Elizabeth Gracen
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Ward Gracen is an American
actress who won the title of Miss America
in 1982. She was born Elizabeth Grace Ward but should not be confused with another Elizabeth Ward who worked as a television actress during the first half of the 1980s.
, and raised in Booneville, Arkansas
, U.S.
, the daughter of Jimmy Young Ward and Patricia "Pat" (Murphy) Ward. She later moved to Russellville, Arkansas with her family, where she graduated from Russellville high school in 1979. She won the titles of Miss Arkansas
in 1981 and Miss America
in 1982. She used her Miss America scholarship money to study acting at HB Studios in New York City
before moving to Hollywood to pursue a film and television career. During this time, Gracen says she had a one-night stand with future President Bill Clinton
. She posed nude for Playboy
magazine's May 1992 issue.
She built an acting career, and in 1989, while filming Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat
, she met actor Brendan Hughes and they married soon after. The couple divorced in 1994. Before that she was married to Jon Birmingham. Gracen gave birth to a daughter, Quinlan Murphy, on July 28, 2005.
She made her professional feature film debut in Three For The Road with Charlie Sheen
. Her film credits also include a featured role in Marked For Death opposite Steven Seagal
, Pass The Ammo with Tim Curry
, and the CBS feature 83 Hours Till Dawn with Peter Strauss
and Robert Urich
. Gracen starred in Lower Level and Discretion Assured with Michael York
.
On television, Gracen has appeared in Shelley Duvall
's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Sidney Sheldon
's The Sands of Time and Death of the Incredible Hulk. She also appeared with a starring role in the series Extreme for NBC and the syndicated series Renegade
and Queen of Swords.
Elizabeth Gracen's best-known acting role has been as the character of the Immortal Amanda
in the series Highlander: The Series
, and its spin-off from that character, Highlander: The Raven
.
She made her directing debut with a documentary short feature called The Damn Deal. The film is an intimate portrait of three young drag queens from her home state who compete in female impersonator beauty pageants.
She also has a cooking show in development with Contessa Ippolita Douglas Scotti di Vigoleno. Gracen also hosts tours to Tuscany
and is currently putting together a number of tour offerings to venues as diverse as Venice
, Napa Valley and a dude ranch in Wyoming
. She also offers classes in the Fan Kata
technique showcased on Highlander: The Raven. Gracen has recently starred in a commercial for match.com and in the film Interceptor Force 2.
At first, Gracen dismissed this claim. In Spring 1998 Gracen recanted her six-year-old denial and stated she had a one night stand with Clinton in 1982.
After claiming this, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr
, who was investigating Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit
, issued a subpoena
to have her testify her claim in court.
Gracen, however, continuously eluded the subpoena and was at one point able to avoid it by filming Highlander: The Raven
overseas.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress who won the title of Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
in 1982. She was born Elizabeth Grace Ward but should not be confused with another Elizabeth Ward who worked as a television actress during the first half of the 1980s.
Early life, beauty and acting careers
She was born on April 3, 1961 in Ozark, ArkansasOzark, Arkansas
Ozark is a city in Franklin County, Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Franklin County. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,525 at the 2000 census, making Ozark the ninth largest municipality in the metro area...
, and raised in Booneville, Arkansas
Booneville, Arkansas
Booneville is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat of its southern district. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 4,082....
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the daughter of Jimmy Young Ward and Patricia "Pat" (Murphy) Ward. She later moved to Russellville, Arkansas with her family, where she graduated from Russellville high school in 1979. She won the titles of Miss Arkansas
Miss Arkansas
The Miss Arkansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss America pageant. Arkansas has twice won the Miss America title.-Results summary:...
in 1981 and Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
in 1982. She used her Miss America scholarship money to study acting at HB Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
before moving to Hollywood to pursue a film and television career. During this time, Gracen says she had a one-night stand with future President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. She posed nude for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine's May 1992 issue.
She built an acting career, and in 1989, while filming Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat
Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat is a Western horror/comedy directed by Anthony Hickox, and written by John Burgess and Anthony Hickox. Filmed in and around Moab, Utah, in 1988, Sundown was Vestron Pictures' last film and it was never released to theaters. Its only public screenings were at film...
, she met actor Brendan Hughes and they married soon after. The couple divorced in 1994. Before that she was married to Jon Birmingham. Gracen gave birth to a daughter, Quinlan Murphy, on July 28, 2005.
She made her professional feature film debut in Three For The Road with Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
. Her film credits also include a featured role in Marked For Death opposite Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
, Pass The Ammo with Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
, and the CBS feature 83 Hours Till Dawn with Peter Strauss
Peter Strauss
Peter Strauss is an American television and movie actor, known for his roles in several television miniseries in the 1970s and 1980s.-Personal life:...
and Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
. Gracen starred in Lower Level and Discretion Assured with Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
.
On television, Gracen has appeared in Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Alexis Duvall is an American film and television actress best known for her roles in The Shining, Popeye, Thieves Like Us and 3 Women....
's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...
's The Sands of Time and Death of the Incredible Hulk. She also appeared with a starring role in the series Extreme for NBC and the syndicated series Renegade
Renegade (TV series)
Renegade is an American television series that ran for 110 episodes spanning 5 seasons between September 19, 1992 and April 4, 1997.The series stars Lorenzo Lamas as Reno Raines, a police officer who is framed for a murder he didn't commit. Raines goes on the run and joins forces with Native...
and Queen of Swords.
Elizabeth Gracen's best-known acting role has been as the character of the Immortal Amanda
Amanda (Highlander)
Amanda is a fictional character in the television series Highlander: The Series and Highlander: The Raven, portrayed by actress Elizabeth Gracen. She is one of the Immortals, immune to old age and death except by beheading...
in the series Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
, and its spin-off from that character, Highlander: The Raven
Highlander: The Raven
Highlander: The Raven was a short-lived spin-off from the television series Highlander, continuing the saga of a female Immortal. The series followed the character of Amanda , an Immortal who had a recurring role in Highlander: The Series...
.
She made her directing debut with a documentary short feature called The Damn Deal. The film is an intimate portrait of three young drag queens from her home state who compete in female impersonator beauty pageants.
She also has a cooking show in development with Contessa Ippolita Douglas Scotti di Vigoleno. Gracen also hosts tours to Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and is currently putting together a number of tour offerings to venues as diverse as Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Napa Valley and a dude ranch in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. She also offers classes in the Fan Kata
Tessenjutsu
is the martial art of the Japanese war fan, tessen. It is based on the use of the iron folding fan, which usually had eight or ten ribs. The use of the war fan in combat is mentioned in early Japanese legends. For example, Yoshitsune, a hero of Japanese legend, is said to have defeated an opponent...
technique showcased on Highlander: The Raven. Gracen has recently starred in a commercial for match.com and in the film Interceptor Force 2.
Claim of affair with US President Bill Clinton
In 1992, rumors swirled that Gracen had an affair with Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.At first, Gracen dismissed this claim. In Spring 1998 Gracen recanted her six-year-old denial and stated she had a one night stand with Clinton in 1982.
After claiming this, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
, who was investigating Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit
Clinton v. Jones
Clinton v. Jones, , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case establishing that a sitting President of the United States has no immunity from civil law litigation against him, for acts done before taking office and unrelated to the office....
, issued a subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
to have her testify her claim in court.
Gracen, however, continuously eluded the subpoena and was at one point able to avoid it by filming Highlander: The Raven
Highlander: The Raven
Highlander: The Raven was a short-lived spin-off from the television series Highlander, continuing the saga of a female Immortal. The series followed the character of Amanda , an Immortal who had a recurring role in Highlander: The Series...
overseas.
Bankruptcy
In December of 1999, due to her poor financial state, Gracen filed for bankruptcy protection.Filmography
- Interceptor Force 2Interceptor Force 2 (movie)Interceptor Force 2 is a 2002 Sci-Fi TV movie directed by Phillip J. Roth, starring Olivier Gruner, Roger R. Cross. Government-trained soldiers called The Interceptors are assigned to look at a crash site of an alien spacecraft in Russia where they find a alien that can change shapes.-Plot:Night...
(2002) (TV) - Adriana Sikes - Queen of Swords (2000) TV episode "Counterfeit Queen"
- Highlander: The RavenHighlander: The RavenHighlander: The Raven was a short-lived spin-off from the television series Highlander, continuing the saga of a female Immortal. The series followed the character of Amanda , an Immortal who had a recurring role in Highlander: The Series...
(1998) TV Series - Amanda (1998–1999) - KounterfeitKounterfeitKounterfeit is a 1996 American crime/thriller film starring Bruce Payne and Hilary Swank. Kounterfeit was directed by John Mallory Asher and written by David Chase, Katherine Fugate and Jay Irwin.-Plot summary:...
(1996) - Bridgette - ExtremeExtreme (TV series)Extreme was an action adventure series starring James Brolin and centered around a Rocky Mountains search and rescue operation.Debuting on ABC on January 29, 1995, Extreme was the lead-out program which followed the network's coverage of Super Bowl XXIX. After its low-rated premiere the network put...
(1995) TV Series - Callie Manners (1995) - The ExpertThe Expert (1995 film)The Expert is a 1995 action film about an ex-special forces trainer who decides to exact revenge on the murderer of his sister after his death sentence is commuted...
(1995) - Liz Pierce - Highlander: The SeriesHighlander: The SeriesHighlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
(1992) TV Series - Amanda (1993–1998) - Discretion Assured (1993) - Miranda
- Final Mission (1993) (V) - Caitlin Cole
- The Sands of Time (1992) (TV)
- Lower Level (1992) (V) - Hillary
- Sundown: The Vampire in RetreatSundown: The Vampire in RetreatSundown: The Vampire in Retreat is a Western horror/comedy directed by Anthony Hickox, and written by John Burgess and Anthony Hickox. Filmed in and around Moab, Utah, in 1988, Sundown was Vestron Pictures' last film and it was never released to theaters. Its only public screenings were at film...
(1991) - Alice - 83 Hours 'Til Dawn (1990) (TV) - Maria Ranfield
- Marked for DeathMarked for DeathMarked for Death is a 1990 action film directed by Dwight H. Little. It stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter. Upon moving back to his home town, Hatcher finds it taken over by a gang of vicious Jamaican drug dealers, led by Screwface.The film is widely considered by...
(1990) - Melissa - The Death of the Incredible HulkThe Death of the Incredible HulkThe Death of the Incredible Hulk is a 1990 made-for-television film, the last of three revival TV movies from the 1977–1982 television show The Incredible Hulk. Bill Bixby reprises his role as Dr. David Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno returns to play the Hulk...
(1990) (TV) - Jasmin - LisaLisa (film)Lisa is a film made in 1989 about a serial killer-stalker who rapes women then kills them.-Plot:Fourteen-year-old Lisa Holland lives with her mother Katherine in Venice Beach, California. Lisa is beginning to show a keen interest in boys but is not allowed to date due to her mother’s strict rule...
(1989) - Mary - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1989) (TV)
- Pass the AmmoPass the AmmoPass the Ammo is a 1988 film starring Bill Paxton, Annie Potts, and Tim Curry. The film is a spoof of televangelism released right after the real-life Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. The movie's working title during production, "...And Pass the Ammunition," references the phrase "praise...
(1988) - Christie Lynn - Three for the RoadThree for the RoadThree For the Road is a 1987 road trip themed comedy starring Charlie Sheen, Alan Ruck, Kerri Green, Sally Kellerman and Blair Tefkin.-Plot:...
(1987) - Nadine