Vonda Kay Van Dyke
Vonda Kay Van Dyke | |
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Born | (1943-05-19) May 19, 1943 (age 81) Muskegon, Michigan |
Education | Northern Arizona University, graduated from UCLA |
Occupation | Author |
Title | Miss Phoenix 1964 Miss Arizona 1964 Miss America 1965 |
Predecessor | Donna Axum |
Successor | Deborah Bryant |
Spouse | David Tyler Scoates |
Children | 1 |
Vonda Kay Van Dyke (born May 19, 1943) was crowned the 1965 Miss America on September 13, 1964. Earlier in the year, she had taken a break as a 21-year-old junior at Arizona State College at Flagstaff (as of 1966, Northern Arizona University) to become Miss Arizona. She is unique among pageant winners in that she was and still is the only Miss America who was also Miss Congeniality.
Early life and education
Van Dyke was born in Muskegon, Michigan. Her father, Dr. A.B. Van Dyke, was an osteopath. The family moved to Phoenix, the seat of Maricopa County, Arizona, where she attended the Phoenix Christian Junior/Senior High School.
Pageantry
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Miss_America_of_1965_Vonda_Kay_Van_Dyke_at_a_fabric_store_in_Los_Angeles%2C_cropped.jpg/170px-Miss_America_of_1965_Vonda_Kay_Van_Dyke_at_a_fabric_store_in_Los_Angeles%2C_cropped.jpg)
In her senior year she entered a local America's Junior Miss pageant, where she surprised the judges and her fellow competitors by performing ventriloquism as her talent, which she later honed at the Phoenix amusement park, Legend City. She was named Arizona's Junior Miss for 1961, and traveled with "Kurley-Q" to Mobile, Alabama, for the national finals, where she placed in the top ten.
Her next major pageant was the 1962 Miss Phoenix competition. She later won the Miss Tempe crown in 1964, then Miss Maricopa County, then Miss Arizona, and finally Miss America, where she was the first contestant to use ventriloquism in the talent competition.[1] She subsequently urged Marcy Tigner to study ventriloquism, which Tigner would use for her Little Marcy evangelistic work.[2]
Career
During her reign as Miss America, Miss Van Dyke appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing her ventriloquism act and demonstrating her singing skills, while sharing the stage with The Beach Boys, Robert Goulet, and Leslie Uggams. Van Dyke continued in the spotlight for some years after having relinquished her crown. In 1966 she wrote a Christian-themed teen advice book called That Girl in Your Mirror, in which she advised young women to become more beautiful by adopting "that inner sparkle that only Christ can give." She later wrote Dear Vonda Kay, which came out in 1967, and consisted of letters to Van Dyke and her replies. Van Dyke subsequently also recorded Here's Vonda Kay and some other albums of inspirational songs.
During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Vonda worked with Archway Cookies, Inc. as spokeswoman. In 1974 she appeared in several Archway - Fort Wayne television commercials.[3]
Personal life
Van Dyke currently lives in Winter Park, Florida. She is the widow of David Tyler Scoates (October 26, 1934–May 6, 2000),[4] a minister formerly of Florida. She has one daughter, Vandy, from that marriage.[5]
References
- ^ "1965 Miss America Title Won By 21-Year-Old Arizona Coed; Victor Was Chosen Earlier as Miss Congeniality by 49 Fellow Contestants". The New York Times. September 13, 1964.
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Little Marcy Tigner: Biography". Allmusic. RhythmOne, LLC. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
- ^ "Archway Commercial". Archway News: 12. Summer 1974.
- ^ "Social Security Death Index". ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
- ^ 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.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Miss America Pageant
- Miss Arizona Pageant
Awards and achievements | ||
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Preceded by | Miss America 1965 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by Susan Bergstrom | Miss Arizona 1964 | Succeeded by Sandra Montgomery |
- 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)