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

Collins, a resident of Biloxi, Miss., died of natural causes just before 1 a.m. Saturday after he was admitted Friday evening to Biloxi Regional Medical Center, according to Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove.

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