Miss Nancy of Bay Area's 'Romper Room' dies at 77
Nancy Besst of San Rafael, who appeared as the Bay Area's original Miss Nancy on the children's television show "Romper Room," died Aug. 14 after a long illness. She was 77.
"For those of us who were born and raised in the San Francisco area during the 1950s and '60s, 'Romper Room' was part of our television culture," said Forrest Patten, who met Miss Besst while organizing a gathering of former Bay Area children's television hosts.
"And for many of us, Miss Nancy Besst will always be the definitive hostess and teacher on the program. She was a female counterpart to Mr. Rogers: gentle and patient, bringing a child-like wonder to her many devoted viewers without being childish."
Born in Canton, Ohio, on May 25, 1934, Miss Besst graduated at the top of her class from that city's McKinley High School and was crowned "Miss Canton" in a beauty pageant. She studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., serving as women's sports editor of The Daily Northwestern at the same time that writer/director Garry Marshall was serving as men's sports editor.
In 1956, Miss Besst applied for a job with "Romper Room," a syndicated television show based in Baltimore and
