- Miss USA 1957
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Miss USA 1957 Date July 17, 1957 Presenters Bob Russell Venue Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, USA Entrants 44 Placements 15 Winner Mary Leona Gage
Maryland (dethroned)
Miss USA 1957, the sixth Miss USA pageant, took place in Long Beach, California on July 17, 1957 during the run-up to the year's Miss Universe pageant. The 1957 Miss USA pageant is noted as marking the only occasion to date on which the winner was stripped of her title by pageant organizers.
Contents
Scandal and dethronement
At the end of the pageant, Mary Leona Gage of Maryland was declared the winner and was crowned by the outgoing titleholder (and Miss Universe 1956) Carol Morris of Iowa. The following day however, rumors about Gage's past and current circumstances began to circulate, and it subsequently emerged that not only had Gage lied about her age (she was 18, not 21 as she had originally claimed), but she was also the twice-married mother of two children. As Gage had clearly broken a number of eligibility rules, pageant officials immediately disqualified her once the accusations against her had been checked and verified.[1][2]
The crown and the associated prize package thus passed to the 1st runner-up, Charlotte Sheffield of Utah, with the other three finalists being moved up a place, and the highest-scoring semi-finalist, Kathryn Gabriel of Ohio, being promoted to 4th runner-up. However, by the time the scandal broke publicly, the Miss Universe preliminary judging had already taken place (in which, ironically, Gage had been chosen as a semi-finalist by the judges, having been allowed by the organizers to participate while the allegations being made against her were investigated), so Sheffield was unable to compete in the pageant – the only time the USA has not been represented at Miss Universe.[1] Later in the year, Sheffield was sent to London as the USA delegate for Miss World 1957, but failed to place.
Results
Final Results Contestant Miss USA 1957 Maryland - Mary Leona Gage(dethroned)
Miss USA 1957 Utah - Charlotte Sheffield (successor)
1st runner-up West Virginia - Ruth Parr
2nd runner-up Nevada - Joan Adams
3rd runner-up Nebraska - Carolyn McGirr
4th runner-up Ohio - Kathryn Gabriel
Top 15 Arkansas - Helen Garrott
California - Peggy Jacobson
Illinois - Marianne Gaba
Iowa - Judith Hall
Massachusetts - Sandra Ramsey
New York - Sanita Pelkey
South Carolina - Jean Spotts
Texas - Gloria Hunt
Washington - Diana Schafer
Delegates
The Miss USA 1957 delegates were:
States
Arkansas - Helen Garrott
California - Peggy Jacobson
Colorado - Mary Clapham
Connecticut - Rosemary Galliotti
Delaware - Patricia Ellingsworth
Florida - Deanie Cates
Georgia - Ruth Lycan
Illinois - Marianne Gaba
Indiana - Pat Dorsett
Iowa - Judith Hall
Louisiana - Earlyn Regouffre
Maine - Roberta Aymie
Maryland - Mary Leona Gage (dethroned)
Massachusetts - Sandra Ramsey
Michigan - Sharon Moore
Minnesota - Mary Ford
Missouri - Judith Murback
Nebraska - Carolyn McGirr
Nevada - Joan Adams
New Hampshire - Lyla Moran
New Jersey - Jeanne Lewis
New Mexico - Patricia Stafford
New York - Sanita Pelkey
North Carolina - Peggy Ann Dennis
North Dakota - Anne-Marit Studness
Ohio - Kathryn Gabriel
Oklahoma - Rose Mary Raab
Oregon - Sonja Landsem
Pennsylvania - Rosalie Culp
Rhode Island - Myrna Altieri
South Carolina - Jean Spotts
South Dakota - Gay Marshall
Tennessee - Patricia Prather
Texas - Gloria Hunt
Utah - Charlotte Sheffield
Vermont - Marjorie Link
Virginia - Patricia Bush
Washington - Diana Schafer
West Virginia - Ruth Parr
Wisconsin - Natalie Lueck
Wyoming - Marilyn Hawkins
Cities
- Miami Beach, Florida - Faye Ray
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Barbara Miller
- St. Louis, Missouri - Carole Learn
References
- ^ a b Woestendiek, John (April 10, 2005). "The Long, Unhappy Pageant of Mary Leona Gage". The Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-missusa041005,0,7470155,full.story. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
- ^ Thursby, Keith (October 9, 2010). "Leona Gage, Miss USA For a Day, Dies at 71". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/afterword/2010/10/leona-gage-miss-usa-for-a-day-dies-at-71.html. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
External links
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2011 · 2012Miss Universe Organization · Titleholders · Special award winners Categories:- Miss USA
- 1957 in the United States
- 1957 beauty pageants
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