| Miss USA 1957 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Charlotte Sheffield, Miss USA 1957 | |
| Date | 17 July 1957 |
| Presenters | Bob Russell† |
| Venue | Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California |
| Entrants | 44 |
| Placements | 15 |
| Winner | Charlotte Sheffield† Utah (Successor) Mary Leona Gage†  Maryland (Dethroned) |
Miss USA 1957 was the 6th Miss USA pageant, held at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California on July 17, 1957, during the run-up to the year's Miss Universe pageant.
At the end of the pageant, Mary Leona Gage of Maryland was declared the winner and was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Miss Universe 1956 Carol Morris, of Iowa.[1] [2]
The following day, rumors about Gage's past and current circumstances began to circulate, and an investigation was launched by pageant organisers. It was discovered that Gage was 18 (not 21 as she had claimed), while her mother and her mother-in-law confirmed she had been married twice and was the mother of two young children.
As all of these were violations of multiple contest eligibility rules, Gage was immediately disqualified,[1][2] and the title and the associated prize package automatically passed to the 1st runner-up, Charlotte Sheffield of Utah. The other three finalists were moved one place, and the highest-scoring semi-finalist, Kathryn Gabriel of Ohio, became the 4th runner-up.
By the time the scandal broke publicly, the Miss Universe preliminary judging had already taken place, with Gage chosen as a semi-finalist, and allowed to participate pending the results of the investigation. It was too late for Sheffield to compete, and it would be the only time the United States has not been represented at the Miss Universe pageant.[1] The 1957 Miss USA pageant is, as of 2024, the only occasion to date that the winner was stripped of her title by pageant organizers.
