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]
| Miss Universe 1977 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | 16 July 1977 |
| Presenters | |
| Venue | National Theater, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| Broadcaster |
|
| Entrants | 80 |
| Placements | 12 |
| Debuts |
|
| Withdrawals |
|
| Returns |
|
| Winner | Janelle Commissiong Trinidad and Tobago |
| Congeniality | Pamela Mercer (Canada) |
| Best National Costume | Kim Sung-hee (South Korea) |
| Photogenic | Janelle Commissiong (Trinidad and Tobago) |
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
| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Winner |
|
| 1st runner-up |
|
| 2nd runner-up |
|
| 3rd runner-up |
|
| 4th runner-up |
|
| Top 12 |
|
Special awards
| Award | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Amity |
|
| Miss Photogenic |
|
Contestants
Sixty-one contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Contestant | Age | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Samoa | Virginia Caroline Suka | 17 | Pago Pago |
| Antigua | Sheryl Ann Gibbons | 20 | St. John's |
 Argentina
|
Maritza Jurado | 24 | La Plata |
| Aruba | Margareth Eldrith Oduber | 22 | Oranjestad |
 Australia
|
Jill Minaham | 19 | Melbourne |
 Austria
|
Eva Düringer | 18 | Bodensee |
 Bahamas
|
Paulette Borghardt | 20 | Nassau |
 Barbados
|
Margaret Rouse | 18 | Saint James |
 Belgium
|
Claudine Vasseur | 18 | Brussels |
 Belize
|
Dora Maria Phillips | 18 | Belmopan |
 Bermuda
|
Connie Marie Frith | 23 | St. George's Parish |
 Bolivia
|
Liliana Gutiérrez | 18 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra |
 Brazil
|
Cássia Janys Moraes Silveira | 21 | Indaiatuba |
| British Virgin Islands | Andria Norman | 21 | Road Town |
 Canada
|
Pamela Mercer | 20 | Burnaby |
 Chile
|
Priscilla Brenner | 18 | Santiago |
 Colombia
|
Aura María Mojica | 18 | Valle de Cauca |
 Costa Rica
|
Claudia María Garnier | 18 | San José |
 Curaçao
|
Regine Tromp | 22 | Willemstad |
 Denmark
|
Inge Erlandsen | 23 | Copenhagen |
 Dominican Republic
|
Blanca Aurora Sardiñas | 23 | Santo Domingo |
 Ecuador
|
Lucía del Carmen Hernández[2] | 18 | Chone |
 El Salvador
|
Altagracia Arévalo | 19 | San Salvador |
 England
|
Sarah Louise Long | 19 | Bristol |
 Finland
|
Armi Aavikko | 18 | Helsinki |
 France
|
Véronique Fagot | 17 | Poitou |
| French Guiana | Evelyne Randel | 17 | Cayenne |
 West Germany
|
Marie-Luise Gassen | 24 | Munich |
 Greece
|
Maria Spantidaki | – | Athens |
| Guadeloupe | Catherine Reinette | – | Basse-Terre |
| Guam | Lisa Ann Caso | 20 | Agana |
 Haiti
|
Françoise Elie | 19 | Port-au-Prince |
 Netherlands
|
Ineke Berends | 25 | Amsterdam |
 Honduras
|
Carolina Rosa Rauscher | 19 | Siguatepeque |
| Hong Kong | Loletta Chu | 18 | Hong Kong |
 Iceland
|
Kristjana Þrainsdóttir | 24 | Reykjavík |
 India
|
Bineeta Bose | 18 | Delhi |
 Indonesia
|
Siti Mirza Nuria Arifin | 24 | Palembang |
 Ireland
|
Jakki Moore | 18 | Dublin |
 Israel
|
Zehava Vardi | 21 | Haifa |
 Italy
|
Paola Biasini | 22 | Milan |
 Japan
|
Kyoko Sato | 19 | Tokyo |
 Lebanon
|
Hyam Saadé | – | Beirut |
 Liberia
|
Welma Campbell | 21 | Monrovia |
 Malaysia
|
Leong Li Ping | 23 | Ipoh |
 Malta
|
Jane Saliba | 18 | Żurrieq |
 Mauritius
|
Danielle Marie Bouic | 22 | Port Louis |
 Mexico
|
Felicia Mercado | 17 | Baja California |
 New Zealand
|
Donna Anne Schultze | 20 | Auckland |
 Nicaragua
|
Beatriz Obregón | 18 | Rivas |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Margarita Camacho | 19 | Saipan |
 Norway
|
Åshild Jenny Ottesen | 22 | Oslo |
 Panama
|
Marina Valenciano | 19 | Panama City |
 Papua New Guinea
|
Sayah Karakuru | 24 | Port Moresby |
 Paraguay
|
María Leticia Zarza | 17 | Concepción |
 Peru
|
María Isabel Frías | 22 | Lima |
 Philippines
|
Anna Lorraine Kier | 17 | Baguio |
 Puerto Rico
|
Maria del Mar Rivera | 20 | Ponce |
| Réunion | Yolaine Morel | – | Saint-Denis |
| Saint Kitts | Annette Frank | 20 | Basseterre |
 Saint Lucia
|
Iva-Lua Mendes | 18 | Castries |
 Scotland
|
Sandra Bell | 18 | Glasgow |
 Singapore
|
Marilyn Choon | 17 | Singapore |
| Sint Maarten | Marie Madeleine Boirard | 19 | Philipsburg |
 South Africa
|
Glynis Fester | 19 | Cape Town |
 South Korea
|
Kim Sung-hee | 18 | Seoul |
 Spain
|
Luz María Polegre | 19 | Tenerife |
 Sri Lanka
|
Sobodhini Nagesan | 19 | Colombo |
 Suriname
|
Marlene Roesmienten Saimo | 19 | Paramaribo |
 Sweden
|
Birgitta Lindvall | 21 | Luleå |
 Switzerland
|
Anja Kristin Terzi | 17 | Geneva |
| Tahiti | Donna Aunoa | – | Papeete |
 Thailand
|
Laddawan Intriya | – | Bangkok |
 Trinidad and Tobago
|
Janelle Commissiong | 24 | Port of Spain |
 United States
|
Kimberly Tomes[3] | 21 | Houston |
| United States Virgin Islands | Denise George | 17 | Charlotte Amalie |
 Uruguay
|
Adriana María Umpierre | 19 | Salto |
 Venezuela
|
Cristal Montañez | 17 | Caracas |
 Wales
|
Christine Anne Murphy | 23 | Swansea |
 Yugoslavia
|
Ljiljana Sobajić | – | Belgrade |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Miss Trinidad 1st black Miss Universe". The Times. 17 Jul 1977. p. 18. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.)