Fay Elinora Lanphier (December 12, 1905 – June 21, 1959) was an American model and actress most noted for winning the title of Miss Santa Cruz in 1924 and then Miss California and

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

in 1925.

Early life

Lanphier was born in El Dorado, California, the eldest child of six born to Percival Caspar Lanphier and Emily Elenora Olson. Her family later moved to

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

. Lanphier's father died before she was a teenager. She graduated from Oakland High School in 1924 and was saving money to go to business college. In December 1924, Lanphier signed a contract with Max Graf to star in a series of shorts produced on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Career

Pageantry

She was the 1925 Rose Queen. To date, she is the only person to hold both titles at the same time. She is also the first Miss California to become Miss America. Before she was Miss California, she was Miss Santa Cruz 1924. Lanphier won Miss America in 1925 on a vote of 12–3.

Film career

Lanphier appeared in the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

film '' The American Venus'' (1926) which featured a beauty contest, and co-starred

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an cultural icon, icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob cut, bob hairstyle that she helped ...

, and performed for a short time on stage in San Francisco with the Henry Duffy Players.

Personal life

On June 8, 1928, Lanphier married Sidney M. Spiegel, son of Joseph Spiegel, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. They divorced after six months of marriage. In 1931, she married high-school sweetheart Winfield Daniels, with whom she had two daughters. They remained married until her death in 1959.

Later years and death

After her second marriage, Lanphier largely retired from public life and became a housewife and mother. She lived in the

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

suburb of Orinda until her death from

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

and

viral pneumonia Viral pneumonia is a pneumonia caused by a virus. Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in one or both lungs. The pulmonary alveoli fill with fluid or pus making it difficult to breathe. Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, viruses, ...

at age 53 on June 21, 1959. On June 24, 1959, Lanphier was interred at the Outdoor Mausoleum at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

References

External links

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Biography1920 Census
1905 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Oakland, California American silent film actresses American stage actresses Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California) Deaths from hepatitis Deaths from pneumonia in California Miss America 1920s delegates Miss America winners Female models from California People from El Dorado County, California People from Orinda, California Spiegel family Oakland High School (Oakland, California) alumni {{US-model-stub