Resources & Scholarships in Theatre and Film

Eligibility

• Full-time student
• Theatre major
• Entering freshman

Application

• Audition through Department Open House

About Mary Ann Mobley Collins

Mary Ann Mobley Collins (1937-2014) graduated from UM in 1958, the same year she won the Miss America crown. She became an actress a few years later, with credits including such TV shows as General Hospital and Perry Mason, and films such as Girl Happy with Presley and Three on a Couch with Jerry Lewis. It was on that film that she met her husband, actor Gary Collins, who died in 2012.

Mobley Collins was also a documentarian, traveling to Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Sudan to make movies about the struggles of homeless and starving children. She and her husband were also active humanitarians, raising money and awareness for organizations such as the March of Dimes and the United Cerebral Palsy Association.

Eligibility

• Full-time student
• Theatre majors
• From Mississippi, first preference for Chickasaw or Alcorn counties
• Financial need
• Academic achievement
• Junior or senior year

Application

• No application process

About Susan Colbert Davis

Susan Colbert Davis (1959-1981), a native of Corinth, Mississippi, was a senior at the University of Mississippi majoring in art in July of 1981 when she was killed in a car wreck near Oxford. Susan's parents, Betty and Bill Davis and Ellen Davis Miller of Corinth established this scholarship in 1983.

Eligibility

• Full-time students
• Incoming freshman
• Fine Arts major
• Academic achievement
• Leadership
• Financial need

Application

• Ole Miss Women's Council 

About Mary Donnelly Haskell

Mary Donnelly Haskell, a former chair of the Ole Miss Women's Council for Philanthropy, has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mississippi.

A singer, actress and recording artist, Mary is a partner and vocal artist for "My Songs," which personalizes children's music. She has performed with various symphonies and at churches across the country. Her recordings include “Inspired,” “Power of the Cross” and “Just in Time for Christmas.”

A featured actress in numerous television productions, Mary recently co-starred in the Emmy-nominated “These Old Bones,” one of eight episodes in the Netflix anthology series “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings,” which is based on Parton’s songs.

Her current community and professional activities include serving as an elder with the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford, co-chair of the Mary K. Haskell Scholarship Foundation and as a member of the University of Mississippi Foundation Board of Directors. She is an active volunteer with More Than A Meal, the Food Pantry and Girl Scouts, Heart of the South “Women of Distinction Luncheon.”

Mary’s previous community and professional activities include serving on the Ole Miss Alumni Association Executive Board, co-chair of the Ole Miss “Momentum” capital campaign, Miss University and Miss Mississippi 1977, and board chair for the Celebrity Action Council, a volunteer group who serve the women’s outreach of the Los Angeles Mission.

Her special projects and accomplishments include performing at a variety of notable venues, including The Kennedy Center, The White House for President George W. Bush’s 2005 Inaugural Gala and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

She is married to Sam Haskell, her college sweetheart and fellow Ole Miss alum. Residents of Oxford, Mary and Sam have two children, Sam IV and Mary Lane, and three grandchildren, Samuel Bond Haskell V, James Donnelly Haskell and William Kirkpatrick Haskell.

Eligibility

• Full-time student
• Major in Theatre & Film

Application

• No application process

About Ruby Simpson Shelton

Ruby Simpson Shelton (1912-1970), from Winona, Mississippi, studied at the School of Dramatic Art in Dallas, Texas in the 1930s. She lived in Dallas for over 38 years with her husband, Cecil, a native of that city.

Eligibility

• Full-time student
• Major in Department of Theatre & Film

Application

• No application process

About Patricia Tarr Leavitt

Patricia Tarr Leavitt (1919-2006) was born in Glendale, California. She attended the University of Mississippi in 1938 and was a member of Alpha Lambda Delta Freshman Honor Society. In 1941, she married Clyde Leavitt, a naval architect who worked for Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Patricia belonged to numerous community organizations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Eligibility

• Full-time student
• B.F.A. in Theatre Arts, emphasis in Acting for Stage and Screen

Application 

• No application process

About Joe Turner Cantú and Eddie Upton

Joe Turner Cantú, an actor trainer, director and playwright, retired from his teaching position at the University of Mississippi in August of 2020. He led the acting program in the UM Department of Theatre and Film and was artistic director of the Oxford Shakespeare Festival for ten years.

Eddie Upton served as registrar at the University of Mississippi School of Law from 2011 until his retirement in 2020. He also served as acting Assistant Dean for Admissions and Scholarships.

Eligibility

• Full-time student
• Theatre student

Application

• No application process

About Wallace Hamilton

Wallace Hamilton (1949-1991), who grew up Tutwiler, Mississippi, received a B.A. in speech and theatre from the University of Mississippi in 1972. During the mid-1970s while in graduate school, Hamilton starred in several productions that were part of the Summer Showcase of the University Theatre Department. He moved to New York City, where he taught at the Spanish-American Institute, worked as a desktop publisher and appeared on the TV soap opera, “The Guiding Light.”