Marian McKnight

Marian McKnight is an American model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder best known for winning the Miss America title in 1957. During the talent portion of the competition, she performed a Marilyn Monroe act that helped secure her victory.

Following her pageant win, McKnight worked for a Virginia supplier of military bases, where she worked alongside Monroe's ex-husband, Joe DiMaggio. Although Monroe biographer Donald Spoto claimed otherwise, McKnight denied having any romantic involvement with DiMaggio.

McKnight expanded her career into acting during the 1960s. In 1967, she appeared as Jack's mother in a live-action adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk produced by Hanna-Barbera. Directed by Gene Kelly, who also co-starred as Jeremy the Peddler, the film went on to win an Emmy Award. For the production, McKnight's voice was dubbed by Janet Waldo so her vocal performance would match the animated Princess Serena, whom she resembled.

In 1984, McKnight made a guest appearance on an episode of the television series The Love Boat. The episode featured several other former Miss America winners, including Jean Bartel (1943), Nancy Fleming (1961), and Vanessa L. Williams (1984).

McKnight met actor Gary Conway while attending UCLA, and the couple married in 1958. They have two children, Gareth and Kathleen. Outside of their entertainment careers, McKnight and Conway were formerly the owners of the Carmody McKnight winery.