Dorothy Johnson obit

Dorothy Mae Johnson (Papadakos) (White) Stevens obituary

 

She was not on the list.

Ormond Beach, FL – Dorothy Mae Stevens of Daytona Beach, FL passed away on April 7, 2022, in view of her beloved Atlantic Ocean at the age of 85. Born in 1936, Dorothy Mae was the youngest of two daughters of Borghild and Gustaf Johnson of Superior, Wisconsin. When she was 5, the family headed west on the Lewis and Clark Trail to Oregon in a two-door Ford pickup truck. She would say this was their modern version of a covered wagon. In Garden Home, Oregon Gust took over a Texaco Gas Station where Dorothy Mae grew up pumping gas while her mother ran the office and taught second grade.

Her modeling and beauty career began in 8th grade when she became a Junior model for Jantzen swimsuits. In her junior year at Beaverton High School, she was elected Spring Reign Queen and shortly after graduation she was chosen Miss Beaverton 1955 and went on to win the 1955 Miss Oregon Pageant. She was chaperoned by her mother at the 1956 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, notable as the first year the pageant was broadcast live on national television; the first year Bert Parks was emcee; and the first year Parks sang his iconic song, “There She is, Miss America”. In the Miss America Talent Competition, Dorothy Mae performed Lady Macbeth’s “Sleepwalking Scene” from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Hers was the only Talent performance to be televised and would help her win First Runner-Up to Miss America, the best finish for an Oregon contestant until Katie Harman won Miss America in 2002.

Dorothy Mae would say that her proudest achievement was being named “Miss Leatherneck” by the US Marine Corps in 1956 after she traveled promoting the Marines. To this day she remains the only Miss Leatherneck in the Corps’ 246 year history.

The Miss America Scholarship Program enabled Dorothy Mae to study at the America Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC which she left after one year to pursue movie offers in Hollywood. Her film credits include “The Joker is Wild” (1957), “Bernardine” (1957, Pat Boone’s first Hollywood film), “Summer Love” (1958), “Life Begins at 17” (1958), “The Littlest Hobo” (1958) and “The Flying Fontaines” (1959). Her TV credits included regular appearances on the “Bob Cummings Show” and “Bat Masterson” with Gene Barry. In March 1958, Dorothy Mae and her mother accompanied Conrad Hilton to Cuba for the opening of the Havana Hilton Hotel just four months before Castro came to power.

Johnson appeared in two sketches with Jerry Lewis on his Father's Day NBC live television Color Carnival special broadcast Saturday June 8, 1957. In the first sketch she plays a member of the studio audience interviewed and kissed by Jerry Lewis. In the second comedy sketch The Olive Thief, she is the wife of a murdered man as Jerry Lewis' character attempts to solve the mystery. The 60-minute program was performed live and broadcast nationally from Hollywood in color at the time but only black and white copies of this program are still known to exist.

Johnson appeared as a contestant on the Groucho Marx national broadcast television game show You Bet Your Life filmed in Hollywood on May 30, 1957. She answered questions in the music category, won $500 and a kiss from Groucho Marx.

In 1959 Dorothy Mae met her future husband Peter James Papadakos, founder of Gyrodyne Helicopter Company on Long Island, NY with whom she had three children: Dorothy Jean, Peter and Athena. In 1969, Dorothy Mae and her children relocated to Reno, Nevada where she married Dr. Paul L. White, an Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Emergency Room physician who co-founded Planned Parenthood of Northern Nevada. She and Paul welcomed her fourth child, Andrew. Her 3rd husband, George Stevens, a retired Marine of Grand Prairie, TX passed away in 2002 and Dorothy Mae returned to Florida where she was active as a nurse practitioner and senior ombudsman while still answering movie fan mail well into her 80’s.

Dorothy Mae is survived by her children Dorothy Jean Papadakos (Tracy), Peter P. Papadakos (Barbara), Athena P. Papadakos (Scott) and Andrew J. White and grandchildren Alexander (Suzanne), Mitchell, Morgan and Maxfield. A private family service was held on April 15 in Florida with committal to follow in Oregon.

Donations in Dorothy Mae’s name can be made to the American Cancer Society.

 

Actress

Overland Trail (1960)

Overland Trail

7.4

TV Series

Saloon Girl

1960

1 episode

 

Andrew Duggan, Arlene Howell, Richard Long, and Van Williams in Bourbon Street Beat (1959)

Bourbon Street Beat

7.8

TV Series

Donna Lou Edison

1960

1 episode

 

Bat Masterson (1958)

Bat Masterson

7.3

TV Series

Claire Cantrell

1960

1 episode

 

Joan Evans, Jeanne Manet, Evy Norlund, Roger Perry, and John Van Dreelen in The Flying Fontaines (1959)

The Flying Fontaines

5.5

Sally

1959

 

The Bob Cummings Show (1955)

The Bob Cummings Show

7.7

TV Series

Harriet WyleThe Model

1958–1959

5 episodes

 

Mark Damon and Dorothy Johnson in Life Begins at 17 (1958)

Life Begins at 17

6.3

Elaine Peck

1958

 

Buddy Joe Hooker, London, Wendy Stuart, and Fleecie in The Littlest Hobo (1958)

The Littlest Hobo

6.6

Sister Ophelia

1958

 

Tristram Coffin in 26 Men (1957)

26 Men

7.3

TV Series

Mrs. NorwoodGirl #1

1957–1958

2 episodes

 

Frank Sinatra, Jeanne Crain, and Mitzi Gaynor in The Joker Is Wild (1957)

The Joker Is Wild

7.0

Nightclub Patron (uncredited)

1957

 

Man Against Crime (1949)

Man Against Crime

7.2

TV Series

1952

1 episode

 

Aladdin and His Lamp (1952)

Aladdin and His Lamp

5.6

Dancing Girl (uncredited)

1952