Leona Gage Dies At 71
By Naiwrita Sinha, Gaea News NetworkSunday, October 10, 2010
LOS ANGELES (GaeaTimes.com)- Leona Gage died at the age of 71 on Tuesday, due to heart failure while hospitalized at a Sherman Oaks hospital. Leona Gage came in the limelight in 1957 when she won the title of Miss USA while representing the state of Maryland. However, next day she was stripped off her title when pageant officials learnt that she was married and a mother of two. They also discovered that she had lied about her age, which she said was 21 while being 18 at that time. The above reasons were more than enough to have her disqualified in the contest, as a result she was stripped off the title the very next day.
Leona Gage had reportedly told reporters after winning the beauty contest that she did not have a boyfriend, and wants to wait until she is 26, before becoming seriously interested in the opposite sex. Later on when she spoke about the incident, she said that she was used to keeping secrets and had hidden her first pregnancy from her mother as long as possible. She had already been married twice by that time, though the first marriage had only lasted for a week. The scandal though brought her many opportunities which she capitalized on, and appeared on many shows.
Leona Gage’s ambition to become successful as an actress did not work out well. The later half of her life was full of difficulties and involved six failed marriages, drug abuse and suicide attempts. Her son Robert Kaminer said that she was proud to see her five children do well in their lives. Leona Gage is survived by three sons.
