Maria Fletcher
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Maria Beale Fletcher (born June 23, 1942) is an American beauty pageant contestant who was Miss America 1962.[1]
Early life and education
Fletcher was born to dancing duo Charles "Beale" and Margaret Gatley Fletcher, who were the founders of the Fletcher School of Dance and the Land of the Sky Civic Ballet. She has one brother, Walter, and two sisters, Margaret and Bonnie.[2]
She is from Asheville, North Carolina, and was a graduate of A.C. Reynolds High School. She worked as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette prior to winning the Miss America crown.[3] After winning Miss America, Fletcher used her earned scholarship towards a degree in French from Vanderbilt University.[4]
Pageantry
She was the Miss America preliminary competition swimsuit winner, and her overseas tour included visits to 31 Army hospitals and Servicemen's Clubs. For the talent competition, she tap danced to a recording of herself singing “Somebody Loves Me.”[5] She remains as of 2025[update]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". the only Miss North Carolina to be crowned Miss America.
Career
During the late 1960s, Fletcher served as co-host of The Noon Show on Nashville, Tennessee, television station WSM.
References
Template:MissAmericas 1960–1979 Template:North Carolina Pageant Winners Script error: No such module "Navbox".
- Pages with script errors
- Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2025
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- Living people
- Miss America winners
- People from Asheville, North Carolina
- 1942 births
- Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners
- The Rockettes
- American female dancers
- American dancers
- Miss North Carolina winners