Miss USA 1955

Miss USA 1955
Winner Carlene Johnson combing hair before first day of Miss Universe 1955
Date	July 20, 1955
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California
Entrants	43
Placements	15
Winner	Carlene King Johnson Vermont

Miss USA 1955 was the 4th Miss USA pageant, held at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California on July 20, 1955. The pageant was won by Carlene King Johnson of Vermont, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Miriam Stevenson of South Carolina. King Johnson went on to finish as a Top 15 semi-finalist at Miss Universe 1955. First runner-up Margaret Haywood later went to London for Miss World 1955, finishing first runner-up to Susana Duijm of Venezuela.

Placements

Final Results	Contestant
Miss USA 1955	Vermont – Carlene King Johnson
1st Runner-Up	Arkansas – Margaret Haywood
2nd Runner-Up	Nebraska – Donna Streever
3rd Runner-Up	California – Donna Schurr
4th Runner-Up	Georgia – Carolann Connor
Top 15	Colorado – Dorothy Bewley Florida – Marlies Gessler Illinois – Diane Daniggelis New Mexico – Joan Schwartz New York – Janet Kadlecik New York City – Patricia O'Kane South Carolina – Sara Stone Texas – Mary Daughters Washington – Shirley Givins Wisconsin – Jeanne Boulay

Delegates

State/City	Name	Hometown	Age	Placement	Special Awards	Notes
Arizona	Patti Marks	Phoenix
Arkansas	Margaret Haywood	Jonesboro		1st runner-up		Later Miss World United States 1955 1st runner-up at Miss World 1955
California	Donna Schurr	Los Angeles		3rd runner-up
Colorado	Dorothy Bewley			Top 15
Connecticut	Jane Bartolotta	Hartford
Delaware	Helen Denise Blackwell	Wilmington
Florida	Mariles Gessler			Top 15
Georgia	Carolann Conno			4th runner-up
Illinois	Betty Daniggelis	Chicago	18	Top 15
Indiana	Mary Wasick
Iowa	Jerri Cole	Holstein
Louisiana	Merlin Garcia	Gretna
Maryland	Gloria Ruth King	Baltimore
Massachusetts	Jean Dernago	Springfield
Miami Beach, FL	Beverly Masters
Michigan	Martha Smith
Minnesota	Sally Ann Colombo	Stillwater
Missouri	Bennie Pritchard
Nebraska	Donna Jo Streever			2nd runner-up
New Hampshire	Patricia Ann Mowry
New Jersey	Beverly Rogers	Maywood
New Mexico	Joan Schwartz			Top 15
New York	Janet Kadlecik	New York City		Top 15
New York City	Patricia O'Kane	New York City		Top 15
North Carolina	Mary Ratliffe	Wadesboro
North Dakota	Joan Smith
Ohio	Carol Hagerman	Columbus
Oregon	Rose Karcha
Pennsylvania	Marianne Marcus	Philadelphia
Philadelphia	Doris Klein
Rhode Island	Beverly Jansen	Providence
South Carolina	Sara Stone			Top 15
South Dakota	Phyllis Choquette
St. Louis	Janet Coker
Tennessee	Barbara Gurley	Memphis	24
Texas	Mary Daughters	Houston		Top 15
Utah	Myrna J. Rasmussen	Salt Lake City	21
Vermont	Carlene King Johnson	Rutland	22	Winner		Top 15 at Miss Universe 1955 Previously Miss Vermont 1953
Virginia	Jeannie Asble	Portsmouth
Washington	Shirley Givins			Top 15
West Virginia	Barbara Tucker
Wisconsin	Jeanne Marianne Bouley	Fond du Lac	19	Top 15
Wyoming	Barbara Kaye Latta	Casper

Historical significance

• Vermont wins competition for the first time. Also becoming in the 4th state who does it for the first time.
• Arkansas earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time, becoming its highest placement of the state until 1982.
• Nebraska earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time, becoming its highest placement of the state until 2018.
• California earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time, becoming its highest placement of the state until 1959.
• Georgia earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
• States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Arkansas, California, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, New York City, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
• New York placed for the fourth consecutive year.
• California, Illinois, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas placed for the third consecutive year.
• Arkansas, New York City and Wisconsin made their second consecutive placement.
• Colorado, Florida and Washington last placed in 1953.
• Georgia, New Mexico and Vermont placed for the first time.
• Iowa and Ohio break an ongoing streak of placements since 1953.
• Minnesota breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1952.

External links

• Miss USA official website