Dorothy Benham

Dorothy Kathleen Benham (born December 11, 1955) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Edina, Minnesota, who was Miss America 1977 and Miss Minnesota 1976.

Early life

Dorothy 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.

Benham currently lives in Edina, Minnesota.

Personal life

On May 26, 1978, she married her first husband Russell Anderson, an American ice hockey defenseman in the NHL who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, with whom she has 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. Benham is now divorced from Shoemaker.

Career

Benham has appeared in Broadway musicals, and regularly performs on the Crystal Cathedral television program, Hour of Power.