Bess Myerson, former beauty queen of 1945 and probably best known by most for her frequent appearance on the TV show I’ve Got a Secret, is dead at age 90.
The director of the Miss America pageant tried hard to get Myerson to change her name to something “less ethnic”, but thankfully Bess refused. Here is how she looked at ther crowning in 1945 (the finalists switched from swimsuits to evening gown a few years later.)
She led a very tumultuous life, from Miss America to her association with NYC Mayor Ed Koch and the ensuing scandals. Now she can finally R.I.P.
I’ve heard her tell that, but I wonder if the huddled masses would ever have considered ‘Myerson’ to be ‘ethnic.’ Funny, she. . . eh, nevermind. I didn’t even realize that ‘Meyer’ and its cognates were common Jewish names until I was in my 30s.