Morris was a champion swimmer and worked as a lifeguard, sang in the church choir, and played the violin.

[3] Morris developed into a 5-foot 7-inch young woman weighing 131 pounds, with blue eyes and dark brown, almost black, hair, and a 36-25-36-inch figure.

[5][6] She then competed and won against 29 contestants in the 1956 Miss Universe beauty pageant, also held in Long Beach.

While reigning as Miss Universe Morris met Presidents Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, and entertained U.S. troops with Bob Hope.

A parade was organized in her honor, including Iowa's Governor Leo Hoegh and the four-foot-high Miss Universe trophy.

Morris's last role was in Paradise Alley produced in 1962, not to be confused with the more famous 1978 film of the same name On 30 June 1959, in Chicago, she wed 45-year-old Edward G. "Buzz" Burke, an "investor in oil wells" from Houston, Texas; they had become engaged the preceding Easter.