One and Only Bess Myerson

(Above source: Vimeo video)

Boomers might know Bess Myerson best as a long-time panelist on I’ve Got a Secret (CBS, 1958-1967), but be prepared to meet her as The One and Only Jewish Miss America, a new 51-minute documentary of that title streaming free on Vimeo.

This coming Tuesday, September 8, will mark the 75^th anniversary of Myerson’s achievement, and New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage will mark the occasion at 7 pm ET with an online discussion.

The film’s director/producer David Arond will host  Myerson’s daughter, actor/screenwriter Barra Grant (Love Hurts); Abraham Foxman, director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League; and Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a criminal justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino.

To register for the event, which has a suggested donation of $10 to the museum, visit mjhnyc.org.

The movie covers Myerson’s unexpected participation in the pageant and momentous win just months after the liberation of Nazi death camps, the anti-Semitism she then encountered, including the withdrawal of support from corporate sponsors, and her subsequent work to end such discrimination.  

For more info, visit JewishMissAmerica.com.