Leona Gage | Lost pageant crown, 71

Leona Gage, 71, who in 1957 was named Miss USA but had the title stripped the next day when pageant officials learned she was married and a mother of two, has died in Los Angeles, her son said Saturday.

Ms. Gage died of heart failure Tuesday after spending several weeks at a Sherman Oaks hospital, son Robert Kaminer said.

Born Mary Leona Gage in Texas, she appeared as Miss Maryland USA in the competition in Long Beach, Calif. Her pageant scandal probably brought her more notice than if she had kept the crown.

She also lied about her age - telling pageant officials she was 21 when she was 18. She told reporters after winning that she didn't even have a boyfriend. "I want to wait until I'm 26 before I become seriously interested in the opposite sex," she said, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Just a day later her story was exposed. She already had been married twice, both times at age 14 - the first was quickly annulled - and had her second child at 16, all forbidden for the resumé of a pageant contestant.

Ms. Gage said she was used to such secrets. She had hidden her first pregnancy from her strict Baptist mother for as long as she could.

Ms. Gage took advantage of the attention that came with the lost tiara and made many television appearances, including a highly rated appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

She had a difficult life in subsequent decades: She had six failed marriages, lost custody of her five children, two of whom died before her, abused drugs, and made suicide attempts. - AP