Phyllis George

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Phyllis George (b. 25 June 1949 in Denton, Texas) is an American businesswoman. She is a former Miss Texas and Miss America of 1971. George attended the University of North Texas until crowned Miss Texas in 1971. At that time, Texas Christian University awarded scholarships to Miss Texas honorees. As a result, Phyllis left UNT and enrolled at TCU for several weeks until winning the Miss America crown later that fall. She has worked as a television host and sportscaster (most notably, CBS' The NFL Today). She hosted a 1979 documentary called, Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown.

George was previously married to Robert Evans and to former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, Jr., with whom she had two children, and served as Kentucky's first lady. She is also the author of several books. George was the founder of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft and is an avid folk and traditional arts collector.

On January 28, 2007, reporter Howard Fineman said on The Chris Matthews Show that George had moved back to Kentucky and was considering entering politics with either a run for governor in 2007 or a Senate race against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2008.

[edit] CBS Morning News

Main article: The Early Show

In 1985, CBS settled on Phyllis George to serve as a permanent anchor for their morning news program. George was given a three-year contract following a two-week trial run. Phyllis George eventually left CBS later that year.

[edit] Business Interests

George has founded two companies in her business career. The first of which was Chicken By George which revolutionized the retail chicken industry in the 1980s. In the mid 1990s George sold the company to consumer giant Hormel Foods. In 2003 George created Phyllis George Beauty which markets a line of cosmetics and skincare through television shopping network HSN.