Renate Hoy

Renate Anita Huy was voted Miss Nuremberg and then proceeded to win the Miss Germany contest of 1952. Chosen to represent her country to compete for the title of Miss Universe in Long Beach, California, the brunette beauty ended up in fifth place (the eventual winner was the entrant from Finland, Armi Kuusela). However, as a consolation prize, Renate was signed by Universal studios. Along with fellow budding starlets Ruth Hampton (Miss New Jersey) and Jackie Loughery (Miss New York), she attended the Universal-International Talent School and was launched in 1953 in the wake of a studio publicity campaign. Sometimes credited on the screen as Erika Nordin, she appeared in a handful of movies, albeit only in small supporting roles. In January 1953, she married the actor Brett Halsey in Munich. They had two children. Renate divorced Halsey in 1959, quit show biz, and the following year became an American citizen. In 1963, she married the attorney Raymond C. Simpson, an expert in Native American Civil Rights. This union also ended in divorce twelve years later. As Renate Simpson, she has latterly resided in southern California.