Marjorie Wallace (born January 23, 1954) is an American actress, television host, model and beauty queen.
Wallace was born on January 23, 1954, in Indianapolis, Indiana, where her family ran an industrial supply business and raised her in the suburbs, she told People magazine.
[3] On November 23, 1973, Wallace defeated 53 competitors at the Royal Albert Hall in London as the first American to be crowned Miss World.
[4] During her time in the UK, she dated celebrities including Welsh singer Tom Jones, Northern Irish football star George Best, and American Indianapolis 500 and Formula One driver Peter Revson, with whom she was reportedly engaged to be married.
This violated Wallace's Miss World contract, which prompted pageant authorities to take away her title on March 7, 1974, 104 days after she was crowned.
"[6] The title was not offered to any of the other contestants, but first runner-up, Evangeline Pascual of the Philippines, pre-empted the decision by declaring she was not interested in the "second-hand crown" and claimed she was already too busy making a movie.
[7] Fifteen days after Wallace was stripped of her crown, Peter Revson was killed in a fiery crash on March 22, 1974, while practicing for the 1974 South African Grand Prix in Johannesburg.
[9] Less than three months after Revson's death, Wallace was rushed to St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital after her sister, Nancy, found her unconscious in her apartment, apparently from an overdose of the sleeping pill Doriden.
"[12] Wallace won television acting roles on some of the top shows of the 1970s, including Baretta with Robert Blake and Get Christie Love!