Jineane Marie Ford (born ) is an American beauty queen, actress, and television personality from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

who held the title Miss USA 1980.

Background

Ford was raised on a farm in Gilbert, Arizona. She raised calves, and participated in rodeo

barrel racing Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to run a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time. In collegiate and professional ranks, it is usually a women's event, though both sexes compete at amateur and ...

. She was a member of the

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

and became a registered meat cutter in

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Pageants

Ford was named

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

Queen in 1978-79 when attending Mesa Community College before winning the

Miss Arizona USA Miss Arizona USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arizona in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by its winner. The pageant is directed by Casting Crown Productions. Arizona's most success ...

contest in 1980. She represented her state at 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, ...

pageant televised live from

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

in 1980. Ford delivered a solid performance in the preliminary round of competition, and placed eighth among the top twelve semi-finalists who advanced to compete in the final night of the pageant. She was also the co-winner of the Miss Photogenic award. Ford performed consistently during the pageant, placing among the top five in each of the interview, swimsuit and evening gown competitions: her strongest showing was in the

evening gown An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from ballerina (mid-calf to just above the ankles), tea (above the ankles), to full-length. Such gowns are typically worn with evening ...

competition where she ranked second. Overall, Ford finished first runner-up to

Miss South Carolina USA The Miss South Carolina USA competition, previously known as Miss South Carolina Universe, is the pageant that selects the representative for the state South Carolina in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The ...

Shawn Weatherly Shawn Nichols Weatherly is an American actress and beauty queen who won the titles of Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1980. She went on to star as Cadet Karen Adams in the film '' Police Academy 3: Back in Training'' (1986), and as Jill Riley in th ...

, which gave her the right to assume the

title should Weatherly be unable to complete her reign. In July 1980, Weatherly won the Miss Universe contest, and Ford was crowned the new Miss USA in her stead. As the two competitions are allied, the two American beauties completed their respective reigns living in the same apartment in New York, provided as part of their prize package.

Acting career

After passing on her crown to Kim Seelbrede in 1981, Ford went on to work in the entertainment industry. While looking for acting work, she worked as a butcher at a

Vons Vons is a Southern California and Southern Nevada supermarket chain owned by Albertsons. It is headquartered in Fullerton, California, and operates stores under the Vons and Pavilions banners. It was owned by Safeway Inc. and headquartered in ...

supermarket in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. She obtained acting roles in several TV series and TV movies.

TV News

She then decided to return to Arizona and began a long career in local television, almost all in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

except for several years in Tampa. She worked at

KTVK KTVK (channel 3) is an independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KPHO-TV (channel 5) and low-power LATV affiliate KPHE-LD (channel 44). KTVK and KPHO-TV share ...

and then joined KPNX 12 News in Phoenix in 1991 where she co-anchored 12 News Today and 12 News Midday. She remained with the station until January 2, 2007, when she left anchoring full-time at KPNX on January 2, 2007, in order to spend more time with her family and to take care of her business.

Awards

In 2016, Ford was inducted into The Arizona Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

Personal

She is also a business owner, having purchased the oldest log lodge in Arizona, restoring it and opening it back up for business. She operates Mama Bears's Restaurant and Honey Bear Antiques and Lodge in Pinetop-Lakeside. Ford has won awards for Best New Business and Historic Preservation from the state. She has two sons, Cody and Austin, from her first marriage to Neil O. King.

Filmography

References

External links

Official Miss USA website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Jineane Miss USA winners People from Gilbert, Arizona Living people Miss USA 1980 delegates American television news anchors 1960 births American women television journalists 20th-century American people 21st-century American women