Christiane Magnani Martel (1936) is a French actress, winner of several beauty contests. She was the second woman to win the Miss Universe pageant in 1953, held on July 17 in Long Beach, California. In addition, she was the first French woman to obtain the title.
Before being the most beautiful woman in the world, Martel had already won other regional beauty awards, such as Miss Châtellerault in 1952 or Miss Cinémonde. It was crowned by actress Julie Adams, since Armi Kuusela, Miss Universe in 1952 and representative of Finland, had renounced her crown.
Christiane Martel. By Mondadori Publishers
The title included a contract with the Universal International studio, through which she played minor roles in several films, so she took advantage of the popularity that the beauty award brought her to fulfill her dream of being an actress. In 1954 she moved to Mexico, where she starred in most of her films, as well as Italy, where she also had a poster.
Her acting career was relatively short but productive. Between 1954 and 1962, he starred or participated in 32 films, 17 of which were filmed in Mexico. In addition to Down the Curtain (1955) with Cantinflas, her best-known films are --¡ Viva el amor! (1958), Señoritas (1959) and Juana Gallo (1960), starring María Félix and Juan Aguilar.
Biography
Early years
Christiane Magnani Martel was born on January 18, 1936 in Piennes, France. She grew up in a humble family of Italian origin that, during World War II, moved to the west of France.
He lived in Piennes until he was 4 years old, in the department of Meurthe and Moselle. In 1940, the family moved to the town of Loudun, near Angers and Tours. She is the younger sister of Georgette Magnani, who was the wife of American filmmaker Vincente Minnelli before divorcing him in 1957.
Beauty contests
Since 1952, Christiane Magnani has won several beauty pageants, including Miss Châtellerault, Miss Center and Le plus belle italienne de France (The most beautiful Italian woman in France).
In 1953, she left Châtellerault to participate in the 1953 Miss Cinémonde pageant, under the name Christiane Martel, as she considered it more convenient to use her surname of French origin.
Miss Universe 1953
Cinémonde magazine was in charge of selecting the representative of France in the Miss Universe 1953 contest. The magazine had Sylviane Carpentier, Miss Picardy 1952, Miss France 1953 and second finalist of Miss Europe at the beginning of 1953. But as That year she was preparing for her wedding, Carpentier refused to participate in the Miss Universe and Miss World contests.
Therefore, Cinémonde replaced her for the Miss Universe pageant with Christiane Martel and for the Miss World pageant for Denise Perrier. That was how, by chance, Christiane Martel was chosen to represent her country in the second Miss Universe pageant held at the Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, on July 17, 1953.
It was the second time that this international contest was held and Martel faced 25 international candidates. The five finalists were representatives from Australia, Japan, Mexico, the USA and their native France.
Christiane was crowned Miss Universe and succeeded Finnish Armi Kuusela, being the first Frenchwoman to win the title. Precisely, when the Finnish model renounced the previous title, Martel had to be crowned by the American actress Julie Adams.
Martel was the only Frenchwoman to win the Miss Universe title until Iris Mittenaere did so in January 2017.
Personal life
Martel married in 1954 Ronnie Marengo, a department store heir from whom she divorced the year after the wedding.
In 1961 she married Miguel Alemán Velasco, who would be the governor of Veracruz and the son of Miguel Alemán Valdés, former president of Mexico. With her she had four children, Claudia, Mónica, Miguel and Carla Alemán Magnani.
Alemán, as he is known, and to whom she is still married, was a senator and governor of the state of Veracruz (1998-2004) and is currently part of the Board of Directors of Televisa. He sold (or ceded) his stake in Televisa to his son, Miguel Alemán Magnani, who is also President and CEO of Interjet airline.
During her tenure as First Lady of Veracruz, Martel supported many social causes, including health care and education, particularly poor and marginalized indigenous groups.
On July 24, 1978, she was among the judges of the Miss Universe elections held at the Acapulco Convention Center in Mexico. In addition, she participated in the Miss Universe elections of 1989, 1993 and 2007.
On December 13, 1996, she was president of the jury for the 1997 Miss France election, which took place at the Palais des Congrès du Futuroscope. Her last television appearance was on December 3, 2011 at the Miss France pageant, as the pageant's guest of honor.
Top Movies
After obtaining the title of Miss Universe, she began to appear in a large number of magazines and newspapers in Europe, the United States and South America. A fame that earned him popularity and start in the world of cinema.
Christiane Martel obtained a contract with Universal Studios in Hollywood and began her international acting career in 1954. Since then, and until 1962, she appeared in 26 films, mainly in Hollywood and Italian productions.
It was the "golden age" of cinema in Mexico and he quickly landed leading roles in a series of feature films. Among his main films are:
- So This Is Paris from 1954
- Down with the curtain in 1955 together with the Mexican comedian Mario Moreno «Cantinflas»
- Adam and Eve, 1956
- Wild Heart from 1956
- Long live love! out of 1958
- I, Sinner from 1959
- Ladies of 1959
- Tipi da spiaggia in 1959
- The Little Savage in 1959
- Juana Gallo from 1960
References
- Dictionaries and encyclopedias on the Academician. (2019). Christiane Martel. Recovered from esacademic.com
- normalpopayan.edu.co. (2019). Christiane Martel. Recovered from resources.normalpopayan.edu.co
- (2019). Christiane Martel - IMDb. Retrieved from imdb.com
- com. (2019). Christiane Martel - The Private Life and Times of Christiane Martel. Christiane Martel Pictures. Recovered from glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com
- Eye, T. (2019). Christiane Martel. Beach, Village & Urban Living in Oaxaca. Recovered from theeyehuatulco.com