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 Miss USA 1958 was the 7th Miss USA pageant, held in Long Beach, California on July 23, 1958. The pageant was won by Eurlyne Howell of Louisiana, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Charlotte Sheffield of Utah. Howell went on to finish as 3r ...

Early life and education

Howell was born in Delhi, Louisiana, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Howell. The family moved to

Bossier City, Louisiana Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...

, 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 Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

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, she became the first of three titleholders from the state to win the Miss USA 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 U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, 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 Bureau ...

'' 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 ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

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

crime drama ''

Bourbon Street Beat ''Bourbon Street Beat'' is a private detective television series that aired on the ABC network from October 5, 1959, to July 4, 1960, starring Richard Long as Rex Randolph and Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, with Arlene Howell as detective agency s ...

''.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
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. 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 and Edgar Buchanan. She was cast in '' 77 Sunset Strip'' (episode: "A Nice Social Evening"), '' Bronco'' (episode: "Prairie Skipper"), '' Alcoa Premiere'' (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. ''Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''The show (and CBS) renders the title as ''Gomer Pyle – USMC''. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of ''The Andy Griffith Sho ...

'' 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