Pearl Jansen

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Pearl Jansen
Born
Pearl Gladys Jansen

1950
Bonteheuwel, Cape Town
Title Miss World 1970
(1st Runner-Up)

Pearl Gladys Jansen (sometimes spelled Janssen, born 1950 in Bonteheuwel) is a South African singer and beauty pageant titleholder who was first runner-up in the Miss World beauty contest in the UK in 1970. She was the first coloured woman to represent her country at this level. She competed as "Miss Africa South" due to apartheid. [1]

Contents

Biography

Jansen was 20 when she entered the 1970 beauty contest. She has stated that after the contest nothing changed for her because of apartheid. [2] At age 58, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a singer. [3]

1970 Miss World contest

The 1970 contest was held in London, United Kingdom. It began with a row because the organisers had allowed two entries from South Africa, one black, Pearl Jansen, and one white, Jillian Jessup. [4] [2] Then during the evening women's liberation activists staged a protest and threw flour. [5] The comedian Bob Hope was also heckled. Jennifer Hosten, Miss Grenada, won, becoming the first black woman to win Miss World, and Pearl Jansen placed second.

Legacy

In the 2020 British comedy drama Misbehaviour about the 1970 Miss World pageant, [6] the actress Loreece Harrison portrays Jansen with a strong Afrikaans accent, which substantially differs from Jansen's own Cape accent. [7]

References

  1. ↑ Flanagan, Jane. "The story of Misbehaviour: feminists, flour bombs and the first black Miss South Africa". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 Isaacs, Lisa (16 March 2020). "Apartheid buried my achievement, says Bonteheuwel's Miss World runner-up at film premiere". IOL. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "District Six Legends at His People Centre". Cape Town Today. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Hughes, Sarah (16 March 2020). "Miss World 1970: Beauty Queens and Bedlam, BBC2, review: the real stars were Pearl Jansen and Jennifer Hosten". i . Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Pape, Gordon (21 November 1970). "Cattle show: Miss Grenada wins, Bob Hope loses". Ottawa Citizen . Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  6. ↑ Keeton, Claire (2 February 2020). "Pearl is a queen again — 50 years later" . Sunday Times . Retrieved 3 May 2025– via PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions.
  7. ↑ Lorraine (10 March 2020). 1970 Miss World Runner-Up Pearl Jansen Reveals How New Film Misbehaviour Changed Her Life | Lorraine . Retrieved 4 May 2025– via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ify8rZk91kI

Further reading

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