Arlene Howell (born Eurlyne Howell; October 26, 1939) is an American former actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss USA 1958.

Early life and education

Howell was born in

Delhi, Louisiana Delhi (), originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,622. History During the American Civil War, Delhi and Monroe, the seat of Ouachita P ...

, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Howell. The family moved to Bossier City, Louisiana, in 1952. She has two sisters. They attended local schools. Howell graduated from Bossier High School, class of 1957, in Bossier City. She studied speech and dramatics at Centenary College of Louisiana.

Beauty pageant and acting career

Howell entered the state level of the Miss USA beauty pageant, hoping to earn some money to support her work in an acting career. After winning

Miss Louisiana USA The Miss Louisiana USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Louisiana in the Miss USA pageant. Miss Louisiana USA is produced by RPM Productions since 1990, which also produces the Miss USA and Miss Teen ...

, she became the first of three titleholders from the state to win the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

crown, when she won the Miss USA Pageant in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, in July 1958. That same week, she competed in the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

Pageant and placed as third runner-up, and is to date the only Miss USA to place third runner-up at Miss Universe. Howell's television debut occurred September 28, 1958, on ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

'' in the episode " Alias Bart Maverick," portraying a semi-regular character named "Cindy Lou Brown" who also appears in "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" and "Passage to Fort Doom". In 1959, she was cast as secretary "Melody Lee Mercer", a regular supporting role spanning 23 episodes, in the ABC/

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

crime drama '' Bourbon Street Beat''.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 128. The series is set in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Studio publicity at the time emphasized Howell's Louisiana roots, but the program was produced in Los Angeles. The show only lasted one season but this was an era in which a single season encompassed 39 episodes (she appeared in 23 of the 39 according to her

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

mdb.comarticle). Howell played "Cindy Lou Brown" in three episodes of ''

'' and appeared once as a character named "Ladybird Forge" in an episode titled "Island in the Swamp" with

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

and

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...

. She was cast in ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...

'' (episode: "A Nice Social Evening"), ''

Bronco A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

'' (episode: "Prairie Skipper"), ''

Alcoa Premiere ''Alcoa Premiere'' (also known as ''Premiere, Presented by Fred Astaire'') is an American anthology drama series that aired from October 1961 to July 1963 on ABC. The series was hosted by Fred Astaire, who also starred in several of the episodes ...

'' (episode: "What Ever Happened to Miss Illinois?"), '' Bachelor Father'' (episode: "Ginger's Big Romance"), and played "Flora" in a 1966 episode of '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' in which she was a blind date for an understandably flabbergasted Sgt. Carter. Howell ended her career at that point.

Personal life

Howell married pilot Paul LaCava in August 1959. They had one child, a girl, named Lisa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Arlene 1939 births Living people Actresses from Louisiana American people of Welsh descent American television actresses Miss Universe 1958 contestants Miss USA 1950s delegates Miss USA winners People from Delhi, Louisiana Western (genre) film actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American people 21st-century American women