Gladys Zender - Miss Universe

Miss Universe

Born to a Swiss father and a Peruvian mother, she obtained the title of Miss Universe 1957 in Long Beach, California, United States.

After being crowned, it was revealed that she was only 18 years old, a few months under the contest's minimum age requirement. Pageant officials decided that she could keep the crown, after they were told she was considered to be 18 in Peru. That same year, Miss USA, Mary Leona Gage, was stripped of her title and disqualified from the semifinals of the Miss Universe pageant after it was revealed she was a married mother of two children. Miss Argentina, Mónica Lamas, replaced her as one of the 15 semifinalists.