Yolande Fox
Yolande Margaret Betbeze Fox (November 28, 1928 – February 22, 2016) was an American singer and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 1951. Early life Betbeze was born on November 28, 1928, in Mobile, Alabama, to William, a butcher, and Ethel Betbeze. Betbeze was raised in a Catholic family of French Basque descent, and she attended convent schools. Career She captured her first crown in 1949 when she won Mobile's "Miss Torch" pageant. In 1950, Fox (then Betbeze) entered Miss Alabama for the scholarship opportunities the pageant presented. As Miss Alabama, she traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to compete in the Miss America 1951 pageant. Having been educated in a convent school, she was reluctant to pose in a swimsuit and refused to do so after she won Miss America. That led the swimsuit company, Catalina, to withdraw their sponsorship of the Miss America pageant and eventually brought about the creation of the rival Miss USA pageant. Fox's Miss America title, although won in 1950, was for 1951 and is the first Miss America title to be "postdated" in this manner. Due to the change, there was no Miss America 1950. The Miss America Organization has claimed