In 1967, Miss Alabama USA went on to win Miss Universe: Vintage photos – AL.com
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Sylvia Hitchcock
Did you know there’s been exactly one Miss Universe from Alabama?
Sylvia Hitchcock, who was crowned Miss Alabama USA in 1967, went on to become Miss USA and Miss Universe later that year.
To date, Hitchcock is the only woman to win all three pageants as a representative of our state. Hitchcock wasn’t an Alabama native — she was a junior at the University of Alabama when she became Miss Universe — but she helped to bring public attention to Alabama during her pageant days.
You can see vintage photos of Hitchcock in the gallery at the top of this post, along with a 2006 picture of her at an event in New York City. (Along with other Miss Universe winners, Hitchcock was helping to spread the word about a new book, “The Miss Universe Guide to Beauty.”)
Hitchcock, who died in 2015, is in our thoughts as Miss Universe marks its 70th anniversary in 2021. Miss India, Harnaaz Sandhu, took the crown on Dec. 12 at the pageant in Eliat, Israel. Miss USA 2021, Elle Smith of Kentucky, was among the top 10 finalists.
If you’ve never heard of Hitchcock — or realized that Alabama can claim a Miss Universe winner — here are a few things to know about her.
Sylvia Louise Hitchcock was born on Jan. 31, 1946, in Massachusetts and spent most of her life in Florida.
According to an obituary posted by the Miami Herald, Hitchcock grew up on chicken farm in Miami-Dade County. She attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School and Miami-Dade Junior College.
During her junior year at the University of Alabama, Hitchcock majored in art. She was a member of Chi Omega sorority, and her sorority sisters submitted Hitchcock’s name to the Miss Alabama USA pageant.
According to the Lakeland Ledger, Hitchcock competed for Miss Alabama USA in a borrowed swimsuit. When she moved on to the Miss USA pageant, Hitchcock took the crown with “a college co-ed’s wardrobe and a plain yellow bridesmaid’s dress.”
From the TimeNote website: “Hitchcock, who had previously competed in local pageants in Florida, represented Alabama at the Miss USA 1967 pageant. She was chosen as one of the 15 best in swimsuit and won the Miss USA title on May 22. In July she became the first Miss USA to win the Miss Universe title since Linda Bement in 1960.”
Hitchcock never completed her education at the University of Alabama, opting instead for a modeling career.
“After passing on her title, she tried modeling in New York but became disillusioned with the city and returned to Miami where she worked for a television station. In 1972 she was one of a panel of twelve judges for the Miss Universe 1972 pageant won by Kerry Anne Wells,” TimeNote says. “Hitchcock married William Carson, the inventor of a fruit harvesting machine, in 1970. They had three children — Jonathan, Christianne and Will — as well as seven grandchildren: Saige, Hayden, Griffin, Brailey, Atley, McKenna and Sydney. She resided in Lake Wales, Florida until her death from cancer on Aug. 16, 2015. She was 69.”
In a 1977 interview with the Lakeland Ledger, Hitchcock dispelled the notion that pageants focus on beauty alone.
“Health factors and cleanliness are very important,” Hitchcock told Miriam Gessner, the paper’s community news editor. “They look for posture, the way you walk, your general bearing, mentality and rapport with others. And personal interviews count, a great deal. Dummies don’t win!”
The headline for the story said: “Former Miss Universe Uses Intelligence, Common Sense To Make Good Impression.”
IMDB lists a handful of TV and movie credits for Hitchcock:
Susan Gallagher, writer-director for “Beneath the Crown,” pays tribute to Hitchcock in the video below.
“She just had this really special spirit about her,” Gallagher says. “She wasn’t like your typical beauty queen. She was an artist, is what she was, and she was always in your corner. It didn’t matter if you were at the top of your game, or at the bottom of your game, she was always there to kind of give you a boost and to say something positive, and to move forward. That’s kind of how she lived her life.”
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