Unlike me, however, my mom owned a cheap pair of flippers: those perfect, creepy-looking fake teeth toddlers wear in beauty pageants.

Ruth and I often traveled apart, to capture more episodes of their lives, from birthday parties to jail cells, Narcotics Anonymous meetings to children’s beauty pageants.

The last-minute withdrawal means South Africa will not be represented at the 73rd Miss Universe pageant, where Ms Le Roux was among 120 beauty queens vying for the coveted title.

Playing Beth’s mother, Grace, she volunteers to direct their small town’s famed Christmas pageant after an incident befalls the longtime director.

He was also known for hosting the Miss America pageant in the early 1980s, where he met his wife Valerie.