Virginia Ruth "Dagmar" Egnor was born in Huntington. She graduated from Huntington High School, attended Huntington Business College and worked at Walgreens Drug Store before changing her name to "Dagmar" and finding national fame in New York City.
She became a fashion photographer's model before drifting into show business. She performed in Olsen and Johnson's Broadway show "Laughing Room Only" and then became "Dagmar" on "Broadway Open House" with Jerry Lester and Maury Amsterdam in the early 1950s. She played a nurse on Milton Berle's "Texaco's Star Theater.” She would go on to have her own TV show, "Dagmar's Canteen," on NBC and was a regular panelist on ABC's "Masquerade Party."
This true ambassador publicized Huntington around the world via stories written by the Associated Press and other news sources. Her crowning achievement was a five-page spread in the July 16, 1951, issue of Life magazine. The story featured a trip to her hometown. The layout included a photo of Huntington Mayor Walter Payne honoring Dagmar for "distinguished service in publicizing her hometown."
