Television actor, former Miss America host Gary Collins dies at 74 in Mississippi

BILOXI, Miss. – Gary Collins, an actor, television show host and former master of ceremonies for the Miss America Pageant, has died. He was 74.

Collins, a resident of Biloxi, Miss., died of natural causes just before 1 a.m. Saturday after he was brought to Biloxi Regional Medical Center, according to Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove.

During the 1980s, Collins hosted the Miss America pageant and TV’s “Hour Magazine.”

As an actor he appeared in numerous movies and TV shows dating back to the 1960s. He was a cast member of the series “The Wackiest Ship in the Army” in the 1960s, and the star of the series “The Sixth Sense” in the 1970s.

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