Surprising Pageant Princesses and Queens

Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone - you’ve seen them on television and on the big screen, but did you know that before their acting careers, these ladies were beauty pageant contestants? You may have known about those three actresses, but here are some surprising pageant princesses you may not know about.

Known for her roles in films like One Million B.C., the 1973 rendition of The Three Musketeers, and Legally Blonde, Raquel Welch has made quite the name for herself. Did you know this acting beauty was also a beauty pageant contestant?

Pageant Titles: Miss Photogenic, Miss La Jolla, Miss Contour, Miss Fairest of the Fair, and Miss San Diego 1957

Before she played in well-known shows, such as Dallas and The Dukes of Hazard, Lindsay Bloom was strutting across stages in beauty pageant dresses.

Pageant Titles & Achievements: Miss Arizona 1971, Miss USA 1972, and fourth runner up at the Miss International Pageant

Kathie Lee Gifford’s acting career includes roles on many popular television shows and films, such as The First Wives Club, Touched by An Angel and her morning talk show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Before her rise to stardom, Gifford was a pageantry queen.

Pageant Titles: Maryland’s Junior Miss; and she went on to represent Maryland in America’s Junior Miss Pageant.

Lynda Carter may have played Wonder Woman in The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, but her most elegant role was being a pageant queen.

Pageant Titles & Achievements: Miss World USA 1972 and Carter reached the semi-finals in the 1972 Miss World pageant.

Do you know of someone famous who is also a pageant queen or contestant? Let us know with a comment!