Arlene Howell (born Eurlyne Howell; October 26, 1939) is an American former actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss USA 1958.

Early life and education

Howell was born in Delhi, Louisiana, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Howell. The family moved to

Bossier City, Louisiana Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...

, in 1952. She has two sisters. They attended local schools. Howell graduated from Bossier High School, class of 1957, in Bossier City. She studied speech and dramatics at

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

Beauty pageant and acting career

Howell entered the state level of the Miss USA beauty pageant, hoping to earn some money to support her work in an acting career. After winning Miss Louisiana USA, she became the first of three titleholders from the state to win the Miss USA crown, when she won the Miss USA Pageant in Long Beach, California, in July 1958. That same week, she competed in the Miss Universe Pageant and placed as third runner-up, and is to date the only Miss USA to place third runner-up at Miss Universe. Howell's television debut occurred September 28, 1958, on '' Maverick'' in the episode " Alias Bart Maverick," portraying a semi-regular character named "Cindy Lou Brown" who also appears in "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" and "Passage to Fort Doom". In 1959, she was cast as secretary "Melody Lee Mercer", a regular supporting role spanning 23 episodes, in the ABC/ Warner Brothers crime drama ''

Bourbon Street Beat ''Bourbon Street Beat'' is a private detective television series that aired on the ABC network from October 5, 1959, to July 4, 1960, starring Richard Long as Rex Randolph and Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, with Arlene Howell as detective agency s ...

''.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 128. The series is set in New Orleans. Studio publicity at the time emphasized Howell's Louisiana roots, but the program was produced in Los Angeles. The show only lasted one season but this was an era in which a single season encompassed 39 episodes (she appeared in 23 of the 39 according to her Internet Movie Database mdb.comarticle). Howell played "Cindy Lou Brown" in three episodes of '' Maverick'' and appeared once as a character named "Ladybird Forge" in an episode titled "Island in the Swamp" with James Garner and Edgar Buchanan. She was cast in '' 77 Sunset Strip'' (episode: "A Nice Social Evening"), '' Bronco'' (episode: "Prairie Skipper"), '' Alcoa Premiere'' (episode: "What Ever Happened to Miss Illinois?"), '' Bachelor Father'' (episode: "Ginger's Big Romance"), and played "Flora" in a 1966 episode of ''

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. ''Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''The show (and CBS) renders the title as ''Gomer Pyle – USMC''. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of ''The Andy Griffith Sho ...

'' in which she was a blind date for an understandably flabbergasted Sgt. Carter. Howell ended her career at that point.

Personal life

Howell married pilot Paul LaCava in August 1959. They had one child, a girl, named Lisa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Arlene 1939 births Living people Actresses from Louisiana American people of Welsh descent American television actresses Miss Universe 1958 contestants Miss USA 1950s delegates Miss USA winners People from Delhi, Louisiana Western (genre) film actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American people 21st-century American women