Miss Universe 1978

Miss Universe 1978
Miss Universe 1978
	Margaret Gardiner
Date	24 July 1978
Presenters	Bob Barker; Helen O'Connell;
Entertainment	Robert Goulet; Violines Mágicos de Villafontana;
Venue	Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco, Acapulco, Mexico
Broadcaster	CBS (international); Televisa (official broadcaster)
Entrants	75
Placements	12
Debuts	Lesotho; New Hebrides;
Withdrawals	Antigua; British Virgin Islands; French Guiana; Guadeloupe; Haiti; Indonesia; Liberia; Mauritius; Saint Kitts; Saint Lucia; Sint Maarten; Yugoslavia;
Returns	Bonaire; Guatemala; Morocco; Saint Vincent; Turkey;
Winner	Margaret Gardiner; South Africa
Congeniality	Sophia Titus (Trinidad and Tobago)
Best National Costume	Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan (India)
Photogenic	Maribel Guardia (Costa Rica)

Miss Universe 1978 was the 27th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco in Acapulco, Mexico, on 24 July 1978. It was the first time in the pageant's history that the event was held in Mexico. Margaret Gardiner of South Africa was crowned by Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago at the end of the event. This is the first time South Africa won the pageant.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1978	South Africa – Margaret Gardiner
1st runner-up	United States – Judi Andersen
2nd runner-up	Spain – Guillermina Ruiz
3rd runner-up	Colombia – Shirley Saenz
4th runner-up	Sweden – Cécilia Rodhe
Top 12	Belgium – Françoise Moens Chile – Marianne Müller Holland – Karen Gustafsson Ireland – Lorraine Enriquez Israel – Dorit Jellinek Mexico – Alba Cervera Peru – Olga Zumaran

Pageant

Judges

The following celebrities judged the final competition:^[1]

Christiane Martel – Miss Universe 1953 from France
Dewi Sukarno – Japanese socialite and former first lady of Indonesia
David Merrick – Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer
Line Renaud – French singer and actress
Miloš Forman – Film director from Czechoslovakia
Ursula Andress – Swiss actress and sex symbol of the 1960s
Melba Moore – American singer
Roberto Cavalli – Italian fashion designer
Wilhelmina Cooper – Founder of Wilhelmina Models
Anna Moffo – American opera singer
Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" – Mexican comedian and stage and film actor

Contestants

Seventy-five contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age^[a]	Hometown
American Samoa	Palepa Sio Tauliili^[2]	21	Pago Pago
Argentina	Delia Muñoz	17	Buenos Aires
Aruba	Margarita Tromp^[3]	26	Oranjestad
Australia	Beverley Pinder^[4]	23	Melbourne
Austria	Doris Anwander	18	Bregenz
Bahamas	Dulcie Millings	18	Nassau
Barbados	Judy Miller^[5]	20	Saint Michael
Belgium	Françoise Moens	18	Brussels
Belize	Christina Ysaguirre	20	Belmopan
Bermuda	Madeline Joell	19	Smith's Parish
Bolivia	Raquel Roca	18	Guayaramerín
Bonaire	Corinne Hernandez	19	Kralendijk
Brazil	Suzana Araújo	20	Dionísio
Canada	Andrea Eng	22	Vancouver
Chile	Marianne Müller	18	Santiago
Colombia	Shirley Sáenz	18	Bogotá
Costa Rica	Maribel Fernández	19	San José
Curaçao	Solange de Castro	20	Willemstad
Denmark	Anita Heske	20	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Raquel Josefina Jacobo	17	San Cristóbal
Ecuador	Mabel Ceballos	18	Guayaquil
El Salvador	Iris Mazorra	18	San Salvador
England	Beverly Isherwood	19	Bolton
Finland	Seija Paakkola^[6]	19	Oulu
France	Brigitte Konjovic	18	Paris
French Polynesia	Pascaline Tumia Teriireoo	19	Papeete
Greece	Marieta Kountouraki	21	Thessaloniki
Guam	Mary Lois Sampson	22	Mangilao
Guatemala	Claudia María Iriarte	20	Guatemala City
Holland	Karen Gustafsson	21	Rotterdam
Honduras	Olimpia Velásquez	20	Tegucigalpa
Hong Kong	Winnie Chan	22	Kowloon
Iceland	Anna Björk Edwards	19	Reykjavík
India	Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan	23	New Delhi
Ireland	Lorraine Enriquez	19	Dublin
Israel	Dorit Jellinek	19	Haifa
Italy	Andreina Mazzoti	21	Brescia
Japan	Hisako Manda	20	Osaka
Lebanon	Reine Antoine Semaan	17	Beirut
Lesotho	Joan Libuseng Khoali	21	Maseru
Malaysia	Yasmin Yusuff	22	Kuala Lumpur
Malta	Pauline Farrugia	22	Żebbuġ
Mexico	Alba Margarita Cervera	19	Yucatan
Morocco	Majida Tazi	–	Rabat
New Hebrides	Christine Spooner	18	Luganville
New Zealand	Jane Simmonds^[7]	21	Auckland
Nicaragua	Claudia Herrera	19	Masaya
Northern Mariana Islands	Julias Salas Concepción	17	Saipan
Norway	Jeanette Aarum	19	Oslo
Panama	Diana Leticia Conte	20	Panama City
Papua New Guinea	Angelyn Muta Tukana	21	Bougainville
Paraguay	Rosa María Duarte	26	Asunción
Peru	Olga Zumarán	19	Lima
Philippines	Jennifer Cortes^[8]	17	Manila
Puerto Rico	Ada Perkins	18	San Juan
Réunion	Evelyn Pongerand	19	La Possession
Saint Vincent	Gailene Collin	22	Kingstown
Scotland	Angela McLeod	20	Fife
Singapore	Annie Lee	20	Singapore
South Africa	Margaret Gardiner	18	Cape Town
South Korea	Jung-eun Shon	23	Seoul
Spain	Guillermina Ruiz	21	Barcelona
Sri Lanka	Dlirukshi Wimalasooriya	27	Colombo
Suriname	Garrance Rustwijk	18	Paramaribo
Sweden	Cécilia Rodhe	17	Gothenburg
Switzerland	Sylvia von Arx	20	Appenzell Innerrhoden
Thailand	Pornpit Sakornvijit	23	Bangkok
Trinidad and Tobago	Sophia Titus	18	Port of Spain
Turkey	Billur Lutfiye Bingol	19	Istanbul
United States	Judi Andersen	20	Honolulu
United States Virgin Islands	Barbara Henderson	23	Christiansted
Uruguay	María del Carmen da Rosa	21	Salto
Venezuela	Marisol Alfonzo	21	Caracas
Wales	Elizabeth Ann Jones	20	Welshpool
West Germany	Eva Marie Gabrielle Gottschalk	26	Berlin

Notes

^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

^ "Once More... Who's the Fairest". Los Angeles Times. July 24, 1978. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
^ "Beauties all set for big contest". The Straits Times. 24 July 1978. p. 13. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via National Library Board.
^ "Miss Aruba naar Mexico" [Miss Aruba to Mexico]. Amigoe (in Dutch). 27 June 1978. p. 5. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Delpher.
^ "Choice of the week". Royal Australian Navy News. 3 November 1978. p. 3. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Trove.
^ "West Indian trio". The Virgin Islands Daily News. 17 July 1978. p. 10. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Google News Archive.
^ Lindfors, Jukka (22 November 2011) [28 October 2009]. "Seija Paakkola, Miss Suomi 1978" [Seija Paakkola, Miss Finland 1978]. Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 February 2026.
^ "Miss N.Z. title goes north". The Press. Christchurch, New Zealand. 18 May 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 29 January 2026 – via Papers Past.
^ Lo, Ricky (16 March 2016). "Whatever happened to Jennifer Cortes?". Philippine Star. Retrieved 8 February 2026.

External links

Miss Universe official website

[A-2] Ages at the time of the pageant

[latimes-1] "Once More... Who's the Fairest". Los Angeles Times. July 24, 1978. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2011.

[3] "Beauties all set for big contest". The Straits Times. 24 July 1978. p. 13. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via National Library Board.

[4] "Miss Aruba naar Mexico" [Miss Aruba to Mexico]. Amigoe (in Dutch). 27 June 1978. p. 5. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Delpher.

[5] "Choice of the week". Royal Australian Navy News. 3 November 1978. p. 3. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Trove.

[6] "West Indian trio". The Virgin Islands Daily News. 17 July 1978. p. 10. Retrieved 8 February 2026 – via Google News Archive.

[7] Lindfors, Jukka (22 November 2011) [28 October 2009]. "Seija Paakkola, Miss Suomi 1978" [Seija Paakkola, Miss Finland 1978]. Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 8 February 2026.

[8] "Miss N.Z. title goes north". The Press. Christchurch, New Zealand. 18 May 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 29 January 2026 – via Papers Past.

[9] Lo, Ricky (16 March 2016). "Whatever happened to Jennifer Cortes?". Philippine Star. Retrieved 8 February 2026.

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