Vera Miles

Vera Miles (born August 23, 1929) is an American actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic masterpiece Psycho, reprising the role in the 1983 sequel, Psycho II. Her other popular films include The Wrong Man, The Searchers, Follow Me Boys!, Tarzan's Hidden Jungle, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Early life

Miles was born Vera June Ralston in 1929 in Boise City, Oklahoma to Thomas and Burnice (née Wyrick) Ralston. She had three elder siblings.

She grew up first in Pratt, Kansas, and later lived in Wichita, where she worked nights as a Western Union operator-typist and graduated from Wichita North High School in 1947. She was crowned Miss Kansas in 1948 and was the third runner-up in the Miss America contest. When she appeared as a contestant on the April 4, 1951, edition of the Groucho Marx quiz show You Bet Your Life described as "a beauty contest winner", Marx asked her about some of the titles she held. She replied, "I was first Miss Chamber of Commerce and then Miss Wichita and then Miss Kansas and Miss Texas Grapefruit and recently I've been chosen Miss New Maid Margarine and I had the honor to represent Kansas in the Miss America pageant."