Terry Huntingdon


Terry Lynn Huntingdon is an American beauty queen who won Miss USA 1959. She later became a film and TV actress.

Early years

Huntingdon comes from a family of five-generation Californians. She attended Mt. Shasta High School, where she was a majorette and went from there to the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in dance.

Beauty contests

One of Huntingdon's first beauty pageant titles was Miss Mount Shasta in 1954-1955.
After winning the Miss California USA crown, Huntingdon went on to become California's first representative to achieve the title of Miss USA. She is also the first Miss USA to win in her home state.
She was then second runner-up in the Miss Universe 1959 pageant.

Acting

Huntingdon made occasional television and film appearances. In her first television role in 1959 she appeared on Perry Mason as defendant Kitty Wynne in "The Case of the Bartered Bikini." She was a contestant on the television quiz show You Bet Your Life in 1960, hosted by Groucho Marx. She also appeared as Hecuba in the Three Stooges feature film The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.

Paternity suit

Huntingdon was involved in a paternity suit in 1963 as attorney Arthur Crowley denied being the father of Huntingdon's then-year-old daughter. In 1965, California's 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed the Superior Court's verdict, which went in Crowley's favor, and ordered a new trial. In 1966, the California Supreme Court reversed the verdict in which Crowley was absolved, and it ordered a new trial.

Other activities

After leaving acting, Huntingdon worked in a variety of jobs including being a production manager for a women's clothing business, modeling, working in the office of U.S. Senator Alan Cranston, and being a photographer for the Office of Economic Opportunity in the early 1970s.
In 1980, she was appointed to the board of Women's National Bank.

Personal life

On April 19, 1975, Huntingdon married U.S. Senator Joseph Tydings of Maryland, with whom she had a daughter, actress Alexandra Tydings, on December 15, 1972.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1959Miss USA 1959HerselfWinner - Contestant/Representing California State.
1959Miss Universe 1959Herself2nd Runner-up - Contestant/Representing USA.
1959Perry MasonKitty WynneEpisode: "The Case of the Bartered Bikini"
1960The UntouchablesFlo IngallsEpisode: "The Waxey Gordon Story"
1960The Law and Mr. JonesModelEpisode: "No sale"
1961The Adventures of Ozzie & HarrietJoyceEpisode: "The Chaperone"
1962The Three Stooges Meet HerculesHecubaFilm debut
1962Five Finger Exercise Helen

Published works