Actress. She had a one-day reign as Miss USA of 1957. Born Mary Leona Gage, she was raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, from an early age, and was apparently too attractive for her own good, attracting the attention of young airmen from nearby Sheppard Air Force Base at around age 12. By 14 she had been married twice and had a baby; in her mid-teens she moved with her husband to Severna Park, Maryland, where she modeled and worked in a dress shop. Leona entered the Miss Maryland contest thinking the exposure would help her modeling career and, to her surprise, won. She went on to the Miss USA Pageant, again won, and had competed in the preliminaries of the Miss Universe Pageant when officials discovered that she had lied about her age, marital status, and two children. Stripped of her crown, she also lost custody of her children and received a quantity of hate mail, though she did get the publicity she wanted, having appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and other television programs of the time. She moved to Las Vegas in 1957, worked as a showgirl, briefly dated Frank Sinatra, then relocated to Los Angeles in 1961 where she lived the remainder of her life. Attempting an acting career, she made her silver screen bow in "Bells Are Ringing" (1960) and probably had her best known turn as Morella in Roger Corman's 1962 Poe-themed "Tales of Terror". Leona had problems over the years with a total of six failed marriages, the loss of custody of her five children, and substance abuse. She died of heart failure after having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease since her 50s. At her death, the DVD of "Tales of Terror" remained in print.
Actress. She had a one-day reign as Miss USA of 1957. Born Mary Leona Gage, she was raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, from an early age, and was apparently too attractive for her own good, attracting the attention of young airmen from nearby Sheppard Air Force Base at around age 12. By 14 she had been married twice and had a baby; in her mid-teens she moved with her husband to Severna Park, Maryland, where she modeled and worked in a dress shop. Leona entered the Miss Maryland contest thinking the exposure would help her modeling career and, to her surprise, won. She went on to the Miss USA Pageant, again won, and had competed in the preliminaries of the Miss Universe Pageant when officials discovered that she had lied about her age, marital status, and two children. Stripped of her crown, she also lost custody of her children and received a quantity of hate mail, though she did get the publicity she wanted, having appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and other television programs of the time. She moved to Las Vegas in 1957, worked as a showgirl, briefly dated Frank Sinatra, then relocated to Los Angeles in 1961 where she lived the remainder of her life. Attempting an acting career, she made her silver screen bow in "Bells Are Ringing" (1960) and probably had her best known turn as Morella in Roger Corman's 1962 Poe-themed "Tales of Terror". Leona had problems over the years with a total of six failed marriages, the loss of custody of her five children, and substance abuse. She died of heart failure after having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease since her 50s. At her death, the DVD of "Tales of Terror" remained in print.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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