Brook Mahealani Lee

Pageant titleholder bio
photo=
title=Miss Hawaii USA 1997
Miss USA 1997
Miss Universe 1997
location= Pearl City, Hawaiokinai
birthname= Brook Antoinette Mahealani Lee
birth = birth date and age|1971|1|8
height=height|ft=5|in=7
eye color= Brown
hair color= Brown

Brook Antoinette Mahealani Lee (born January 8, 1971), aka Brook Lee, was crowned Miss Universe 1997 on May 16, 1997.

Brook was Miss USA and Miss Hawaii USA prior to winning the Miss Universe 1997 pageant. Her Korean grandfather immigrated to Hawaiokinai in the 1950s. Immediately prior to winning the Miss USA and Miss Universe crowns, she pursued graduate-level studies in Communication at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She attended University Lab School for one year, 1987–1988. Lee graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1989. She is a native of Pearl City, Hawaiokinai.

Lee, who stands 1.7 m (5 ft. 7 in.) [http://www.globalbeauties.com/news/2006/march/pe.htm] , was crowned Miss Hawaii USA on her first try for this crown, then went on to win the Miss USA crown in Shreveport, Louisiana on February 5, 1997. Three months later, Lee won the Miss Universe 1997 pageant in Miami, Florida. That year, the outgoing Miss Universe, Alicia Machado of Venezuela, was criticized by Donald Trump for gaining weight after winning the crown in 1996. It is said that Lee's answers to the judges' questions in both the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, both of which alluded to that controversy, greatly impressed the judges. In the Miss USA pageant, when asked about how she would handle weight gain, Lee said, "I would take a good hard look at myself, and I'd look from the inside out, and I would know that I'm the same girl that won the crown that day and it wouldn’t really matter what I look like on the outside because I won." Later, in the Miss Universe pageant, when asked what she would do if she didn't have to follow any rules, she replied, "I would eat everything in the whole world — twice!"

At Lee's urging, the 1998 Miss Universe pageant was held in her home state of Hawaiokinai, in Honolulu, for the first time. Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago was crowned Miss Universe 1998.

After her reign as Miss Universe, Lee has made several cameo appearances in movies and television shows, and has hosted numerous television shows in Asia and the United States. Her current project is a regional television show known as "Pacific Fusion", which focuses on Asian-American lifestyles.

References

External links

*imdb name|id=1069637|name=Brook Mahealani Lee
*tvtome person|id=37299|name=Brook Mahealani Lee
* [http://starbulletin.com/2004/03/30/features/story1.html Honolulu Star-Bulletin article from 2004]
* [http://ronhashiro.htohananet.com/photography/universe1998-1.html Ron Hashiro's Miss Universe page with links to articles on Brook Lee]

Miss Universe Organization titleholders
Year=1997
Miss Universe=Brook Lee
Miss USA=Brandi Sherwood
Miss Teen USA=Shelly Moore

Big Four Pageants titleholders
Year=1997
Miss Universe=Brook Lee
Miss World=Diana Hayden
Miss Earth= -
Miss International=Consuelo Adler