Miss Universe 1977

Last updated
Miss Universe 1977
Janelle Commissiong, ACF 2014.png
Date16 July 1977
Presenters
Venue National Theater, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Broadcaster
Entrants80
Placements12
Debuts
  • Antigua
  • British Virgin Islands
  • French Guiana
  • Guadeloupe
  • Réunion
  • Saint Kitts
  • Saint Lucia
Withdrawals
  • Guatemala
  • Luxembourg
  • Turkey
Returns
  • Belize
  • Haiti
  • Lebanon
  • Tahiti
Winner Janelle Commissiong
Trinidad and Tobago
CongenialityPamela Mercer (Canada)
Best National CostumeKim Sung-hee (South Korea)
Photogenic Janelle Commissiong (Trinidad and Tobago)
  1976
1978  

Miss Universe 1977 was the 26th Miss Universe pageant, held on 16 July 1977 at the National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was the first time in the pageant's history that the event was held in Dominican Republic. Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago was crowned by Rina Messinger of Israel at the end of the event. This was the first time a Black woman won Miss Universe. [1] African American singer Dionne Warwick, one of the 12 judges, burst into tears when Commissiong won. [1]

Contents

The other judges were Dominican industrialist José Armando Bermúdez, fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, model Wilhelmina Cooper, actress Linda Cristal, film producer Robert Evans, film and television producer Howard W. Koch, Miss Universe 1970, Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico, and photographer Gordon Parks. [1]

Miss Universe was then owned by Gulf+Western Industries.

Results

Placements

PlacementContestant
Miss Universe 1977
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
Top 12

Special awards

AwardContestant
Miss Amity
Miss Photogenic

Contestants

Country/TerritoryContestantAgeHometown
Flag of American Samoa.svg  American Samoa Virginia Caroline Suka17 Pago Pago
Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua Sheryl Ann Gibbons20 St. John's
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Maritza Jurado24 La Plata
Flag of Aruba.svg  Aruba Margareth Eldrith Oduber22 Oranjestad
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Jill Minaham19 Melbourne
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Eva Düringer 18 Bodensee
Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas Paulette Borghardt20 Nassau
Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados Margaret Rouse18 Saint James
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Claudine Vasseur18 Brussels
Flag of British Honduras (1919-1981).svg  Belize Dora Maria Phillips18 Belmopan
Flag of Bermuda.svg  Bermuda Connie Marie Frith23 St. George's Parish
Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia Liliana Gutiérrez18 Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil Cássia Janys Moraes Silveira21 Indaiatuba
Flag of the British Virgin Islands.svg  British Virgin Islands Andria Norman21 Road Town
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Pamela Mercer20 Burnaby
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile Priscilla Brenner18 Santiago
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Aura María Mojica18 Valle de Cauca
Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica Claudia María Garnier18 San José
Flag of the Netherlands Antilles (1959-1986).svg  Curaçao Regine Tromp22 Willemstad
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Inge Erlandsen23 Copenhagen
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic Blanca Aurora Sardiñas23 Santo Domingo
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador Lucía del Carmen Hernández [2] 18 Chone
Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador Altagracia Arévalo19 San Salvador
Flag of England.svg  England Sarah Louise Long19 Bristol
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Armi Aavikko 18 Helsinki
Flag of France.svg  France Véronique Fagot17 Poitou
Flag of France.svg  French Guiana Evelyne Randel17 Cayenne
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany Marie-Luise Gassen24 Munich
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg  Greece Maria Spantidaki Athens
Flag of France.svg  Guadeloupe Catherine Reinette Basse-Terre
Flag of Guam.svg  Guam Lisa Ann Caso20 Agana
Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti Françoise Elie19 Port-au-Prince
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Holland Ineke Berends25 Amsterdam
Flag of Honduras (1949-2022).svg  Honduras Carolina Rosa Rauscher19 Siguatepeque
Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg  Hong Kong Loletta Chu 18Hong Kong
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Kristjana Þrainsdóttir24 Reykjavík
Flag of India.svg  India Bineeta Bose18Delhi
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia Siti Mirza Nuria Arifin 24 Palembang
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Jakki Moore18 Dublin
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Zehava Vardi21 Haifa
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Paola Biasini22 Milan
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan Kyoko Sato19Tokyo
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon Hyam Saadé Beirut
Flag of Liberia 23px.svg  Liberia Welma Campbell21 Monrovia
Flag of Malaysia 23px.svg  Malaysia Leong Li Ping23 Ipoh
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta Jane Saliba18 Żurrieq
Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius Danielle Marie Bouic22 Port Louis
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico Felicia Mercado 17 Baja California
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Donna Anne Schultze20 Auckland
Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua Beatriz Obregón18 Rivas
Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg  Northern Mariana Islands Margarita Camacho19 Saipan
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway Åshild Jenny Ottesen22 Oslo
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama Marina Valenciano19 Panama City
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea Sayah Karakuru24 Port Moresby
Flag of Paraguay (1954-1988).svg  Paraguay María Leticia Zarza17 Concepción
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru María Isabel Frías22 Lima
Flag of the Philippines (navy blue).svg  Philippines Anna Lorraine Kier17 Baguio
Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico Maria del Mar Rivera20 Ponce
Flag of France.svg  Réunion Yolaine Morel Saint-Denis
Flag of St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla.svg  Saint Kitts Annette Frank20 Basseterre
Flag of Saint Lucia 1967.svg  Saint Lucia Iva-Lua Mendes18 Castries
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland Sandra Bell18 Glasgow
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore Marilyn Choon17Singapore
Flag of the Netherlands Antilles (1959-1986).svg  Sint Maarten Marie Madeleine Boirard19 Philipsburg
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa Glynis Fester19 Cape Town
Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea Kim Sung-hee18 Seoul
Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg  Spain Luz María Polegre19 Tenerife
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka Sobodhini Nagesan19 Colombo
Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname Marlene Roesmienten Saimo19 Paramaribo
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Birgitta Lindvall21 Luleå
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Anja Kristin Terzi17 Geneva
Flag of France.svg Tahiti Donna Aunoa Papeete
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand Laddawan Intriya Bangkok
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago Janelle Commissiong 24 Port of Spain
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Kimberly Tomes [3] 21 Houston
Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  United States Virgin Islands Denise George17 Charlotte Amalie
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay Adriana María Umpierre19 Salto
Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).svg  Venezuela Cristal Montañez 17 Caracas
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Christine Anne Murphy23 Swansea
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia Ljiljana Sobajić Belgrade

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Miss Trinidad 1st black Miss Universe". The Times . 17 Jul 1977. p. 18. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  2. "Ana Lucía Cevallos, una candidata fotógrafa y diseñadora" [Ana Lucía Cevallos, a photographer and designer candidate]. El Universo (in Spanish). 13 February 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. "Miss Texas Wins Miss America (sic) Title". Ventura County Star . May 15, 1977. p. 9. Retrieved 26 July 2023. (Article content makes it clear they mean Miss USA, but the title does say Miss America.)