Miss Universe 1957

Miss Universe 1957 was the sixth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 19 July 1957.

Miss Universe 1957
Gladys Zender
Date	19 July 1957 (1957-07-19)
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, United States
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	32
Placements	15
Debuts	Martinique Morocco Paraguay
Withdrawals	British Guiana Chile Dominican Republic Holland United States
Returns	Austria Ceylon Hawaii South Korea
Winner	Gladys Zender Peru
Congeniality	Mapita Mercado Cordero, Puerto Rico
Photogenic	Gerti Daub, West Germany
← 1956 1958 →

Gladys Zender of Peru won the contest, and was crowned by Carol Morris of the United States. Zender was the first representative of Peru to win the contest.

After her win, it was revealed that Zender was only seventeen years old, five months under the contest's minimum age requirement of eighteen. Pageant officials decided that she could keep the crown after they were told she was considered to be eighteen in her country due to an old custom explained to them by the then-Peruvian ambassador to the United States, Fernando Berckemeyer Pazos.^[1]

Contestants from thirty-two countries and territories competed in the pageant. It was hosted by Bob Russell for the sixth time.

Background

Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue of Miss Universe 1957

Selection of participants

Contestants from thirty-two countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. It was the first where women who were married and had children could not compete, which in turn became the reason why one candidate was disqualified after the preliminary competition.^[2] One contestant was selected to replace the original winner.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Martinique, Morocco, and Paraguay, and the returns of Austria, Ceylon, Hawaii, and South Korea. Austria and Hawaii last competed in 1953, while Ceylon and South Korea last competed in 1955. British Guiana, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Holland, and the United States withdrew.^[2] Corine Rottschäfer of Holland was due to compete, however she had just won another international contest that barred her entry. Rottschäfer competed the following year.^[3] British Guiana, Chile, and the Dominican Republic withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.^{[citation needed]}

Disqualification of Miss USA

Leona Gage, Miss USA 1957, was announced as one of the fifteen semi-finalists, but was removed from the contest on the afternoon before the final after it was discovered that she was married and the mother of two young children.^[4][5] Miss Argentina, Mónica Lamas, who was sixteenth in the preliminary competition, replaced Gage.^[2] Gage was also stripped of her Miss USA title, and was replaced by Charlotte Sheffield of Utah. Sheffield was unable to compete because the preliminary competition had already taken place.^[6][7] Sheffield competed at Miss World 1957, and was unplaced.^[8]

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1957	Peru – Gladys Zender[9]
1st runner-up	Brazil – Terezinha Morango[9]
2nd runner-up	England – Sonia Hamilton[9]
3rd runner-up	Cuba – María Gamio[9]
4th runner-up	West Germany – Gerti Daub[9]
Top 15	Alaska – Martha Lehmann[10]  Argentina – Mónica Lamas[10]  Austria – Hannerl Melcher[10]  Canada – Gloria Noakes[10]  Greece – Ligia Karavia[10]  Italy – Valeria Fabrizi[10]  Japan – Kyoko Otani[10]  Morocco – Jacqueline Bonilla[10]  Sweden – Inger Jonsson[10]  Uruguay – Gabriela Pascal[10]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Puerto Rico – Mapita Mercado[11][12]
Miss Photogenic	West Germany – Gerti Daub[13][12]
Miss Popular Girl	Canada – Gloria Noakes[13][12]

Pageant

Format

As with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consisted of a swimsuit and evening gown competition.^[10] Each of the fifteen semi-finalists then gave a short speech during the final broadcast in their native language. Afterward, they paraded in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were chosen.^[10]

Selection committee

• Earl Wilson – American journalist and columnist^[14]
• Alberto Vargas – Peruvian-American painter known for his "Vargas Girls"^[14]
• Vincent Trotta – American artist^[14]
• Lois J. Swanson
• Roger Zeiler – French official from the Miss Europe Committee

Contestants

Miss Universe 1957 participating countries and territories

Thirty-two contestants competed for the title.^[15]

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Alaska	Martha Lehmann[16]	18	Fairbanks
Argentina	Mónica Lamas[17]	20	Buenos Aires
Austria	Hannerl Melcher[18]	19	Vienna
Belgium	Janine Hanotiau[19]	19	Brussels
Brazil	Terezinha Morango[20]	20	São Paulo de Olivença
Canada	Gloria Noakes[10]	18	Toronto
Ceylon	Camellia Perera[18]	23	Colombo
Costa Rica	Sonia Cristina Icaza[21]	18	San José
Cuba	María Rosa Gamio[22]	19	Havana
Ecuador	Patricia Benítez[23]	19	Guayaquil
England	Sonia Hamilton[24]	23	London
France	Lisa Simon[25]	22	Argenteuil
Greece	Ligia Karavia[15]	18	Athens
Guatemala	Ana Walda Olyslager[15]	18	Guatemala City
Hawaii	Ramona Tong[26]	19	Honolulu
Iceland	Bryndís Schram[15][27]	19	Reykjavik
Israel	Atara Barzilay[28]	18	Tel Aviv
Italy	Valeria Fabrizi[29]	21	Bologna
Japan	Kyoko Otani[30]	21	Tokyo
Martinique	Ginette Cidalise-Montaise[31]	18	Fort-de-France
Mexico	Irma Arévalo[32]	19	Mexico City
Morocco	Jacqueline Bonilla[33]	19	Casablanca
Paraguay	Lucy Montanero[34]	19	Asuncion
Peru	Gladys Zender[35]	17	Lima
Philippines	Mary Ann Corrales[36]	21	Manila
Puerto Rico	Mapita Mercado[11]	18	Santurce
South Korea	Park Hyun-ok[37]	21	Seoul
Sweden	Inger Jonsson	20	Malmö
Turkey	Güler Sirmen[38][39]	18	Istanbul
Uruguay	Gabriela Pascal	18	Montevideo
Venezuela	Consuelo Nouel[40]	20	Caracas
West Germany	Gerti Daub[41]	19	Hamburg

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant