Jo-Carroll Dennison

Dennison was born on December 16, 1923 in Florence, Arizona,{{Cite book |last=Dennison |first=Jo-Carroll |title=Finding My Little Red Hat |publisher=Independent |year=2021 |isbn=979-8517776662 |pages= |language=English}} the daughter of Elizabeth (née Brownd) and Harry Arthur Dennison, who ran a traveling medicine show in Texas.{{cite news|title="Miss America" To Visit Hale Center|newspaper=Lubbock Morning Avalanche |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382627/lubbock_morning_avalanche/|agency=Lubbock Morning Avalanche|date=January 1, 1943|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}} She was born in the infirmary of a men's state prison in Arizona, delivered by the prison doctor as he was the only medical help her traveling parents could find.{{Cite news|last=Seelye|first=Katharine Q.|date=2021-10-29|title=Jo-Carroll Dennison, Miss America During World War II, Dies at 97|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/us/jo-carroll-dennison-dead.html|access-date=2021-10-30|issn=0362-4331}} Her father had wanted her to be born in California so the couple had been driving west from Texas when her mother went into labour.

Her family later lived in San Francisco; Santa Barbara, California; and Tyler, Texas.{{cite news|title=Miss America '42 Is Texan|newspaper=The Times Leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382472/the_wilkesbarre_record/|agency=The Wilkes-Barre Record|date=September 14, 1942|page=16|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}} She graduated from Hale Center High School in 1940, and was a stenographer in Tyler for Governor Earl B. Mayfield.{{cite news|title=(untitled brief)|newspaper=The Waxahachie Daily Light |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382587/the_waxahachie_daily_light/|agency=The Waxahachie Daily Light|date=August 17, 1942|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}}

Dennison was crowned Miss America September 12, 1942, after having entered the contest as Miss Texas. She had earlier won both the talent and the swimsuit competitions in the contest.{{cite news|title='Miss America' Named Tonight|newspaper=Santa Ana Register |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382726/santa_ana_register/|agency=Santa Ana Register|date=September 12, 1942|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}} As Miss America during World War II, much of her time was spent visiting "Defense plants, hospitals and service camps" and selling war bonds.{{cite web|url=http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1940/1942.aspx |title=Miss America History 1942 |accessdate=2012-05-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502100841/http://missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1940/1942.aspx |archivedate=2012-05-02 }} Per the Miss America tradition, it was insisted that she perform and dine with senior military personnel. She lobbied instead for doing so with the enlisted men, which helped set the standard for Bob Hope and other higher profile entertainers to do the same.{{Cite book |last=Kitche |first=Kate |title=The Strength of Grace: A Tribute to those who wear the Miss America crown: Their Tears - Their Triumphs |publisher=Eastman Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0975918906}}

She was one of the first Miss Americas to refuse wearing a bathing suit during the year-long tour required of winners. She delivered a video-taped message at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Miss America organization, in which she said "I am glad to have lived long enough to see how women’s fight against inequality, sexual harassment, and abuse has finally come to the fore. And I hope that future Miss Americas can help further the progress of healing the divisions in our country along racial lines, fight voter suppression, and motivate us all to respond to the specter of climate change."{{Cite web |date=October 3, 2023 |title=Jo-Carroll Dennison |url=http://jo-carroll-dennison.com}}

After her time as Miss America, Dennison went to Hollywood. On November 18, 1942, 20th Century Fox signed her to a seven-year contract.{{cite news|title=Jo Carroll Dennison, Miss America of 1942, Given Movie Contract|newspaper=The Waco News-Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382385/the_waco_newstribune/|agency=The Waco News-Tribune|date=November 18, 1942|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}} She had roles in Winged Victory and The Jolson Story, and many television roles, including The Frank Sinatra Show, Adventures of Kit Carson, Dick Tracy, Abbott and Costello, and Perry Mason

As described in her memoir, “normal” life in Hollywood revolved around the party scene at the homes of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Danny Kaye. Most influentially, she was a regular at Saturday gatherings at Gene Kelly’s home, infused with music (including impromptu piano and song with Andre Previn and Paul Robeson) and literary conversation. These evenings of “radical liberal intellectualism” were punctuated with rare drop-ins the likes of Garbo, Garland, and Monroe. She watched friends and colleagues persecuted under McCarthy’s Red Scare and witnessed the ravages of blacklisting throughout her cultural world.

She lived in Greenwich Village in the 1950s, working briefly with Look magazine and then as a secretary at the offices of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Later, after moving back to Los Angeles, she worked as a production assistant at LUX Video Theater—the first live television drama—and later as a hospice care provider.

Dennison lived for two years in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, working on her memoir, which was published in 2021. She ultimately settled in Idyllwild, California.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pe.com/2014/02/20/pine-cove-reflection-from-1942-miss-america8217s-home/ |title=PINE COVE: Reflection from 1942 Miss America’s home |access-date=2019-09-28 |archive-date=2019-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928154124/https://www.pe.com/2014/02/20/pine-cove-reflection-from-1942-miss-america8217s-home/ |url-status=dead }}[https://idyllwildtowncrier.com/2020/01/21/a-miss-america-story/ A Miss America story]

Dennison married comedian Phil Silvers on March 2, 1945.{{cite news|title=Jo-Carroll Dennison Is to Wed on Friday|newspaper=The Piqua Daily Call |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382320/the_piqua_daily_call/|agency=The Piqua Daily Call|date=March 2, 1945|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}} They divorced March 8, 1950.{{cite news|title=Mate Stays With Mother-in-Law|newspaper=The Ogden Standard-Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3382816/the_ogden_standardexaminer/|agency=The Ogden Standard-Examiner|date=March 9, 1950|page=8|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 9, 2015}} {{Open access}} The union produced no children. Dennison later married television producer Russell Stoneham and had two sons, Peter and John, with him.{{cite web|first1=Michelle |last1=Tauber |first2=Mike |last2=Neill |first3=Lisa |last3=Russell |first4=Joanne|last4=Fowler |first5=Julie |last5=Dam |first6=Alex |last6=Tresniowski |first7=Samantha |last7=Miller |first8=Steve |last8=Dougherty |first9=Ting |last9=Yu |title= American Beauties: 80 Years |work= People |url=https://people.com/archive/american-beauties-80-years-vol-54-no-16/ |date=October 16, 2000}} Her second marriage inspired the storyline for Redford and Streisand’s dilemma in Arthur Laurents’ The Way We Were, she the free-spirited liberal and he the conservative pragmatist. Other close relationships included journalist Blackie Sherrod and Sydney Chaplin, son of Charlie Chaplin.

Dennison was the oldest-living Miss America when she died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on October 18, 2021 at the age of 97.{{cite web|url=https://www.pe.com/2021/10/26/jo-carroll-dennison-oldest-ex-miss-america-and-longtime-idyllwild-area-resident-dies/|title=Jo-Carroll Dennison, oldest ex-Miss America and longtime Idyllwild-area resident, dies|access-date=October 18, 2021|archive-date=October 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026202650/https://www.pe.com/2021/10/26/jo-carroll-dennison-oldest-ex-miss-america-and-longtime-idyllwild-area-resident-dies/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Jo-Carroll Dennison obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/jo-carroll-dennison-obituary-zr6lhshk0 |access-date=27 November 2021 |work=The Times |date=27 November 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name| id=0219593}}
• [http://missamerica.org/miss-america-1942-contestants/ Jo-Carroll Dennison] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615115300/http://missamerica.org/miss-america-1942-contestants/ |date=2017-06-15 }} at Miss America

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{{succession box

| before=Rosemary LaPlanche

| title=Miss America

| years=1942

| after=Jean Bartel

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{{succession box

| before=Gloria Byrnes

| title=Miss Texas

| years=1941

| after=Joyce Courrege

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{{MissAmericas 1940–1959}}

{{Texas pageant winners}}

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Category:1923 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:20th Century Studios contract players

Category:American film actresses

Category:Miss America 1940s delegates

Category:Miss America Preliminary Talent winners

Category:Miss America winners

Category:People from Tyler, Texas