Cloris Leachman was born in Des Moines, Iowa April 30. 1926. As a teenager she started acting in local plays and after high school went to Northwestern University where she was classmates with Paul Lynde and Charlotte Rae. She competed in 1he 1946 Miss America contest, placing in the top 16, and after that started getting offers for television and film parts. Her movie debut was in the film noir Kiss Me Deadly in 1955.