Tawny Little (née Godin; born September 15, 1956), Miss America 1976 and

Miss New York The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...

1975, is an American television personality.

Early life and education

Godin was born in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. She was raised in Yonkers, New York and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She became involved with the

pageant to raise tuition for

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

but dropped out after she became Miss America. She later studied at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

.Miss America 1976

Career

Little was a reporter and anchor with three Los Angeles television stations beginning in 1977 with

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains stud ...

. At KABC-TV, she served as a reporter, ''Eyewitness News'' anchor and co-host with a number of shows such as ''AM Los Angeles'', ''Eye on LA'', ''Hollywood Close-up'' and ''The Love Report''. After leaving KABC in 1992, Little joined

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the C ...

as a news anchor for ''Prime 9 News''. Later, from 1995 to 1999, she became a co-anchor with

KCOP-TV KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both stations ...

's ''UPN News 13''. Little also appeared in a few films and television shows including ''

Rocky II ''Rocky II'' is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky'' (1976) and is the second installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl We ...

'', ''

T.J. Hooker ''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network un ...

'', Hart to Hart and ''

Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

''.

Personal life

Gerald Ford meets with Tawny Godin and Miles Little

She was a contestant on '' The $128,000 Question'' starring

Mike Darow Mike Darow (born Darow Myhowich; January 8, 1933 – December 7, 1996) was a Canadian-born television game show host. Darow is best known for hosting the 1968–1970 ABC run of '' Dream House'' in the United States, the 1985–1988 Canada-produce ...

back in 1977 on the subject

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. On her final win, she won $8,000. She changed her name to Little after marrying her first husband Miles Little, a neurosurgeon in Los Angeles (1977–1981). After her divorce from Little, she married ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

'' star John Schneider (1983–1986). This marriage also ended in divorce. In 1986, Little married Don Corsini, general manager of KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV, with whom she had two sons, Joseph John, "J.J.", (born 1987) and Chris (born 1989). She and Corsini divorced in 1999. She then married Los Angeles-based lawyer Rick Welch, with whom she had one son, Cole. They remained married until Welch's death in October 2014.

References

External links

* 1956 births Living people Television anchors from Los Angeles Miss America 1976 delegates Miss America winners Miss New York winners People from Portland, Maine American women television journalists 21st-century American women {{US-pageant-bio-stub