Miss USA 1957
| Miss USA 1957 | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 17, 1957 |
| Presenters | Bob Russell |
| Venue | Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, United States |
| Entrants | 44 |
| Placements | 15 |
| Winner |
Mary Leona Gage  Utah (successor)
|
Mary Leona Gage
Maryland (dethroned)
Miss USA 1957, the sixth Miss USA pageant, took place in Long Beach, California on July 17, 1957 during the run-up to the year's Miss Universe pageant. The 1957 Miss USA pageant is noted as marking the only occasion to date on which the winner was stripped of her title by pageant organizers.
At the end of the pageant, Mary Leona Gage of Maryland was declared the winner and was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Miss Universe 1956 Carol Morris, of Iowa. The following day, rumors about Gage's past and current circumstances began to circulate, and it eventually emerged that not only had Gage lied about her age (she was 18, not 21 as she had claimed), but she was also twice-married and the mother of two children. Since Gage had broken several eligibility rules, she was immediately disqualified.
The title and the associated prize package automatically passed to the 1st runner-up, Charlotte Sheffield of Utah. The other three finalists were moved one place, and the highest-scoring semi-finalist, Kathryn Gabriel of Ohio, become the 4th runner-up. Unfortunately, by the time the scandal broke publicly, the Miss Universe preliminary judging had already taken place, with Gage chosen as a semi-finalist; she was allowed to participate pending the results of the investigation. It was too late for Sheffield to compete, and it would be the only time the United States has not been represented at the Miss Universe pageant.
Later that year, Sheffield was sent to London as the USA contestant for Miss World 1957, but she failed to place.
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Wikipedia