Although not quite reaching the high-profile of other ‘70s beauties such as Cheryl Tiegs or Farrah Fawcett, Susan Anton managed to find success in several different areas of entertainment. Born on October 10, 1950, Anton was raised on an apple ranch in Oak Glenn, California, where she displayed an interest and talent for music at an early age. On a dare from a boyfriend, she began to enter beauty pageants while in high school and was successful enough to remain encouraged, eventually leading to her being crowned Miss California in 1969 and becoming second runner-up to Miss America the following year. Scuttling her plans to study child psychology, Anton headed to Pasadena, where she spent several years in dead-end jobs as she pursued a career in entertainment. Her break came when she assumed the role of Muriel Cigar Girl from singer Edie Adams, attracting national attention for her commercial appearances which led to television guest spots and the opportunity to replace Candice Bergen in the Tony-nominated Hurleyburley. She was given the chance to host her own television variety series, Presenting Susan Anton, in the late ‘70s and appeared in a number of movies, most notably Goldengirl, with her playing the title character. It was only a matter of time before she landed a record deal and, when she did, she managed to score a hit the first time out, singing a duet with Fred Knoblock on "Killing Time," which hit the Top Ten on the country charts and crossed over to become a Top 40 pop hit. Although Anton would not maintain such a level of recognition in the next two decades, she continued to stay busy and released One Night, a live collection of well-known, rock, pop, and blues songs, in 2000 to solid reviews. ~ Tom Demalon, Rovi
