Suzette Charles | |
|---|---|
 Charles as Miss America in 1984 | |
| Education | Temple University |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Children | 2 |
Suzette Charles (born Suzette DeGaetano, March 2, 1963) is an American singer, entertainer, and actress. She was Miss New Jersey in 1983, and served as Miss America 1984 for seven weeks after Vanessa L. Williams resigned from the position that July.
Suzette Charles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Suzette Burroughs, of West Indian heritage and Charles DeGaetano, an Italian American. She briefly lived in Mays Landing, New Jersey before moving to Philadelphia to enroll in private school. She attended The Performing Arts School and as a high school graduate was awarded in 1981 a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. President Ronald Reagan awarded her and 141 others the Presidential medallion. Charles graduated Temple University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and went on to being named Miss America 1984.
Charles is the second Jewish Miss America since Bess Myerson, although she converted to Judaism after her reign.
As Miss New Jersey, she competed in the Miss America 1984 pageant held in Atlantic City on September 17, 1983. Earlier in the week, she had won a Preliminary Talent Award for her performance of "Kiss Me in the Rain". [1] [2] She originally finished as first runner-up. [2] [3] After the reigning Miss America Vanessa Williams was forced to resign that July, Charles replaced her as the new Miss America for the remaining seven weeks. [4] [5]
At the Miss America 2016 pageant, current CEO, Sam Haskell, issued an apology to Williams for "the events of 1984." [6] Charles later commented on the television program Inside Edition that she was perplexed by the apology, suggesting that it was given for the purpose of ratings. [7]
Charles worked in modeling and acting in advertising and educational television and branched out further as a singer and television personality. She acted on the ABC soap opera Loving , CBS television series Frank's Place and performed on This Morning , a British talk show. She hosted a show on Bravo, Arts-Break. She narrated the motion picture Beyond The Dream. She has appeared on stage singing with Stevie Wonder, Alan King, Joel Grey, Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Cosby and Frank Sinatra.[ citation needed ]
In 1993, Charles was signed to RCA Records and recorded with top British producers Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, releasing her debut single, "Free To Love Again", in August of that year. The single peaked at number 58 on the UK Singles Chart. [8] Other songs she recorded with Stock and Waterman included "After You're Gone", "Don't Stop (All The Love You Can Give)", "Every Time We Touch", "What The Eye Don't See" and "Just For A Minute". Her producers have included Waterman and David Foster who also signed her on his 143 Label. In the late 1980s, Barry Manilow and his management company Stiletto Management represented her on Capitol Records as well.[ citation needed ]
Charles has been a resident of New York City for over 30 years.
She is divorced and is the mother of two.
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering a judge's question onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90 second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – demonstrated physical fitness onstage dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – modeling evening-wear onstage.
Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, when the organization announced it was licensing operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, Miss USA for 2008 prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization.
Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on JKN18 and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Miss Teen USA website and simulcast on mobile devices and video game consoles. The Miss Universe Organization previously operated Miss Teen USA, as well as Miss USA, until 2020 when the rights to produce both pageants were licensed to Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization. The parent company of all three pageants and the Miss Universe organization remains the same under the licensing agreement: JKN Metaverse Inc., a subsidiary of JKN Global Group.
Jennifer Berry-Gooden is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on January 21, 2006. A resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the time of her investment to sovereignty of beauty, she became the fifth Miss America from Oklahoma to have held the title.
Tara Elizabeth Conner is an American model, television personality, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2006 and has also competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants. Apart from her role as Miss USA, Conner has been employed as a model. She was a featured model on the HDNet series Bikini Destinations in 2004, posing in Lake Tahoe. She has also held the titles Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2002, Miss Kentucky County Fair 2004, and Miss Kentucky USA 2006.
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
Henrietta Leaver, Miss Pittsburgh, was crowned Miss America on September 7, 1935, at Atlantic City in New Jersey. She was 19 years old.
Miss America 1984, the 57th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 17, 1983, on NBC Network. Miss America 1983, Debra Maffett crowned her successor, Miss New York 1983, Vanessa Williams of Millwood, New York at the end of the nationally televised event. In July 1984, Williams was forced to resign over the unauthorized publication of nude photographs and was succeeded by first runner-up, Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles, who served as Miss America until September 15, 1984. Among the contestants who did not place among the ten finalists, Miss New Mexico 1983 Mai Shanley, eventually went on to win the Miss USA 1984 pageant on May 17, 1984.
Deneen Zezell Graham Kerns is a dance teacher and pageant contestant from North Carolina. In 1983 she became the first African-American to win the Miss North Carolina beauty pageant; she remained the only African-American to have won the Miss North Carolina pageant until Alexandra Badgett was crowned in 2019.
Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American singer, actress, model, producer, and dancer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984, but resigned her title amid a media controversy surrounding nude photographs of her being published in Penthouse magazine. Thirty-two years later, Williams was offered a public apology during the Miss America 2016 pageant for the events.
Susan Jeske is the current CEO of Ms. America Pageant. In 1997 she was the first winner of Ms. America, a lesser known beauty peagant, which she purchased afterwards, holding a remodeled version of it since 2002. She has been involved in pageantry since 1983 as a competitor, judge, and pageant director at over 200 local, state, national and international pageant competitions. In 2007, Jeske was honored with the Lifetime Presidential Award from the President of the United States, George W. Bush for her lifetime contributions to charity and volunteerism. Other titles of her Ms. America Pageant company include Ms. International, Teen Ms. America, Ms. America Beauty Teen and Ms. America Fitness Pageants.
Alicia Luciano held the title of Miss New Jersey 2002 and competed in the Miss America 2003 Pageant held on September 21, 2002, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Miss America 2014, the 87th Miss America pageant was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Sunday, September 15, 2013. Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan crowned the winner, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, who served as Miss America until September 14, 2014.
Maria Isabel Pagunsan Lopez-Melrod is a Filipino actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Lopez won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1982 and represented the Philippines in the 31st Miss Universe Pageant in Lima, Peru. She became known as an actress who appeared in provocative films. Lopez was married to Hiroshi Yokohama, and then later married Jonathan Melrod in the United States. She is a mosaic artist and has appeared in various roles in Philippine cinema and television.
Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Tickets for the 2016 Miss America competition went on sale June 5, 2015.
Vanessa Williams is an American actress, singer, and fashion designer. She initially gained recognition as the first African American winner of the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984 in September 1983. Several weeks before the end of her reign, however, a scandal arose when Penthouse magazine bought and published nude photographs of Williams. Williams was pressured to relinquish her title and was succeeded by the first runner-up, Miss New Jersey 1983, Suzette Charles. She was the first Miss America to give up her crown. Thirty-two years later, in September 2015, when Williams served as head judge for the Miss America 2016 pageant, former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell made a public apology to her for the events of 1984.
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