United States representatives at Miss World
The United States has continuously sent a representative to Miss World since its inception in 1951. The United States has won the Miss World crown three times in 1973, 1990 and 2010. Currently, Miss World America is the official national pageant that selects the contestant from the United States to Miss World.
Formation | 1951 |
---|---|
Type | Beauty pageant |
Headquarters | West Hollywood, California |
Location | |
Membership | Miss World |
Official language | English |
National Director | Michael Blakey |
Website | Miss World America Official Website |
The current Miss World America is Alissa Anderegg of New York who was crowned on October 16, 2020.[1][2]
History
During the mid 1950s, the Miss Universe organisation sent delegates from the Miss USA system to compete at Miss World (1953–57). Alfred Patricelli of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was the Executive Director of the Miss World USA[3] during its existence from 1958 to 1977. From 1958 to 1961, the winner of Miss United States competed at Miss World. Then from 1962 to 1966 Alfred Patricelli organized the Miss USA World pageant annually. In 1967, the pageant was renamed Miss World USA and was held every year until 1977. During this time, Miss World USA 1969 Gail Renshaw was the first person to resign from the title of "Miss World USA" after competing in Miss World 1969 in order to get married. Also in 1973, Marjorie Wallace won the Miss World title and became the first American woman to win the Miss World title.[4] Between 1978 through 1980, BBS Productions, Inc., based in New York City, was given the franchise for the Miss World pageant where Griff O'Neil was the organizer, during this time the pageant was named "Miss World America".
From 1981 to 1991, the Miss Universe organization were the license holders, and the American representative to Miss World ended up being the 1st runner-up of the Miss USA pageant. The Miss World Organization however wanted a public announcement during the finals of the Miss USA pageant that the 1st Runner-up would be going to Miss World, but they refused to do so. Therefore, after 1991 the Miss World Organization did not accept any more Miss USA 1st Runners-up.
From 1992 to 1997, Richard Guy and Rex Holt (GuyRex) were the national directors of Miss World in the United States and organized the Miss World America pageant in 1992, 1993, and 1994.[5] They discontinued the pageant in 1995 but handpicked a representative from 1995 to 1997.[6] In 1998, Hirsh Wilck succeeded GuyRex and became the license holder and sent contestants from 1998 to 2000.[7]
In 2001, the Miss World organization asked Pageantry Magazine to choose a contestant for Miss World 2001 since they did not have a license holder during this year.[8] In 2002, Jean Renard and Miss World Holdings Inc became license holders and handpicked the representative.[9] They dropped the license afterwards due to legal issues with Rebekah Revels, whom they had handpicked to compete in 2002. In 2003, Bruce Vermeulen and Geoff Kearney founded the US Miss World organization.[10] They chose the 2003 representative by mail-in entry and telephone interviews and in 2004 held the US Miss World pageant. In 2005, Barbizon Modeling became the license holders and organized the US Miss World pageant in San Francisco, California.[11]
From 2007-2011, Elite Models were the license holders for Miss World in the United States and they handpicked the representative from their list of models.[12] During this time, it was common to know who was going to represent the United States in Miss World a week or two before the international pageant began. Among their designee was Alexandria Mills who in 2010 became one of the few Miss World winners to have won the international pageant without winning a national pageant. In 2012-2013, Lisa-Marie Kohrs, former 2009 U.S. Representative were the national director and she handpicked from the contestants who had the charity background.[13] It is unknown who was in charge of selecting the contestants in 1951, 1952, and 2006.
In 2014, in an effort from Julia Morley who wanted all national directors to hold a national pageant to select the representative of their country as opposed to only designate, Christopher Wilmer, the organizer of the Miss United States pageant, was appointed as the national director of Miss World in the United States.[14] As a result, the winner of Miss United States 2014 was selected to compete at Miss World because she met the age requirements of the international pageant. In 2015, Wilmer reinstated the Miss World America pageant in order to properly reflect Miss World's age and contest requirements. Miss World America was held in 2015 and 2016.
In 2017, Lynne Scott Safrit and her daughter Elizabeth Safrit, became co-national directors of Miss World in the United States and created America's Miss World and Miss Teen World America.[15]
In 2018, Michael Blakey became national director of Miss World in the United States and will be assisted by Liz Fuller and the pageant went back to being named Miss World America.[16] In 2019, the Miss Teen World America pageant made a return.
Results summary
Placements in Miss World
United States holds a record of 49 placements at Miss World, being placed first overall.
- Miss World: Marjorie Wallace (Miss World 1973), Gina Tolleson (Miss World 1990), Alexandria Mills (Miss World 2010)
- 1st Runners-up: Karin Hultman (1954), Margaret Anne Haywood (1955), Betty Lane Cherry (1956), Dianna Lynn Batts (1965), Gail Renshaw (1969)
- 2nd Runners-up: Brenda Denton (1985), Nancy Randall (2004), Elizabeth Safrit (2014)
- 4th Runners-up: Judith Achter (1960), Terry Ann Browning (1974), Cindy Miller (1977)
- 5th Runner-up: Mary Kemp Griffin (1953)
- Top 5: Jill Scheffert (1989)
- Top 7/8: Jo Ann Odum (1961), Amedee Chabot (1962), Denice Blair (1966), Brucene Smith (1971), Brooke Alexander (1980), Lisa Moss (1981), LuAnn Caughey (1982), Lisa Allred (1983), Kelly Anderson (1984), Halle Berry (1985)
- Top 10/11: Diana Magaña (1988), Charlotte Ray (1991), Sharon Belden (1992), Maribeth Brown (1993), Sallie Toussaint (1997), Shauna Gambill (1998), Natasha Allas (1999), Angelique Breaux (2000), Rebekah Revels (2002), Audra Mari (2016)
- Top 14/15/16: Michele Metrinko (1963), Jeanne Quinn (1964), Pamela Pall (1967), Sandra Wolsfeld (1970), Lynda Carter (1972), Debra Freeze (1978), Carter Wilson (1979), Abigail McCary (2007), Claudine Book (2012)
- Top 20: Olivia Jordan (2013)
- Top 30: Marisa Butler (2018)
- Top 40: Clarissa Bowers (2017), Emmy Rose Cuvelier (2019)
Awards
- Miss World Continental Queen's of Americas: Brenda Denton (1985), Gina Tolleson (1990), Sallie Toussaint (1997), Elizabeth Safrit (2014), Audra Mari (2016)
- Miss World Beach Beauty: Nancy Randall (2004)
- Miss World Talent: Rebekah Revels (2002)
- Miss World Sports: Abigail McCary (2007), Marisa Butler (2018)
- Miss World Multimedia: Elizabeth Safrit (2014)
- Miss Personality: Clotilde Cabrera (1987)
Titleholders
This is a list of women who have represented the United States at the Miss World pageant:
Miss World America
- Color key
- Declared as Winner
- Ended as Runner-up
- Ended as one of the Finalists, Semi-finalists or Quarter-finalists
Notes:
- † Now deceased
By number of states
States | Titles | Years |
---|---|---|
California | 9 | 1962, 1967, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2012 |
New York | 8 | 1952, 1954, 1958, 1960[lower-alpha 2], 1963, 1964, 1997, 2020 |
Texas | 6 | 1969[lower-alpha 2], 1971, 1982, 1983, 1995, 1996 |
Florida | 5 | 1974, 1987, 1992, 2008, 2017 |
North Carolina | 4 | 1978, 2001, 2002, 2014 |
Washington | 3 | 1968, 1973[lower-alpha 2], 2011 |
South Carolina | 1953, 1956, 1990 | |
Virginia | 1969, 1977, 1979 | |
Arizona | 2 | 1972, 2015 |
Oklahoma | 1989, 2013 | |
Kentucky | 1951, 2010 | |
Illinois | 1970, 2004 | |
Georgia | 1994, 2003 | |
Ohio | 1975, 1986 | |
West Virginia | 1961, 1984 | |
Indiana | 1973, 1981[lower-alpha 2] | |
Utah | 1957, 1966 | |
South Dakota | 1 | 2019 |
Maine | 2018 | |
North Dakota | 2016 | |
Minnesota | 2007 | |
Vermont | 2006 | |
Massachusetts | 1993 | |
New Jersey | 1991 | |
New Mexico | 1985 | |
Louisiana | 1981 | |
Hawaii | 1980 | |
Michigan | 1976 | |
District of Columbia | 1965 | |
Missouri | 1960 | |
Connecticut | 1959 | |
Arkansas | 1955 |
- Age when competed at Miss World
- Took over or held the title for a brief period of time after the original winner resigned or before they were dethroned, and thus did not compete at Miss World.
Winners' gallery
- Miss World United States 2008
Lane Lindell - Miss World United States 2007
Abigail McCary - Miss World United States 2001
Carrie Ann Stroup - Miss World USA 1986
Halle Berry - Miss World USA 1983
Lisa Allred
Miss Teen World America
Year | Name | Age[lower-alpha 1] | State Represented | Hometown | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No contest between 1951-2016 | |||||
2017 | Gracen Grainger[17] | 17 | South Carolina | Clemson | Later Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2020 and Top 16 semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2020. |
2018 | No contest in 2018 | ||||
2019 | Madison Walker | 17 | North Carolina | Garner | |
2020 | Rachel Roberts | 13 | Maryland | TBA |
- Age when competed at Miss Teen World America
By number of states
States | Titles | Years |
---|---|---|
North Carolina | 1 | 2019 |
South Carolina | 2017 | |
Maryland | 2020 |
See also
References
- "Miss World". www.missworld.com. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
- "Miss World America". Retrieved 2020-10-26.
- "Miss World USA Pageant". Archived from the original on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
- Miss World 1973
- The American representatives to Miss World 1978-1994
- GuyRex, license holder of Miss World 1995 to 1997
- Hirsh Wilck, license holder of Miss World 1998 to 2000
- Pageantry Magazine and Miss World 2001
- Miss World Holdings, license holders of Miss World 2002
- US Miss World 2003 and 2004
- Barbizon Modeling, license holders of Miss World 2005
- Elite Models selecting who will represent the U.S. at the Miss World Pageant.
- Kohrs was National Director for 2012-2013 and first woman to hold national franchise license
- Christopher Wilmer, the organizer of the Miss United States pageant was the new national director of Miss World in the United States
- http://www.americasmissworld.org
- http://www.timesofbeauty.com/2018/03/new-national-director-of-miss-world-in.html
- "Miss World America & Miss Teen World America 2017". Retrieved 2020-05-08.