Jackie Loughery Dies: First Miss USA, Abbott and Costello Co-Star & Early Johnny Carson Sidekick Was 93

Greg Evans
·2 min read
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Jackie Loughery, the first Miss USA who segued from the pageant world to a career in film and television in the 1950s and ’60s, died Friday in Los Angeles. She was 93.

Her death was announced on social media pages of the Miss USA organization.

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“It is with great sorrow that we share the news of Jackie Loughery’s passing, a pioneer who made history as the First Ever Miss USA in 1952,” the organization wrote. “Jackie Loughery will always be remembered as a trailblazer in the world of beauty pageants. Her grace, poise, and intelligence captivated audiences and paved the way for future generations of women to shine on the stage.”

Following her news-making pageant win in 1952, Loughery had small or uncredited roles in several films and series before appearing as a beautiful alien in 1953’s Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. Also that year, she had credited roles in Take Me to Town and The Veils of Bagdad.

The following year brought a recurring role in the TV legal drama Mr. District Attorney. Also that year, she became the on-air assistant to Johnny Carson in the future talk host’s first (and very short-lived) game show, Earn Your Vacation.

Jackie Loughery with Johnny Carson, ‘Earn Your Vacation’ (1954)
Jackie Loughery with Johnny Carson, ‘Earn Your Vacation’ (1954)

Subsequent roles during the ’50s included films (Son of Sinbad, The Naked Street) and TV (Damon Runyon Theater, The Cisco Kid), with her highest profile role of the period arriving with 1956’s Jerry Lewis-Dean Martin comedy Western Pardners.

In 1957, Loughery co-starred in the military drama The D.I., starring Jack Webb as a tough-guy drill instructor. Loughery would marry Webb the following year, her first marriage and his third. They divorced in 1964.

Loughery’s other credits include the 1955-56 Western series Judge Roy Bean, Wagon Train, Burke’s Law, Perry Mason, Bonanza, F Troop and, her final onscreen appearance, Marcus Welby, M.D.

Born April 18, 1930, in Brooklyn, Loughery attended New York’s St. Francis Xavier Academy for Young Ladies before entering and winning the first Miss USA pageant in California. Her second marriage, to businessman Jack William Schwietzer, lasted from 1969 until his death in 2009.

Information on survivors was not immediately available.

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