Mary Ann Edwards

Mary Ann Edwards (December 27, 1931 – July 31, 2021) was an American actress.

Early years Edwards was born on December 27, 1931, in Georgetown Texas, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Edwards. During her high school years, she was a rodeo queen and a majorette.

In 1952, judges in a contest sponsored by Modern Screen Magazine selected her as one of 10 winners in a year-long national contest. She and the other young women were supposed to make their film debuts together in Size 12, an RKO production, but the studio postponed production of the film, enabling her to continue her studies. Back at UT, she acted primarily on radio and won the university's Radio House Best Actress Award. When RKO's production problems were resolved, Edwards appeared in the film Son of Sinbad (1955). She also appeared on Eddie Fisher's, George Gobel's, and Lawrence Welk's TV shows and made commercials. She portrayed Adarene Clinch in the film Giant. She initially was hired to coach actors in the film on how to talk like Texans, but director George Stevens put her in the film instead.

Other accomplishments Edwards was queen of the Williamson County Centennial Rodeo, sweetheart of Wolters Air Force Base, and "Golden Girl", representing Hollywood for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's golden anniversary. She also was named Most Beautiful Cowgirl of the Bandera Stampede and Miss Golden Gloves for Austin. He was a former child actor who became a television executive. They divorced, and in 1963 she married James P. Hart. They remained wed until 2010, when he died. She died on July 31, 2021, in Valencia, California, at the age of 89.