Former Miss America dies of cancer

Mary Ann Mobley, the dark haired and wholesome Miss America who went on to a successful acting career in Hollywood has died. She passed away in her Beverly Hills home after battling breast cancer.

Mobley was crowned Miss America in 1959 and is among the few Miss America winners to forge a career in show business. She is a native of Brandon, Mississippi and attended the University of Mississippi.

Mobley was married to the late actor and TV host Gary Collins. He died in 2012. She and Colins were active volunteers and fiercely committed to numerous worthwhile causes, traveling to Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and the Sudan for documentaries meant to show the plight of homeless and starving children.

Mobley Collins is survived by daughters Clancy Collins White and Melissa Collins, son Guy William Collins, sister Sandra Young, and two grandsons.