Gracen posed nude for Playboy magazine's May 1992 issue.
After her yearlong work as Miss America, she enrolled in acting classes then relocated to California to pursue a film and television career. Gracen won the titles of Miss Arkansas in 1981 and Miss America in 1982. Instead of returning to Arkansas Tech, she used her Miss America scholarship money to study acting at HB Studios in New York City.Ĭareer Pageants and modeling She was a junior accounting major at Arkansas Tech University at the time she entered the Miss America contest. The family later moved to Russellville, Arkansas, where Ward dated University of Arkansas trainer Mike Walker and graduated from Russellville High School in 1979. Elizabeth Ward Gracen (born Elizabeth Grace Ward, April 3, 1961) is an American actress and beauty pageant contestant who won the title of Miss America in 1982.Įlizabeth Grace Ward was born on April 3, 1961, in Ozark, Arkansas, the daughter of Patricia Hampe, a nurse, and Jimmy Young Ward, a poultry worker.
