Terry Huntingdon

Terry Lynn Huntingdon (born May 8, 1940) is an American actress who began working in film and television roles after winning the title of Miss USA 1959.

Terry Huntingdon
Huntingdon as Miss California USA 1959
Born
Terry Lynn Huntingdon

(1940-05-08) May 8, 1940
Mount Shasta, California, U.S.
Alma materUCLA
SpouseJoseph Tydings (1975-2018)[1]
ChildrenPaige Crowly
Alexandra Tydings
Beauty pageant titleholder
TitleMiss California USA 1959, Miss USA 1959
Major
competition(s)		Miss USA 1959 (Winner), Miss Universe 1959 (2nd runner-up)

Early years

Huntingdon comes from a family of five-generation Californians.[2] She attended Mt. Shasta High School, where she was a majorette[3] and went from there to the University of California, Los Angeles,[4] where she majored in dance.[5]

Beauty contests

One of Huntingdon's first beauty pageant titles was Miss Mount Shasta in 1954–1955.[6]

Huntingdon (center) as Miss USA 1959, with runners-up (from left) Arlene Nesbitt, Nanita Greene, Carelgean Douglas, and Dorothy Gladys Taylor

After winning the Miss California USA crown, Huntingdon went on to become California's first representative to achieve the title of Miss USA.[7] She was the first Miss USA to win the title at a pageant held in her home state.[8]

She was second runner-up in the Miss Universe 1959 pageant.

Acting
Huntingdon (left), with Raymond Burr in a 1959 press photo promoting her Perry Mason episode

Huntingdon made occasional television and film appearances. In her first television role in 1959 she appeared on Perry Mason as defendant Kitty Wynne in "The Case of the Bartered Bikini." She was a contestant on the television quiz show You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx, in 1960. She also appeared as Hecuba in the Three Stooges feature film The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.

Paternity suit

Huntingdon was involved in a paternity suit in 1963 when attorney Arthur Crowley denied being the father of her daughter, who was then a year old.[9] In 1965, California's 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed the Superior Court's verdict, which went in Crowley's favor, and ordered a new trial.[10] In 1966, the California Supreme Court reversed the verdict in which Crowley was absolved, and it ordered a new trial.[11]

Other activities

After leaving acting, Huntingdon worked in a variety of jobs including being a production manager for a women's clothing business, modeling, working in the office of U.S. Senator Alan Cranston,[2] and being a photographer for the Office of Economic Opportunity in the early 1970s.[2]

In 1980, she was appointed to the board of Women's National Bank.[12]

Personal life

On April 19, 1975,[13] Huntingdon married U.S. Senator Joseph Tydings of Maryland,[14] with whom she had a daughter, actress Alexandra Tydings.[15]

Filmography
Film and television
Year Title Role Notes
1959 Miss USA 1959 Herself Winner - Contestant/Representing California State.
1959 Miss Universe 1959 Herself 2nd Runner-up - Contestant/Representing USA.
1959 Perry Mason Kitty Wynne Episode: "The Case of the Bartered Bikini"
1960 The Untouchables Flo Ingalls Episode: "The Waxey Gordon Story"
1960 The Law and Mr. Jones Model Episode: "No sale"
1961 The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet Joyce Episode: "The Chaperone"
1962 The Three Stooges Meet Hercules Hecuba Film debut
1962 Five Finger Exercise Helen

Published works
  • "California Girl: Miss USA 1959"

References
  1. Tkacik, Christina; Kelly, Jacques; Rasmussen, Frederick N. (October 8, 2018). "Joseph D. Tydings, progressive U.S. senator from Maryland, dies at age 90". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  2. Dickman, Sharon (April 15, 1976). "She's A Congenial Asset To The Campaign". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. B1. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  3. "(photo caption)". Herald and News. Klamath Falls, Oregon. October 31, 1957. p. 11. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. "Golden Stater". The Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1959. p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. "California Coed Chosen as Miss USA". Plainfield Courier-News. Bridgewater, New Jersey. Associated Press. July 23, 1959. p. 1. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  6. "Darlene Enloe 16 Named Fair Queen". Herald and News. Klamath Falls, Oregon. August 21, 1955. p. 8. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  7. "California Girl Steps Up As Beauty Winner". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, California. United Press International. July 23, 1959. p. 9. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  8. Di Napoli, Daniela (July 12, 2015). "Miss USA winners through the years". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  9. "Attorney Denies He's Child's Father". The Bristol Daily Courier. Bristol, Pennsylvania. United Press International. April 17, 1963. p. 37. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  10. "Beauty Granted New Paternity Suit Trial". The Los Angeles Times. June 29, 1965. p. 40. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  11. "(untitled brief)". The Los Angeles Times. May 26, 1966. p. 2. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  12. "House for Sale". The Los Angeles Times. April 24, 1980. p. 93. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  13. "Tydings Of Marriage". The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 22, 1975. p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  14. "From Maryland, with flair: blond, blue-eyed model Emlen Tydings". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. August 8, 1982. p. E8. Retrieved August 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  15. Roberts, Sam (October 12, 2018). "Joseph Tydings, Ex-Democratic Senator and Nixon Target, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
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