Renate Hoy, also credited as Renate Huy and Erika Nordin,(born 31 December 1930 in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

) is a German actress.

Career

After winning the title of Miss

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, she was crowned

Miss Germany Miss Germany is a national beauty pageant in Germany. The contest was held for the first time in 1927. History In the past there were several organisations which claimed the title: In the 1920s already, German jurisdiction decided that the tit ...

of 1952. She then travelled to the United States to represent her country in the first

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall St ...

contest, which was held in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

where she placed fifth (fourth runner up). Shortly thereafter, she became a contract player for

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

and made several movies during the 1950s. She was in such films as ''

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars ''Abbott and Costello Go to Mars'' is a 1953 American science fiction comedy film starring the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello and directed by Charles Lamont. It was produced by Howard Christie and made by Universal-International. D ...

'', ''

Missile to the Moon ''Missile to the Moon'' is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film drama, produced by Marc Frederic, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars Richard Travis, Cathy Downs, and K. T. Stevens. The film was distrib ...

'', '' The Golden Blade'', ''

The Birds and the Bees The talk about sex, often colloquially referred to as "the birds and the bees" or "the facts of life", is generally the occasion in most children's lives when their parents explain what sex is and how to do it. According to tradition, "the bird ...

'', ''

The Sea Chase ''The Sea Chase'' is a 1955 World War II drama film starring John Wayne and Lana Turner, and featuring David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, and Tab Hunter. It was directed by John Farrow from a screenplay by James Warner Bellah and John Twist based on ...

'', ''

A Certain Smile ''A Certain Smile'' was originally published in French as ''Un certain sourire'' by the Paris publisher Juillard in 1956. It was the second novel by Françoise Sagan and was written in two months. Two translations into English then followed in 195 ...

'', and had a leading role in the classic German film '' Schloß Hubertus''.

Personal life

In 1954, she married actor

Brett Halsey Brett Halsey (born Charles Oliver Hand, June 20, 1933) is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He appeared in B pictures A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during ...

. They had two children, son Charles Oliver Hand, Jr. (a.k.a. "Rock Bottom" of the Los Angeles-based punk band Rock Bottom and the Spys) and daughter Tracy Leigh. They divorced in 1959. Charles Hand was murdered in prison while serving a 25-year sentence. Following a landmark 1960

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...

strike, Hoy retired from acting. In 1963, Hoy married prominent civil rights attorney Raymond C. Simpson. The couple had one child, musician

Richard James Simpson Richard James Simpson, formerly known as Richard James (born 1967), is an American singer and guitarist. He is a son of Renate Hoy, an actress born in Germany, and attorney Raymond C. Simpson. He grew up in the South Bay region of California and ...

, a member of the bands Invisiblechains and Teardrain. Renate currently resides in Southern California.

References

External links

* 1930 births 20th-century German actresses German beauty pageant winners German film actresses Living people Miss Universe 1952 contestants People from Ludwigshafen {{Germany-film-actor-stub