Miss World 1952
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| Miss World 1952 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 14 November 1952 |
| Presenters | Eric Morley |
| Venue | Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom |
| Entrants | 11 |
| Placements | 5 |
| Debuts |
|
| Withdrawals |
|
| Winner | May-Louise Flodin Sweden |
Miss World 1952 was the second Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom, on 14 November 1952.
At the conclusion of the event, May-Louise Flodin of Sweden was announced as Miss World 1952. It was the first back-to-back victory in Miss World. During the announcement of winners, Flodin was only awarded with a trophy and a bouquet.
A special award was given by actress and former beauty queen Betty Hutton, who came third-runner up in each of her beauty pageant. It was given to Eva Hellas of Finland. It is also known, unofficially, that the fourth-runner up was Marlene Ann Dee of United Kingdom and the fifth runner-up was Nicole Drouin from France.
Eleven contestants from ten countries participated in this year's pageant, the smallest number of contestants in its history. The pageant was hosted by Eric Morley.
Selection of participants
Eleven contestants from ten countries were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestant was invited to compete again to even out the number of contestants, while two contestants were appointed to replace the original winner.
Replacements
Elisabeth van Proosdij was set to represent Holland at Miss World.[1] However, Van Proosdij chose to get married during her reign.[2] Therefore, Sanny Weitner, first runner-up at Miss Holland 1951, was appointed as the representative of Holland at Miss World.[2]
Debuts and withdrawals
After promoting the competition with twelve contestants, Morley thought of inviting Miss Britain 1951 Marlene Ann Dee to complete the twelve contestants in this edition. This edition marked the debuts of Finland, Ireland, Switzerland and West Germany. Belgium was also set to debut this year, however, Anne-Marie Pauwels refused to part from her boyfriend during the contest,[3] leading to her disqualification. Thus, only eleven contestants competed in the finals. Leila Teresa Tuma of Syria did not compete due to political tensions.[4]
Results
Placements
| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss World 1952 |
|
| 1st Runner-Up |
|
| 2nd Runner-Up |
|
| 3rd Runner-Up |
|
| 4th Runner-Up |
|
| 5th Runner-Up |
|
Judges
A panel of six judges evaluated the performances of the eleven contestants. They were:[7]
- Glynis Johns - actress
- Petula Clark - singer and actress
- Richard Todd - actor
- Claude Berr - co-organizer of the Miss Europe pageant
- Eddy Franklyn - owner of a model agency
- Charles Eade - editor of the Sunday Dispatch
Contestants
Eleven contestants competed for the title.[8]
| Country | Contestant | Age[a] | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|
 Denmark | Lillian Christensen | – | Copenhagen |
 Finland | Eva Hellas[9] | 19 | Helsinki |
 France | Nicole Drouin[10] | 22 | Paris |
 Ireland | Eithne Dunne | — | Dublin |
 Netherlands[b] | Sanny Weitner[11] | 19 | Amsterdam |
 Sweden | May-Louise Flodin[12] | 20 | Gothenburg |
 Switzerland | Sylvia Müller | 20 | Geneva |
 United Kingdom[c] | Doreen Dawne[13] | 29 | London |
| Marlene Ann Dee | 20 | ||
 United States | Tally Richards[14] | 24 | New York City |
 West Germany | Vera Marks[15] | 19 | Frankfurt |