In 1945 Bess Myerson was crowned Miss America but her success did not end there. She went on to become a game show panelist, she fought for various social causes and she acted as an advisor to three presidents.
The world adored Myerson until her death in 2015 at age 90, but underneath the public facade was a complicated relationship with her only daughter, Barra Grant. Now Grant is revisiting those painful memories in a candid interview with Fox News.
"The most challenging memory was what it was like to grow up in her shadow because she cast a very large shadow," the 70-year-old admitted. "I was unprepared to be the daughter of a famous woman."
Grant said she realized that, regardless of "how pretty you get later in life, you retain the memories of what it was like to be a child and not measure up to what your mother looked like. Growing up as her kid was kind of difficult because I was chubby and I had buck teeth and I wasn't very attractive.”
Even now Grant admitted to struggling with feelings of inadequacy when thinking about her mother, who she said was "consumed" with her appearance.
It did not help that she had to see her mother obsess over staying young, even on her death bed.
"My mom was filled with memories and her memories were very powerful because she had been so touted during her whole life and her final years were filled with reminiscing and remembering the times that she was important and special," Grant said.
"She passed away when she was 90, so her very last year, she was very old and kept clinging to who she had been and therefore she fought death, she fought the end. She wanted it to all start again and be who she was."
Part of the reason why Grant has decided to rehash her painful childhood memories is because she is performing in a one-woman show in New York City titled "Miss America’s Ugly Daughter: Bess Myerson & Me."
She is hoping that her story can convey a message of hope and forgiveness.
"The message at the end of the show is about forgiveness," she said. "You can't continue your life with any kind of resentment or wishing it was different. You have to forgive because unless you forgive, you're not free."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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