Dorothy Benham


Dorothy Kathleen Benham is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Edina, Minnesota who was Miss America 1977 and Miss Minnesota 1976.

Early life

Benham was born to Archie and Mary Dorothy Tuomi Benham. She attended Southwest High School in Minneapolis, MN and graduated in 1973. She sang in her high school choir. She has one sister named Totiana and two brothers, named Sean and Archibald.

Personal life

On May 26, 1978, she married Russell Anderson, an American ice hockey defenseman in the NHL who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The couple had four children, Adam, Russell, Ben, and Mia.
On December 31, 1991, she married Michael McGowan with whom she has two children, named Madeline and Richard.
On August 28, 2001, she married Paul Shoemaker. The couple divorced in 2011.

Career

Benham appeared in the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989 and also performed on the Crystal Cathedral television program, Hour of Power.