Miss America 1946
Date	September 7, 1946
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Entrants	50
Placements	16
Winner	Marilyn Buferd  California
← 1945 1947 →

Miss America 1946, the 20th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1946.^[1]

The winner, Marilyn Buferd, later became an actress, as did fourth runner-up Carol Ohmart and one of the 16 finalists, future Oscar and Emmy Award winner Cloris Leachman.

Results

Placements

Awards

Preliminary awards

Other awards

Contestants

Title	Name	Hometown	Age	Talent	Placement	Awards	Notes
Alabama	Emma Dale Nunnally					Preliminary Talent Award
Arkansas	Rebecca McCall	Blytheville		Vocal, "Put the Blame on Mame"	1st Runner-up	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award
Atlanta	Janey Miller	Atlanta		Classical Vocal, "Vissi d'arte"	2nd Runner-up	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Preliminary Talent Award
Baltimore	Virginia Martin	Baltimore
Baton Rouge	Marguerite McClelland	Baton Rouge		Classical Vocal, "Frühlingsstimmen"	3rd Runner-up
Birmingham	Sue Donegan	Birmingham
Boston	Paula C. Jerome	Boston
California	Marilyn Buferd	Los Angeles	21	Dramatic Monologue from Accent on Youth	Winner	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award
Chicago	Cloris Leachman	Chicago		Comic Sketch, "One Man Radio Program"	Top 16		Later an Oscar and Emmy Award winning actress
Cincinnati	LaVonne Bond	Cincinnati		Vocal, "Thine Alone" from Eileen	Top 16
Cleveland	Mary Eileen Kelly	Cleveland
Colorado	Raye Donnelly	Colorado Springs
Columbus	Mary Lou Henderson	Columbus
Connecticut	Joan Turner	West Haven		Vocal, "Coax Me a Little Bit"	Top 16
Detroit	Constance Liddicoat	Detroit
District of Columbia	Jeanne Carlson		19	Vocal, "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly"
Florida	Jacquelyn Jennings	Miami		Pantomime, "Just a Square in a Social Circle"	Top 16
Greater Philadelphia	Virginia Brown	Philadelphia
Illinois	Patricia Frye	Pekin		Vocal/Tap Dance, "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do"	Top 16
Indiana	Lois Chitwood	Helmsburg		Piano & Speech
Iowa	Jacqueline Means	Des Moines	19	Acrobatic Dance
Kansas	Joyce Blakemore	Liberal
Kansas City	Nadine LaVerne Fugett	Kansas City
Kentucky	Mary Madonna Smith	Jenkins
Louisville	Patricia Alden Fenton	Louisville		Artistic Exhibition & Sketch	Top 16
Maryland	Dorothy Crockett	Baltimore		Original Poetry Recitiation
Massachusetts	Urania "Rae" Nichols	Malden
Miami Beach	Jini Boyd	Miami
Michigan	Ruth Margaret Lenfestey	New Baltimore	20
Minnesota	Rosemarie Gregg	St. Paul
Mississippi	Lennie Nobles	Greenwood		Dance		Non-finalist Talent Award Best Dancer Award	Later Known as Josephine Nobles Giacketti
Nebraska	Marjorie Ann Hanson	Omaha
New Jersey	Helen Sprinitis	Kearny
New Mexico	Martha Cooper	Albuquerque		Speech, "Career as a Newspaper Reporter"
New Orleans	Joyce Josephine Frink	New Orleans
New York	Violet Mellar	White Plains		Recitation "True to the End"	Top 16	Miss Congeniality
New York City	Eileen Henry	New York City		Dramatic Monologue from Saint Joan	Top 16	Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award
North Carolina	Trudy Riley	Wilson
Pennsylvania	Eleanor Kramer	Lebanon		Vocal, "My Hero" from The Chocolate Soldier	Top 16	Preliminary Talent Award
Rhode Island	Marilyn Tripp	Westenly
South Carolina	Anne Mae Morse
Tennessee	Wilda Bowman	Chattanooga
Texas	D. Anne Wisener	University Park		Vocal, "Embraceable You"
Utah	Armelia Carol Ohmart	Salt Lake City		Vocal, "I Won't Tell a Soul"	4th Runner-up		Later a well-known film & TV actress
Vermont	Lola Sundberg	Burlington
Virginia	Bette Cannon	Alexandria		Monologue, "The Waltz" by Dorothy Parker
West Virginia	Norma Lee Salisbury	Parkersburg			Top 16
Wisconsin	Antoine Lunde	Milwaukee/Westby	20		Top 16