Halle Berry at Miss World 1986 – The unknown story!
In the early 2000s, Halle Berry surpassed and made Miss World history when she became the first former beauty queen to win an Academy Award. Since 1995, Berry, who won Miss USA World in 1986, has had a huge influence on black beauty pageants and entertainers on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to being one of the great actresses of the 21st century, Berry will be remembered as one of the most beautiful black representatives in the history of Miss World, along with Aretha Rocke (delegate of Trinidad & Tobago in 1982) and Jennifer Hosten (Miss World 1970). ) as well as Kayonga “Benita” Mureka (Zairean contestant in 1985) and Veronique Caloc (Miss France 1998). In 1998, the Miss USA Organization presented Halle Berry with the “Distinguished Achievement Award”; It is awarded to a former beauty queen who is distinguished by her performance and influence in the United States.
Miss United States of America
Halle Berry first gained attention in early 1986 when she made it to the finals of Miss USA Universe, one of the world’s top beauty pageant awards, in Miami, Florida. But before she could do that this year, she won two beauty pageant awards: Miss Teen All American Pageant 1985 and then Miss Ohio USA. In Miami, former Miss Universe pageant host Young Berry, who served as her own manager, finished second, ahead of 49 of America’s most beautiful and talented candidates. Each delegate was judged in three categories: swimsuit, evening wear and interview. The judges were René Enríquez (actor born in Nicaragua), Michael Young (performer), Kimberly Tomes (Miss Texas and Miss USA Universe 1977), Dave Robinson (singer), Waymon Tisdale (former basketball player), Mai Shanley (Miss New Mexico and Miss USA 1984), John Callahan (actor), Maria Remenyi (Miss California and Miss USA 1966), Christopher Hewett (actor), Miriam Stevenson (Miss South Carolina and Miss Universe 1954), Carol Connors (singer) and John Bolger ( actor).
Results:
preliminaries
1-Texas 9,076 points
2-Halle Berry, Ohio 8,640
3-Mississippi 8,530
4-Illinois 8,493
5-South Carolina 8,443
6-Georgia 8,440
7-California 8,436
8-North Carolina 8,426
9-Oklahoma 8,356
10-Wyoming 8,301
Results: Second Round
Interview…………..Swimsuit……………….Evening dress
1.Ohio 9,230………….1.Texas 9,610…………1.Texas 9,510
2.Mississippi 9,215……….2.Ohio 9,240…………….2.Ohio 9,360
3.Texas 9,100…………..3.Califor. 8,970……..3.Calif. 9,177
4.Georgia 8,780…………….4.Georgia 8,910……..4.Georgia. 8,760
5.SCarolina 8,744………….5.SC 8,870………………..5.NC 8,820
6.Illinois 8,588…………..6.NC 8,770………………..6.SC 8,760
7.Oklahoma 8,480…………7.Okla. 8,730…………..7.Ms. 8,660
8.California. 8,266…………..8.Illinois 8,580…………8.Illinois 8,610
9.NC 8,280………………..9.Mississippi 8,570……9.Okla. 8,490
10.Wyoming 7,890……..10.Wyoming. 8,370…………10.Wyoming. 8,190
Average:
1. Texas 9,406
2. Halle Berry, Miss Ohio 9,226
3. Georgia 8,853
4.Mississippi 8,815
5.California 8,804
6. South Carolina 8,791
7. North Carolina 8,597
8. Illinois 8,593
9.Oklahoma 8,567
10. Wyoming 8,150
Final results:
Miss United States Universe 1986: Christy Fichtner (Dallas, Texas)
First Runner-up: Halle Berry (Ohio)
Second Runner-up: Tammi Tesh (Georgia)
Third Runner-up: Cindy Williams (Mississippi)
Fourth Runner-up: Kelly Parsons (California)
Special Awards
Miss Photogenic: Beth King (Miss Wyoming)
Miss Congeniality: Lisa Summerour-Perry (Miss New Jersey)
Due to her outstanding performance, Berry competed in Miss World 1986 in England. She was named delegate from the States to replace Brenda Denton, Miss New Mexico and Miss USA World, who had placed third in Great Britain at the end of 1985. She contested; a result that seemed almost impossible a few decades earlier. In the ’70s and early ’80s, three beauty pageant organizations had had black queens, but the Miss USA Organization didn’t make it until 1990, when the statuesque Carole Gist, who stands at 6-foot-2, won the national trophy.
Sixteen years before Miss USA 1986, Jennifer Hosten, originally from Grenada, an English-speaking island in the Caribbean Sea, became the first black contestant to be crowned Miss World. But she was not the only one. In the late 1970s, Gina Ann Casandra Swaisson from Bermuda, another “Queen of the Caribbean”, won the world prize in Great Britain. Two years ago, on July 26, 1977, Janelle Commissiong, Miss Trinidad Tobago – according to the New York Times “the black bombshell” – had become the first black winner in the 26-year history of Miss Universe. Then, in 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first black Miss America in Atlantic City, but her reign ended prematurely and she was replaced by Suzette Charles, another black beauty.
Halle Berry at Miss World 1986!
The final ceremony on November 13, 1986 was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London before a crowd of 8,000 spectators. Some 77 countries and dependencies participated in this contest, including The Gambia, Tonga and the Isle of Man. In November 1986, Berry broke precedent by entering the world contest, where she finished in the top 6th. It was the first time in the history of Miss World that the United States felt a black person enter London, the headquarters of the Miss World Organization.
There were some interesting anecdotes: Miss Bolivia, Claudia Arevalo Ayala, was a member of one of the most important Bolivian volleyball clubs; Miss Ecuador was an English teacher and fashion model in her native land; and Gibraltar, a tiny British dependency in Europe, became the smallest territory on the planet to send a representative to London. Curiously, María Juarista Mateo Begoña, Miss Venezuela, had the most expensive evening dress of the event. Valued at no less than $16,000! On the other hand, Poland feels delegated to the world pageant, in a land where beauty pageants had traditionally been prohibited by communist regimes. For its part, Sri Lanka, a nation in crisis for years, also participated, with 17 black entries from Africa, Europe and America. It was the first time that France had sent a black delegate to the Miss World contest.
However, the British contest should not be left without mentioning Halle Berry. She was also the first black woman from an industrialized nation to reach the semifinals of the Miss World pageant. Berry from Ohio became the 36th American delegate to compete in Miss World, a pageant where the United States did not have a great performance. In 1972, Lynda Carter, a famous artist of the late 1970s and early 1980s, was a semifinalist. On November 23, 1973, Miss USA Marjorie Wallace defeated Miss Philippines Evangeline Pascual to become Miss World. In the mid-1970s, the United States had suffered a serious setback when Annelise Ilschenko and Kimberly Marre Foley failed to reach the semifinals. Then, in the following years America failed to win the title.
From the start of the world event, Halle Berry was considered one of the main contenders for the international title, along with Linda Marie McManus from New Zealand, Giselle Jeanne-Marie Laronde from Trinidad & Tobago, Maria Juarist Begoña from Venezuela, Alison Louise Slack from the United Kingdom, Roberta Pereira from Brazil and Margot Montt from Chile.
Two and a half weeks before the global contest, Berry and 76 other contestants held a swimming photo shoot in Macau, a former Portuguese colony in Asia. Upon her arrival in Macau, she was greeted by a crowd of some 200 supporters who greeted her with the traditional blessing: “Ni hao” (hello in Chinese).
In the first round, Miss USA World 1986 finished third in points, after Venezuela’s María Juarist Mateo Begoña and New Zealand’s Linda Marie McManus. Berry received 42 points to 46 from Miss Venezuela and 44 from Miss New Zealand. The South American delegate, Berry’s main rival, had been well groomed for more than a year by Osmel Sousa, the world’s most successful beauty pageant director in the second half of the 20th century.
In the second round, Halle Berry had 27 points in the swimsuit competition.
Results:
1-Miss Ireland 39 points
2-Miss Trinidad and Tobago 34 points
3-Miss Austria 33 points
4-Miss Venezuela 30 points
5-United Kingdom 30 points
6-Miss Denmark 29 points
7-point Miss New Zealand
8-Miss USA Halle Berry: 27 points
9-Miss Ecuador 27 points
10-Miss Panama 22 points
11-Miss Yugoslavia (current Serbia) 21 points
12-Miss Philippines 20 points
13- Miss Costa Rica 20 points
14-Miss Colombia 20 points
15-Miss Swaziland 20 points
Final results:
Miss World 1986: Giselle Laronde (Trinidad and Tobago)
First Runner-up: Pia Rosenberg Larsen (Denmark)
Second Runner-up: Chantal Schreiber (Austria)
Finalists:
miss new zealand
MissVenezuela
Miss United States
Ecuadorian lady
Special prizes:
Miss Photogenic: Rosemary Elizabeth Thompson (Ireland)
Miss Personality: Dominique Martinez (Gibraltar)
continental queens
Miss Africa: Illana Faye Lapidos (Miss Swaziland)
Miss Asia: Sherry Rose Byrne (Miss Philippines)
Miss Europe: Pia Rosenberg Larsen (Denmark)
Miss Americas: Giselle Laronde (Trinidad and Tobago)
Miss Oceania: Lynda Marie McManus (New Zealand)