This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(September 2024)
Elizabeth Ward Gracen (born Elizabeth Grace Ward, April 3, 1961) is an American actress and beauty pageant contestant who won the title of Miss America in 1982.
Early life and education
Elizabeth Grace Ward was born on April 3, 1961, in Ozark, Arkansas, the daughter of Patricia Hampe, a nurse, and Jimmy Young Ward, a poultry worker. She was raised in Booneville, Arkansas. The family later moved to Russellville, Arkansas, where Ward dated University of Arkansas trainer Mike Walker and graduated from Russellville High School in 1979.[1] She was a junior accounting major at Arkansas Tech University at the time she entered the Miss America contest.[2] Instead of returning to Arkansas Tech, she used her Miss America scholarship money to study acting at HB Studios in New York City.
Gracen won the titles of Miss Arkansas in 1981 and Miss America in 1982. After her yearlong work as Miss America, she enrolled in acting classes then relocated to California to pursue a film and television career.
Gracen posed nude for Playboy magazine's May 1992 issue.[3]
Gracen, speaking about writing at TusCon 43 in Tucson, Arizona (2016)
In December 1999,[4] Gracen filed for bankruptcy protection.[4] After few television guest roles, and a supporting role in the made-for-television movie Interceptor Force 2, she took a long leave of absence from acting, beginning in 2002. Gracen began doing voiceover work for Blue Hours Productions, which has revived the classic radio anthology Suspense, which airs on Sirius XM. In 2012, Gracen did a character voice-over in the Malaysian animated science fiction film War of the Worlds: Goliath.
Directing, producing, and writing
In 2012, Gracen formed Flapper Films.[5] In 2014, she starred in Coherence, a sci-fi indie thriller.[6] In January 2016, Gracen established Flapper Press and self-published Shalilly, a young adult fantasy novel.[7]
Gracen made her directorial debut with a documentaryshort, "The Damn Deal," about three young drag queens from Arkansas who compete in female impersonator beauty pageants.
Personal life
Marriages and family
Gracen married Jon Birmingham in 1982, and they divorced in 1984.[citation needed]
In 1989, while filming Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, she met actor Brendan Hughes, and they married soon after.[8] They divorced in 1994.
Gracen married Adam Murphy, and they have a daughter.[citation needed]
In 1992, rumors swirled that Gracen had had an affair with Clinton.[11] At first, Gracen dismissed this claim (as requested by Clinton's campaign manager Mickey Kantor);[9] however, in spring 1998 Gracen recanted her six-year-old denial and stated she had a one-night stand with Clinton in 1983.[4] Gracen stated that "What I did was wrong, and I feel very, very bad about it now. My behavior was inappropriate -- that's just the bottom line" and publicly apologized to Hillary Clinton.[12]
After her claim, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who was investigating Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit, issued a subpoena to have her testify to her claim in court.[13] However, Gracen eluded the subpoena[13] and was at one point able to avoid it because Highlander: The Raven was being filmed outside of the US.[4]Paula Jones's legal team was also unable to track down Gracen because she had made unscheduled trips to Las Vegas and the Caribbean.[13]
.jpg)
