Actor, TV host Gary Collins dies at 74

BILOXI, Mississippi (AP) - Gary Collins, an actor, television show host and former master of ceremonies for the Miss America Pageant, died on Saturday, authorities said. He was 74.

Collins, a resident of Biloxi, Mississippi, died of natural causes just before 1am (2pm, Singapore time) on Saturday after he was admitted Friday evening to Biloxi Regional Medical Centre, according to Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove.

During the 1980s, Collins hosted the Miss America beauty pageant and the television shows Hour Magazine - for which he won a Daytime Emmy in 1983 - and The Home Show.

As an actor, he appeared in numerous movies and was a fixture on television in the 1960s and 1970s, playing a variety of guest roles in dramas and comedies, including Perry Mason, The Love Boat and Ironside, among others.