Gunilla Knutsson (14 November 1940 – 3 February 2025) was a Swedish actress, model, author and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Sweden The Miss Sweden or Miss Universe Sweden (), is the title of the Swedish beauty pageant, qualifying delegates to the Miss Universe competition. In 2009 the pageant renamed as Miss Universe Sweden and the first national final was held on 6 June 200 ...

1961 and was a semi-finalist in the Miss Universe 1961 pageant.

Life and career

Knutsson is most famous for a series of

Noxzema Noxzema ( ) is an American brand of skin cleanser marketed by Elida Beauty. Since 1914, it was sold in a small cobalt blue jar; but is now sold in a blue plastic jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus, among other ingredien ...

medicated

shaving cream Shaving cream or shave cream is a category of cream cosmetics used for shaving preparation. The purpose of shaving cream is to soften the hair by providing lubrication. Different types of shaving creams include aerosol shaving cream (also kn ...

commercials from 1967 to 1973, in which she urged men to "take it off, take it all off" (referring to facial hair). During 1973, she appeared with

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943), nicknamed "Broadway Joe", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seaso ...

in such a commercial when he was the star

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team. Knutsson later became the spokesperson and vice-president of sales for Rose Milk Skin Care Lotion. A photograph of Knutsson appeared on the cover of the 11 December 1970 issue of ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine. This issue of ''Life'', with the caption "Model Gunilla Knutson owns a health food store", featured a three-page article entitled "The Move To Eat Natural" with a photo of Knutsson at her store Nature's Children, of which she was part owner. Another photo of her appeared on the October 1972 cover of ''RC Modeler'' magazine in front of a radio-control model of a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter, designed by Len Sabato. In 1979, ''

The Beaver County Times ''The Beaver County Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States, serving suburban Beaver County northwest of Pittsburgh. It is the sole newspaper covering Beaver County. The ''Times'' has previously produc ...

'' issued an article, "The Gunilla Knutsson Saga", in which she spoke about her everyday life as an executive married woman. In the 1990s, she worked as a wine taster for Sabrina Wine Importers and a gymnastic instructor at the Buckley Elementary School in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Knutsson was married to Per von Scheele for over 50 years together with whom she had a son, Andreas von Scheele. She died in

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

, Sweden on 3 February 2025, at the age of 84.

Selected works

*''Beauty and Health the Scandinavian Way'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1969) *''Gunilla Knutson's Book of Massage'' (St. Martin's Press, 1972)

Footnotes

References

External links

Knutsson on the cover of ''Life'' 1970
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knutsson, Gunilla 1940 births 2025 deaths Miss Sweden winners Miss Universe 1961 contestants Swedish emigrants to the United States