the Miss America site
- Miss Alabama official website
Awards and achievements | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Miss America 1951 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by Freida Roser | Miss Alabama 1950 | Succeeded by Jeanne Moody |
- v
- t
- e
- Margaret Gorman (1921)
- Mary Campbell (1922)
- Mary Campbell (1923)
- Ruth Malcomson (1924)
- Fay Lanphier (1925)
- Norma Smallwood (1926)
- Lois Delander (1927)
- Marian Bergeron (1933)
- Henrietta Leaver (1935)
- Rose Coyle (1936)
- Bette Cooper (1937)
- Marilyn Meseke (1938)
- Patricia Donnelly (1939)
- Frances Marie Burke (1940)
- Rosemary LaPlanche (1941)
- Jo-Carroll Dennison (1942)
- Jean Bartel (1943)
- Venus Ramey (1944)
- Bess Myerson (1945)
- Marilyn Buferd (1946)
- Barbara Jo Walker (1947)
- BeBe Shopp (1948)
- Jacque Mercer (1949)
- Yolande Betbeze (1951)
- Colleen Kay Hutchins (1952)
- Neva Jane Langley (1953)
- Evelyn Margaret Ay (1954)
- Lee Meriwether (1955)
- Sharon Ritchie (1956)
- Marian McKnight (1957)
- Marilyn Van Derbur (1958)
- Mary Ann Mobley (1959)
- Lynda Lee Mead (1960)
- Nancy Fleming (1961)
- Maria Fletcher (1962)
- Jacquelyn Mayer (1963)
- Donna Axum (1964)
- Vonda Kay Van Dyke (1965)
- Deborah Bryant (1966)
- Jane Anne Jayroe (1967)
- Debra Dene Barnes (1968)
- Judith Anne Ford (1969)
- Pamela Eldred (1970)
- Phyllis Ann George (1971)
- Laurie Lea Schaefer (1972)
- Terry Meeuwsen (1973)
- Rebecca Ann King (1974)
- Shirley Cothran (1975)
- Tawny Elaine Godin (1976)
- Dorothy Benham (1977)
- Susan Perkins (1978)
- Kylene Barker (1979)
- Cheryl Prewitt (1980)
- Susan Powell (1981)
- Elizabeth Ward (1982)
- Debra Maffett (1983)
- Vanessa Williams / Suzette Charles (1984)
- Sharlene Wells (1985)
- Susan Akin (1986)
- Kellye Cash (1987)
- Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (1988)
- Gretchen Carlson (1989)
- Debbye Turner (1990)
- Marjorie Judith Vincent (1991)
- Carolyn Suzanne Sapp (1992)
- Leanza Cornett (1993)
- Kimberly Clarice Aiken (1994)
- Heather Whitestone (1995)
- Shawntel Smith (1996)
- Tara Dawn Holland (1997)
- Katherine Shindle (1998)
- Nicole Johnson (1999)
- Heather French (2000)
- Angela Perez Baraquio (2001)
- Katie Harman (2002)
- Erika Harold (2003)
- Ericka Dunlap (2004)
- Deidre Downs (2005)
- Jennifer Berry (2006)
- Lauren Nelson (2007)
- Kirsten Haglund (2008)
- Katie Stam (2009)
- Caressa Cameron (2010)
- Teresa Scanlan (2011)
- Laura Kaeppeler (2012)
- Mallory Hagan (2013)
- Nina Davuluri (2014)
- Kira Kazantsev (2015)
- Betty Cantrell (2016)
- Savvy Shields (2017)
- Cara Mund (2018)
- Nia Franklin (2019)
- Camille Schrier (2020)
- Emma Broyles (2022)
- Grace Stanke (2023)
- Madison Marsh (2024)