Elizabeth Ward Gracen (born Elizabeth Grace Ward, April 3, 1961) is an American actress and beauty pageant contestant who won the title of Miss America in 1982.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Grace Ward was born on April 3, 1961, in

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, the daughter of Patricia Hampe, a nurse, and Jimmy Young Ward, a poultry worker. She was raised in

Booneville, Arkansas Booneville is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States and the county seat of its southern district. Located in the Arkansas River Valley between the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains, the city is one of the oldest in western Arkansas. The city' ...

. The family later moved to Russellville, Arkansas, where Ward dated University of Arkansas trainer Mike Walker and graduated from Russellville High School in 1979. She was a junior accounting major at

Arkansas Tech University Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-year satellite ca ...

at the time she entered the Miss America contest. Instead of returning to Arkansas Tech, she used her Miss America scholarship money to study acting at HB Studios in New York City.

Career

Pageants and modeling

Gracen won the titles of

Miss Arkansas The Miss Arkansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss America pageant. Arkansas has won the Miss America title three times (1964, 1982, 2017). Ebony Mitchell of Harrison was crowned Mi ...

in 1981 and Miss America in 1982. After her yearlong work as Miss America, she enrolled in acting classes then relocated to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to pursue a film and television career. Gracen posed nude for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' magazine's May 1992 issue.

Acting

Gracen made her professional feature film debut in ''Three For The Road'' with

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

. Her film credits also include a featured role in ''

Marked for Death ''Marked for Death'' is a 1990 American action film directed by Dwight H. Little. The film stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter who returns to his Illinois hometown to find it taken over by a posse of vicious Jamaica ...

'', opposite

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

, ''Pass The Ammo'' with

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

, and the CBS feature ''83 Hours Till Dawn'' with

Peter Strauss Peter Lawrence Strauss (born February 20, 1947) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles in several television miniseries in the 1970s and 1980s. He is five-time Golden Globe Awards nominee. Early life Strauss was born in C ...

and

Robert Urich Robert Michael Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an American film, television, and stage actor, and television producer. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in a record 15 television series. Urich began his ca ...

. Gracen starred in ''

Lower Level ''Lower Level'' is a 1991 American erotic thriller film directed by Kristine Peterson, and written by Hillary Black, W.K. Border, Michael Leahy, and Joel Soisson. The film features a female architect with an unfulfilling love life, who records h ...

'' and ''Discretion Assured'' with

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

. On television, Gracen has appeared in

Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer who is known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peab ...

's ''

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'',

Sidney Sheldon Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy '' The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxe ...

's '' The Sands of Time,'' and ''The'' ''Death of the Incredible Hulk''. She also appeared with a starring role in the series ''Extreme'' for NBC and the syndicated series ''

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...

'' and ''

Queen of Swords The Queen of Swords is a card in the Suit of Swords, part of the Minor Arcana set of the Tarot. Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries, Tarot cards are utilized primarily for div ...

''. Gracen's best-known acting role has been as the recurring character Amanda, a 1,200-year-old immortal, in the series '' Highlander: The Series'' and its spin-off series '' Highlander: The Raven''. Elizabeth Gracen by Gage Skidmore

In December 1999, Gracen filed for bankruptcy protection. After few television guest roles, and a supporting role in the made-for-television movie ''Interceptor Force 2'', she took a long leave of absence from acting, beginning in 2002. Gracen began doing voiceover work for Blue Hours Productions, which has revived the classic radio anthology '' Suspense'', which airs on Sirius XM. In 2012, Gracen did a character voice-over in the Malaysian animated science fiction film '' War of the Worlds: Goliath''.

Directing, producing, and writing

In 2012, Gracen formed Flapper Films. In 2014, she starred in ''Coherence'', a sci-fi indie thriller. In January 2016, Gracen established Flapper Press and self-published ''Shalilly'', a young adult fantasy novel. Gracen made her directorial debut with a documentary short, "The Damn Deal," about three young

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

s from Arkansas who compete in female impersonator beauty pageants.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Gracen married Jon Birmingham in 1982, and they divorced in 1984. In 1989, while filming '' Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat'', she met actor Brendan Hughes, and they married soon after. They divorced in 1994. Gracen married Adam Murphy, and they have a daughter.

Affair with Bill Clinton

According to Gracen, some time in 1983, she had a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

with future President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

when he was Governor of Arkansas. She was married at the time, as was he. In 1992, rumors swirled that Gracen had had an affair with Clinton. At first, Gracen dismissed this claim (as requested by Clinton's campaign manager

Mickey Kantor Michael Kantor (born August 7, 1939) is an American attorney who served as the United States Trade Representative from 1993 to 1996 and United States Secretary of Commerce in 1996 and 1997. Early life and education Born and raised in Nashville, ...

); however, in spring 1998 Gracen recanted her six-year-old denial and stated she had a one-night stand with Clinton in 1983. After her claim, Independent Counsel

Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, know ...

, who was investigating Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit, issued a subpoena to have her testify to her claim in court. However, Gracen eluded the subpoena and was at one point able to avoid it because '' Highlander: The Raven'' was being filmed outside of the US.

Paula Jones Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones cite ...

's legal team was also unable to track down Gracen because she had made unscheduled trips to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and the Caribbean.

Filmography

* ''

Three for the Road ''Three for the Road'' is a 1987 road comedy film directed by Bill L. Norton and starring Charlie Sheen, Alan Ruck, Kerri Green, Sally Kellerman and Blair Tefkin. Plot The film centers around Paul Tracy (Charlie Sheen), a college student and ...

'' (1987) Nadine * ''

Pass the Ammo ''Pass the Ammo'' is a 1987 American comedy film starring Bill Paxton, Annie Potts, Linda Kozlowski and Tim Curry. The film is a spoof of televangelism released right after the real-life scandals related to Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. The mov ...

'' (1988) Christie Lynn * ''

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' (1989) * ''

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

'' (1989) Mary * ''

The Death of the Incredible Hulk ''The Death of the Incredible Hulk'' is a 1990 American television superhero film, the last of three revival films based on the 1978–1982 television series ''The Incredible Hulk''. Bill Bixby reprises his role as Dr. David Banner and Lou Ferrign ...

'' (1990) Jasmin * ''

'' (1990) Melissa * '' The Flash'' (1990 TV Series) 1 episode - Celia Wayne * ''83 Hours 'Til Dawn'' (1990) Maria Ranfield * '' Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat'' (1991) Alice * ''

'' (1992) Hillary * ''The Sands of Time'' (1992) * ''Final Mission'' (1993) Caitlin Cole * ''

Time Trax ''Time Trax'' is a science fiction television series that first aired in 1993. A police officer, sent two centuries into the past to a parallel Universe, must apprehend and return convicted criminals who have escaped prison in the future. This ...

'' episode 7 (1993) Sydney * ''Discretion Assured'' (1993) Miranda * '' Highlander: The Series'' (1992–1998) Amanda * '' Murder, She Wrote'' (1994) Michelle Scarlotti * '' The Expert'' (1995) Liz Pierce * '' Extreme'' (1995) Callie Manners * '' Kounterfeit'' (1996) Bridgette * '' Highlander: The Raven'' (1998–1999) Amanda * ''

'' "Counterfeit Queen" (2000) Carlotta * '' Charmed'' "Bite Me" (2002) Vampire Queen * '' Interceptor Force 2'' (2002) Adriana Sikes * '' War of the Worlds: Goliath'' (2012) Lt. Jennifer Carter (voice) * '' Coherence'' (2013) Beth

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gracen, Elizabeth 1961 births Living people Actresses from Arkansas American television actresses Miss America 1980s delegates Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America winners People from Booneville, Arkansas People from Ozark, Arkansas People from Pope County, Arkansas 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Bill Clinton