On 16th May 1997 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, exactly twenty two years ago, Brooke Lee of USA was crowned Miss Universe 1997. She became the 46th Miss Universe after beating 73 other women for the coveted title.

An American actress, TV Host, model and beauty queen, Brooke Lee won the Miss Universe crown at the age of 26 years and 128 days, becoming the oldest Miss Universe to win the crown. She is of Korean, Hawaiian, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, English and French ancestry.

As she completes twenty two years of being crowned Miss Universe, Brooke has defined her career and her life on her own terms. Not only has she proven to be a wonderful and successful beauty queen, she has also branched out into different paths and achieved success there as well.

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(Photo Credit: Brooke Lee Instagram)

Since her reign, Brooke has made several cameo appearances in movies and television shows and has hosted quite a few of them as well. She is also a host of a regional show called Pacific Fusion, focusing on Asian-American lifestyles.

Brooke along with Al Masini also were the forces behind organizing Miss Universe 1998 in her home state of Hawaii for the first time. There were many other facts related to that year’s edition such as Miss Universe 1997 was also the last edition of Miss Universe where the winner was enthroned onstage during the crowning ceremony. It was also the last time South Africa was represented by someone other than Miss SA. Mbali Gasa, who held the title of Miss Universe South Africa back when it was a separate pageant, sadly didn’t make the cut to Top 25. At the finale, Marena Bencomo of Venezuela and Margot Bourgeois of Trinidad finished as first and second runners-up respectively.