15 Surprising Celebrities Who Got Their Start In Beauty Pageants
Beauty pageants are a competition which judges and ranks the physical appearance of contestants, but also takes into account various other aspects, including the woman's personality, her skills, and her intelligence. It's no secret that beauty pageants don't have the best reputation, and a lot of people seem to view it as a shallow pastime, that only involves women lining up to be judged.
However, that's not always true, and a few of these competitions have served as a platform for many women to further their education and their careers. In fact, some of the most talented and well-known women in the entertainment industry actually got their start in beauty pageants. While a couple may be a little more obvious than others, most of the women on this list you would never have suspected of being a beauty queen, and they include a now-billionaire, a passionate journalist, and the women behind both the old and the new, Wonder Woman.
Beauty pageants have the ability to get someone recognition, but more than that, they can also be a platform to inspire and educate. Below are 15 surprising celebrities, who are not only beautiful but intelligent and well-rounded women, who actually got their start in pageants.
15 Gal Gadot Hated Pageants
Most people know Gal Gadot for her role as DC Comics character Wonder Woman, but before she was a Hollywood superstar her life was very different. Gadot grew up in a small town in Israel, she served two years in the Israeli army, and she also won the Miss Israel pageant in 2004.
She revealed that her win was quite unexpected and that she really wasn't ready for what came with it. What followed was Miss Universe, something which she really didn't enjoy. During an interview with W magazine, she said, "I was 18, I just graduated high school and I had some time in between going to the army. My mom figured, 'Hey, why don't I send your photo, you finished school and this is like a proper pageant,' whatever. I got in and I never thought I would win and then I won and then it scared me. I was like, 'What? Miss Israel? All the responsibility of being Miss Israel?'"
14 Halle Berry Was Miss USA
Halle Berry got her first big film break in the 1991 movie, Jungle Fever, but before that, she was a beauty queen. Berry entered Miss Teen USA in 1985 when she was only 19. The following year, in 1986, she competed in the Miss USA pageant, and then went on to compete in the Miss World competition where she reportedly placed as 4th runner-up.
She has previously addressed her pageant days, telling W magazine that she tries to avoid playing the role of the beautiful woman for this very reason. She wanted to be taken seriously as an actress, and she said, "I came from the world of beauty pageants and modeling and right away when people heard that I got discounted as an actor.”
13 Eva Longoria Has A Natural Love For Hairspray And Makeup
It sort of makes sense to imagine Eva Longoria as a pageant queen, because she is undeniably one of the most beautiful women in the world. She became a household name for her role as Gabrielle Solis in Desperate Housewives, but before this she was competing in beauty pageants and held the title of Miss Corpus Christi USA in 1998 -- she was born in Corpus Christi, Texas -- which offered her the opportunity to compete in a talent contest in Los Angeles, which she won.
She has previously spoken about her love of makeup and hairspray, which stemmed from her time as a pageant queen. During an interview with Glamour, she said, “I'm a pageant girl from Texas, so I like makeup and hairspray. And the smoky eye? I think I was born with it!”
12 Oprah Winfrey's Pageant Days Launched Her Career
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most successful women in the world and is beloved by millions. But she also got her start in beauty pageants. In the '70s, 17-year-old Winfrey competed in the Miss Black Tennessee pageant in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. She won, and it opened a lot of doors for her because according to reports she was offered a job with the radio station, WVOL -- so yes, she's always been talented when it comes to communication.
Winfrey also won a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she went on to get a degree in Speech Communications and Performing Arts. She thinks of the experience fondly, and is quoted as saying “The Miss Black America pageant put a flower in my mind.”
11 Vanessa Williams' Win Was Shrouded By Controversy
Vanessa Williams was the first African-American woman to be crowned Miss America. Williams made history when she won the title of Miss America 1984 (she was crowned in 1983), but her win was shrouded in controversy.
In 1984, Williams resigned from the title and gave up her crown after Penthouse, despite Williams' protests, published unauthorized nude photos of her -- which, according to Time, she had shot when she was a photographer's assistant two years prior to her win -- in their September edition, along with the headline, “Miss America: Oh, God, She's Nude!”
However, Williams made a comeback, and she has enjoyed a long and successful career in the entertainment industry. And in 2015, she even got an apology from Miss America and returned that same year as a celebrity judge.
10 Sarah Palin Won Miss Congeniality
Perhaps one of the most surprising people on this list to have competed in a pageant is politician Sarah Palin. Pictures have since emerged showing Palin competing in a swimsuit in the 1984 Miss Alaska Contest. Palin was reportedly aged 20 at the time of the pageant, and she was crowned Miss Congeniality.
According to Daily Mail, she represented her hometown of Wasilla under her maiden name, Heath. And former pageant girl, Pamela Massey, who competed alongside Palin during the competition reflected on their time together fondly. She said, “She was poised and confident even back then. She had a lovely outgoing personality and was lots of fun. There were 16 of us in the pageant and we all shared a modest house in Anchorage for five days.”
9 Vanessa Minnillo Impressed In Pageants From A Young Age
Vanessa Minnillo is better known for being Vanessa Lachey (she married Nick Lachey in 2011), but before she was a well-known television personality, her interests were in beauty pageants. In 1996, at age 17, Minnillo entered the Miss South Carolina competition and won the crown. Then, two years later in 1998, she entered Miss Teen USA. And again, she won.
Minnillo has previously spoken about her pageant days and the important lessons she learned from them. She told TV Guide that the pageants she was in had not been about only outer beauty, and she was determined “to do the pageant my way.” What she meant by this was that she wanted her time competing to be an accurate reflection of who she is as a person. She said this approach included her deciding to “answer the way I would've answered from my heart, wear what I've worn and to be the person I would've been proud of being and telling my dad that I was.”
8 Priyanka Chopra Won, Despite A Blunder
Priyanka Chopra has achieved a lot in her life, she is a Bollywood star, as well as a Hollywood one (with roles including Quantico and Seven Bucks Digital Studios), but she has also been crowned as Miss India, and was the winner of the Miss World 2000 beauty pageant.
And one of the answers to a question about who she thought the most successful woman living today was, has since been revealed. According to Cosmopolitan, Chopra's answer to this question revealed how she missed out on the fact that she'd been asked who she was inspired by that was “living today.” Chopra answered by telling the judges that she admired the late Mother Teresa. Still, her blunder was not enough to overshadow her charm and beauty, which is why she ultimately won the competition.
7 Diane Sawyer's Pageant Helped Further Her Education
You now know Diane Sawyer for being a passionate journalist who has interviewed some of the most well-known and powerful people in Hollywood. But long before she was the woman she is today, Sawyer used beauty pageants to her advantage, and they helped to further her education.
In 1963, Diane Sawyer entered a beauty pageant, America's Junior Miss, and it was a competition that would change her life forever. She won the title as a representative from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and was awarded prize money. The great thing about this pageant is that it takes education seriously, and Sawyer is reported to have used the prize money to pay for her first year of university at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, the college where she later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in English.
6 Kelly Hu Was The First Miss Teen USA Of Asian Descent
Kelly Hu got her acting break on the American sitcom, Growing Pains in 1987, when she played the role of Mike Seaver's love interest, Melia, for three episodes. But prior to her appearance on the small screen, she competed and won, the Miss Teen USA in 1985. She was also the first person of Asian descent to win.
Hu didn't leave her pageant days behind her when she was an actress though because she went back to competing and entered Miss USA 1993. She ended up being a finalist in the competition, which was held in Wichita, Kansas. She has since starred in several movies, multiple TV shows, including Army Wives and The Vampire Diaries, and Young Justice, and has lent her voice to numerous video games.
5 Lynda Carter Won Miss USA
There's another Wonder Woman star to make it on this list of celebrities who had their start in beauty pageants -- Gal Gadot being the first we mentioned. In 1972, Lynda Carter was in her early twenties and entered a local Arizona beauty pageant, and then the following year, in 1973, she represented Arizona in Miss USA. She won. She would then go on to compete in Miss World, and although she failed to win, she made it to the semi-finals.
The world took notice of Carter, and in 1975 she had secured the role of Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. The show had started out as a special but was turned into a TV series which ran until 1979.
4 Ali Landry Was A Queen, But Her Daughter Won't Enter Pageants
In 1996, Ali Landry had her big pageant break because she won the title of Miss Louisiana USA, and later that same year she secured the prestigious title of Miss USA. Since her time in pageants, Landry has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry and has appeared in TV series, including, Sunset Beach, Eve, and Felicity.
However, Landry, who is now a mother of two, has previously stated that it's unlikely that her own daughter will do pageants. When asked by Hollywood Life if her daughter would follow in her footsteps she replied with, “Probably not.” She added, “My daughter has a very outgoing personality, so here in Los Angeles there are so many creative outlets for her to be expressive. There's theater and all these other things she's offered here so I don't think we would really do that, but knowing her, she would probably love it.”
3 Michelle Pfeiffer's Win Took Her Away From Home
Michelle Pfeiffer entered a local beauty pageant, the Miss Orange County, in 1978. At the time she was aged 19. The competition reportedly opened doors for Pfeiffer into the film industry. It started with commercials and small roles in TV series, and eventually, Pfeiffer became a leading lady with roles in films such as Batman Returns, Dangerous Liaisons, and White Oleander.
While she got her start in beauty pageants, the beginning of her career in the entertainment industry was not always easy, and according to The Telegraph, Pfeiffer was reluctant to move away from home. She told the publication, “'I said, going into acting, "I'm never moving to LA,' because it scared me. But there was no way you could build an acting career in Orange County.”
2 Sharon Stone's Pageant Resulted In A Big Move
Sharon Stone entered the Miss Pennsylvania beauty pageant when she was just 17-years-old. She won, and according to The Independent, following her win, one of the pageant judges advised her to move to New York so that she could pursue a career as a fashion model. She did, and through her modeling assignments, she also started acting. While it was small roles at first, in 1990, Stone got her major break in the film, Total Recall.
Years later she spoke about her time as a pageant queen, revealing that when she was competing in Miss Pennsylvania she met famed boxer, Muhammed Ali. She told Entertainment Tonight that after they met, Ali called her father and offered her a role in a film he was making, and while her father was skeptical of his daughter becoming a star, she revealed that Ali always thought she had potential.
1 Cybill Shepherd Was Noticed By Hollywood Execs
Cybill Shepherd had an unbelievable career in Hollywood and has been recognized for her talents, time and time again. In addition to winning three Golden Globes, she has also been nominated for a number of other industry awards, which include Emmys, People's Choice Awards and a Golden Satellite Award.
But when Shepherd was just a teenager, she started competing in beauty pageants. In 1966, she won the title of Miss Teenage Memphis, and then two years later at age 18, she received the Model of the Year award -- propelling her into stardom. The two industries, fashion and entertainment, are closely linked, so it was only a matter of time before Shepherd was noticed by Hollywood executives. In 1971, she landed her first role as an actress in The Last Picture Show.