Miriam Stevenson - Wikipedia

Miriam Stevenson
Stevenson in 1954
Born	Miriam Jacqueline Stevenson 1932 or 1933 (age 91–92) Winnsboro, South Carolina, U.S.
Education	Lander University
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)^[1]
Spouse	Donald Upton
Children	2
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title	Miss South Carolina 1953 Miss South Carolina USA 1954 Miss USA 1954 Miss Universe 1954
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Major competition(s)	Miss South Carolina 1953 (Winner) Miss America 1954 (Top 10) Miss South Carolina USA 1954 (Winner) Miss USA 1954 (Winner) Miss Universe 1954 (Winner)

Miriam Jacqueline Stevenson^[2] (born 1932 or 1933) is an American former actress, television host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1954. She was the first American to win the title and had previously been crowned Miss USA 1954. Prior to Miss USA, Stevenson was Miss South Carolina USA 1954.^{[citation needed]} She also represented South Carolina in Miss America 1954 after winning Miss South Carolina 1953, where she placed in the top ten.^{[citation needed]}

At Miss Universe, Stevenson received a tied final score with Martha Rocha of Brazil. In order to break the tie, the woman deemed to have the better physique was crowned the winner, due to a major sponsor of the pageant being Catalina Swimwear. This was determined to be Stevenson, due to having "fitter" hips than Rocha. She was crowned Miss Universe by outgoing titleholder Christiane Martel of France.^[3] At the end of her reign, she crowned Hillevi Rombin of Sweden as Miss Universe 1955.

References

[edit]

^ "South Carolina's Miriam Stevenson Wins "Miss Universe"; Miss Brazil Second". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 24, 1954. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
^ Riverol, Armando (1992). Live from Atlantic City: The History of the Miss America Pageant Before, After and in Spite of Television. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-87972-557-5.
^ "Judges are hep to hips". The Miami News. Retrieved August 1, 2011.

External links

[edit]

Miriam Stevenson at IMDb

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Christiane Martel	Miss Universe 1954	Succeeded by Hillevi Rombin
Preceded by Myrna Hansen	Miss USA 1954	Succeeded by Carlene King Johnson
Preceded by Susan Day	Miss South Carolina USA 1954	Succeeded by Sara Stone
Preceded by Mary Griffin	Miss South Carolina 1953	Succeeded by Polly Suber

v t e Miss USA titleholders
1950s	Jackie Loughery (1952) Myrna Hansen (1953) Miriam Stevenson (1954) Carlene King Johnson (1955) Carol Morris (1956) Mary Leona Gage / Charlotte Sheffield (1957) Eurlyne Howell (1958) Terry Huntingdon (1959)
1960s	Linda Bement (1960) Sharon Brown (1961) Macel Leilani Wilson (1962) Mārīte Ozere (1963) Bobbi Johnson (1964) Sue Ann Downey (1965) Maria Remenyi (1966) Sylvia Hitchcock / Cheryl Patton (1967) Dorothy Anstett (1968) Wendy Dascomb (1969)
1970s	Deborah Shelton (1970) Michele McDonald (1971) Tanya Wilson (1972) Amanda Jones (1973) Karen Morrison (1974) Summer Bartholomew (1975) Barbara Peterson (1976) Kimberly Tomes (1977) Judi Andersen (1978) Mary Therese Friel (1979)
1980s	Shawn Weatherly / Jineane Ford (1980) Kim Seelbrede (1981) Terri Utley (1982) Julie Hayek (1983) Mai Shanley (1984) Laura Martinez-Herring (1985) Christy Fichtner (1986) Michelle Royer (1987) Courtney Gibbs (1988) Gretchen Polhemus (1989)
1990s	Carole Gist (1990) Kelli McCarty (1991) Shannon Marketic (1992) Kenya Moore (1993) Lu Parker (1994) Chelsi Smith / Shanna Moakler (1995) Ali Landry (1996) Brook Lee / Brandi Sherwood (1997) Shawnae Jebbia (1998) Kimberly Pressler (1999)
2000s	Lynnette Cole (2000) Kandace Krueger (2001) Shauntay Hinton (2002) Susie Castillo (2003) Shandi Finnessey (2004) Chelsea Cooley (2005) Tara Conner (2006) Rachel Smith (2007) Crystle Stewart (2008) Kristen Dalton (2009)
2010s	Rima Fakih (2010) Alyssa Campanella (2011) Olivia Culpo / Nana Meriwether (2012) Erin Brady (2013) Nia Sanchez (2014) Olivia Jordan (2015) Deshauna Barber (2016) Kára McCullough (2017) Sarah Rose Summers (2018) Cheslie Kryst (2019)
2020s	Asya Branch (2020) Elle Smith (2021) R'Bonney Gabriel / Morgan Romano (2022) Noelia Voigt (2023) / Savannah Gankiewicz (2023) Alma Cooper (2024)

v t e Miss Universe titleholders
1950s	Armi Kuusela (1952) Christiane Martel (1953) Miriam Stevenson (1954) Hillevi Rombin (1955) Carol Morris (1956) Gladys Zender (1957) Luz Marina Zuluaga (1958) Akiko Kojima (1959)
1960s	Linda Bement (1960) Marlene Schmidt (1961) Norma Nolan (1962) Iêda Maria Vargas (1963) Corinna Tsopei (1964) Apasra Hongsakula (1965) Margareta Arvidsson (1966) Sylvia Hitchcock (1967) Martha Vasconcellos (1968) Gloria Diaz (1969)
1970s	Marisol Malaret (1970) Georgina Rizk (1971) Kerry Anne Wells (1972) Margie Moran (1973) Amparo Muñoz (1974) Anne Marie Pohtamo (1975) Rina Messinger (1976) Janelle Commissiong (1977) Margaret Gardiner (1978) Maritza Sayalero (1979)
1980s	Shawn Weatherly (1980) Irene Sáez (1981) Karen Baldwin (1982) Lorraine Downes (1983) Yvonne Ryding (1984) Deborah Carthy-Deu (1985) Bárbara Palacios (1986) Cecilia Bolocco (1987) Porntip Nakhirunkanok (1988) Angela Visser (1989)
1990s	Mona Grudt (1990) Lupita Jones (1991) Michelle McLean (1992) Dayanara Torres (1993) Sushmita Sen (1994) Chelsi Smith (1995) Alicia Machado (1996) Brook Lee (1997) Wendy Fitzwilliam (1998) Mpule Kwelagobe (1999)
2000s	Lara Dutta (2000) Denise Quiñones (2001) Oxana Fedorova/Justine Pasek (2002) Amelia Vega (2003) Jennifer Hawkins (2004) Natalie Glebova (2005) Zuleyka Rivera (2006) Riyo Mori (2007) Dayana Mendoza (2008) Stefanía Fernández (2009)
2010s	Ximena Navarrete (2010) Leila Lopes (2011) Olivia Culpo (2012) Gabriela Isler (2013) Paulina Vega (2014) Pia Wurtzbach (2015) Iris Mittenaere (2016) Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters (2017) Catriona Gray (2018) Zozibini Tunzi (2019)
2020s	Andrea Meza (2020) Harnaaz Sandhu (2021) R'Bonney Gabriel (2022) Sheynnis Palacios (2023) Victoria Kjær Theilvig (2024)

v t e Miss Universe 1954 national titleholders
BRA: Martha Rocha CUB: Isis Finlay FIN: Lenita Airisto FRA: Jacqueline Beer GRE: Rika Dialina NZL: Moana Manley THA: Amara Asavananda USA: Miriam Stevenson

v t e Miss United States winners in the Big Four international beauty pageants
Miss Universe	Miriam Stevenson (1954) Carol Morris (1956) Linda Bement (1960) Sylvia Hitchcock (1967) Shawn Weatherly (1980) Chelsi Smith (1995) Brook Lee (1997) Olivia Culpo (2012) R'Bonney Gabriel (2022)
Miss World	Marjorie Wallace (1973) Gina Tolleson (1990) Alexandria Mills (2010)
Miss International	Brucene Smith (1974) Katherine Ruth (1978) Christie Claridge (1982)
Miss Earth	Lindsey Coffey (2020)
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