Entertainer Who Ran for Oregon Governorship Dies

Gracie Diana Hansen, 62, a star of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and a candidate for governor of Oregon in 1970, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, it was announced here Friday.

Ms. Hansen, whose flamboyant style and rhinestone-studded gowns made her a popular nightclub performer in Portland and other West Coast cities, had gone to Los Angeles last week from her Gresham home near Portland to have leg surgery.

A diabetic, she already had lost a leg in 1980 because of circulatory problems. She did not survive the latest surgery on her remaining leg.

In 1962 she lined up 18 financial backers and then fronted the “girlie revue” at the Seattle World’s Fair. She became known as the newest “last of the red-hot mamas.”

Ms. Hansen was reared in Washington state, where she married a logger. In Morton, she staged a Parent-Teacher Assn. “Follies” that brought her publicity.

She would never tell her age. “Just say I’m between eager and desire,” she told reporters.

“I haven’t any talent, just always talked a blue streak,” she once said. “But I love wearing those clothes and feathers and false eyelashes. It’s a real ball, this keeping up my image.”

In 1970, Ms. Hansen, who was divorced, ran for governor on the Democratic ticket. “I feel I’m as qualified as any other of the comedians who are running for public office,” she said.

During her primary campaign she stumped the state on the platform: “Everyone in Oregon is entitled to and should have three things--something to work at, something to love and something to hope for.”

She finished third with about 25,000 votes in the eight-candidate primary, which was won by Bob Straub.

Until diabetes curtailed her career, she worked at several clubs in Southern California.