Fay Elinora Lanphier (December 12, 1905 – June 21, 1959)[1] 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 in 1925.[2]
Early life
Lanphier was born in El Dorado, California, the eldest child of six born to Percival Caspar Lanphier and Emily Elenora Olson.[3][4] Her family later moved to Alameda, California.[4] Lanphier's father died before she was a teenager.[4] She graduated from Oakland High School in 1924 and was saving money to go to business college.[4] In December 1924, Lanphier signed a contract with Max Graf to star in a series of shorts produced on the San Francisco Peninsula.[4]
Career
Pageantry
She was the 1925 Rose Queen.[5] 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.[6] Before she was Miss California, she was Miss Santa Cruz 1924. Lanphier won Miss America in 1925 on a vote of 12–3.[4]
Film career
Lanphier appeared in the Paramount Pictures film The American Venus (1926) which featured a beauty contest, and co-starred Louise Brooks,[7] and performed for a short time on stage in San Francisco with the Henry Duffy Players.[8]
Personal life
On June 8, 1928, Lanphier married Sidney M. Spiegel, son of Joseph Spiegel, in Chicago.[9] They divorced after six months of marriage.[10][11]
In 1931, she married high-school sweetheart Winfield Daniels, with whom she had two daughters.[12] They remained married until her death in 1959.[13]
Later years and death
After her second marriage, Lanphier largely retired from public life and became a housewife and mother.[13] She lived in the Oakland, California suburb of Orinda until her death from hepatitis and viral pneumonia at age 53 on June 21, 1959.[14][15]
On June 24, 1959, Lanphier was interred at the Outdoor Mausoleum at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.[15]
^"Jesse L. Lasky Tells How "The American Venus" Was Selected At Atlantic City". The Palm Beach Post. October 4, 1925.
^"Radio Technique Is Studied For Remote Control". San Jose News. November 11, 1929. p. 6.
^"Fay Lanphier Weds Sidney Spiegel, Jr". Lancaster Daily Intelligencer Journal. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: LNP Media Group. June 8, 1928. p. 19.
^"Beauty Queen To Wed". Sunday Morning Star. June 10, 1928. p. 23.
^"Fay Lamphier Divorced". San Jose News. March 9, 1929. p. 9.
^"Fay Lanphier Weds Schoolmate". The New York Times. July 22, 1931. p. 19.
^ ab"Fay Lanphier Dies; East Bay Housewife". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California: by San Francisco Media Company LLC. June 23, 1959. p. 3.
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