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.
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]
Careeredit
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 lifeedit
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]
Referencesedit
^"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.
vonda, dyke, born, 1943, crowned, 1965, miss, america, september, 1964, earlier, year, taken, break, year, junior, arizona, state, college, flagstaff, 1966, northern, arizona, university, become, miss, arizona, unique, among, pageant, winners, that, still, onl. 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 Vonda Kay Van DykeBorn 1943 05 19 May 19 1943 age 80 Muskegon MichiganEducationNorthern Arizona University graduated from UCLAOccupationAuthorTitleMiss Phoenix 1964Miss Arizona 1964Miss America 1965PredecessorDonna AxumSuccessorDeborah BryantSpouseDavid Tyler ScoatesChildren1 Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Pageantry 3 Career 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External linksEarly life and education editVan 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 edit nbsp Van Dyke at a fabric store in Los Angeles 1965In 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 editDuring 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 editVan 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 edit 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 edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vonda Van Dyke Miss America Pageant Miss Arizona Pageant Awards and achievementsPreceded byDonna Axum Miss America1965 Succeeded byDeborah BryantPreceded bySusan Bergstrom Miss Arizona1964 Succeeded bySandra Montgomery Portals nbsp Biography nbsp Arizona nbsp United States Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vonda Kay Van Dyke amp oldid 1166153212, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
