Penelope Anne Coelen (born 15 April 1940) is a retired South African actress, model and beauty queen who was Miss World 1958. She was the first major international titleholder to come from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Early life

Penelope Anne Coelen was from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, and attended Durban Girls' High School.

Career

In the 1958 Miss World pageant, a total of 22 contestants from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

competed in the finals. Europeans dominated the semi-finals, but Penelope Anne Coelen, an 18-year-old secretary who played piano in the talent competition, was selected for the crown. She gained widespread international attention during her reign and received several lucrative modelling offers. The South African designer of her gowns, Bertha Pfister, also gained increased attention. After her reign as Miss World 1958, she tried her luck out in Hollywood with the help of

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

, but failed her screen test. She later managed her own line of clothing and endorsed beauty products, particularly

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

s. She appeared as a contestant on the television game show '' To Tell the Truth'' on 25 November 1958. She celebrated the 2014 Miss World win of South Africa's

Rolene Strauss Rolene Strauss (born 22 April 1992) is a South African beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss South Africa 2014 and was later crowned Miss World 2014. She is the third South African woman to be crowned Miss World, after Penelope Anne Coelen in ...

, and gave public appearances with the younger woman.

Personal life

Coelen returned to South Africa, and married wealthy sugarcane farmer Michel "Micky" Rey from the Natal Province. They raised five sons. She ran a guesthouse, worked as a beauty consultant, and gave lectures. Her son Nicholas Rey died in 2016, twelve years after he was severely injured in a polo accident. The Nicholas Rey Foundation Trust, founded in 2007, is named in his memory. Her husband Micky Rey died in 2019.

References

External links

British Movietone newsreel coverage of 1958 Miss World
on YouTube. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coelen, Penelope Anne 1939 births Living people Miss World winners Miss South Africa winners Actors from Durban White South African people Miss World 1958 delegates Alumni of Durban Girls' High School