EX-PAGEANT PRINCESS WHO ACTED WITH MEL BROOKS AND JAMES VAN DER BEEK STEPS OUT WITH HER HUSBAND
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This woman first found fame as a pageant princess, winning the title of Miss Florida USA 1975 and landing third runner-up in the 1975 Miss USA competition.
The 72-year-old brunette went on to carve out an acting career, appearing in eighties staples The Dukes of Hazzard, The Love Boat, The A-Team, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider and T.J. Hooker.
But the Florida-born New Yorker's career wasn't truly launched until the nineties, do you know who she is?
It's Mary-Margaret Humes, who famously portrayed Dawson Leery's (James Van Der Beek) controversial restaurateur mother Gale in the popular teen soap Dawson's Creek, which aired for six seasons spanning 1998-2003 on The WB.
The Celebrity Weakest Link contestant dressed down in jeans to take a stroll through a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California with her husband of 33 years, Raul A. Bruce, in a rare couple's sighting.
'Don't marry someone you can live with,' Humes wrote on Instagram in 2021.
'Marry someone you can't live without.'
The retired boom operator probably has incredible Hollywood stories considering he worked on films like Spider-Man 2, Something's Gotta Give, Can't Hardly Wait, Starship Troopers, The Birdcage, Showgirls, Hook, St. Elmo's Fire, Ghostbusters, The Big Chill, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Annie and Stripes.
Humes originally met Bruce on the set of Mel Brooks' 1981 comedy History of the World, Part I, in which she made her big-screen debut as 'vestal virgin' Miriam.
On April 4, the dance enthusiast reunited with Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson at her birthday party, writing: 'So grateful to have these amazing friends show up to celebrate my birthday last night. Love you so much!'
Humes is still mourning the loss of her beloved onscreen son who tragically passed away, at age 48, on February 11 after a two-year battle with stage III colorectal cancer.
In honor of Van Der Beek's posthumous 49th birthday on March 8, the 5ft 5in brunette shared snaps of herself posing with his family captioned: 'You are never more than a thought away. Happy birthday, James.'
Humes - who battled colon cancer herself in 2007 - had multiple 'uplifting and spiritual' conversations with The Gates actor before his shock passing.
'It could've been a terrible situation, but we caught it in time,' the avid equestrian recalled to Us Weekly last September.
'My doctor said we dodged a bullet, and it was all because of early detection. Cancers are survivable, but go out and get screened.'
On September 22, Humes helped raise money for F*** Cancer by taking part in the sold out Dawson's Creek Class Reunion at the Richard Rodgers Theater in Manhattan organized by Van Der Beek, who sadly could not attend due to his ailing health.
Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe, and Busy Philipps also hosted the live reading of the 1998 pilot episode.
Read more 2026-05-06T17:28:55Z
