Marisol Malaret

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Marisol Malaret Beauty pageant titleholder

Birth name:	Marisol Malaret Contreras
Birthdate:	October 13, 1949 (age 57)
Birth location:	Utuado, Puerto Rico
Height:	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Eye color:	Blue
Hair color:	Auburn
Ethnicity:	Hispanic
Title(s):	Miss Puerto Rico 1970 Miss Universe 1970

Marisol Malaret Contreras, born on October 13, 1949 in Utuado, Puerto Rico, was the very first Puerto Rican woman to be crowned Miss Universe.

The auburn-haired, blue-green eyed Malaret won the title in the international competition held in Miami on July 11, 1970. Before winning, she worked as an executive secretary for a telephone company; this was part of her intense personal struggle, as she started to work from an early age due to the death of her father and chronic illness of her mother. She was reportedly persuaded by Puerto Rican make-up artist Carmen Andino to compete in the Miss Puerto Rico pageant, then owned by Puerto Rican modeling guru and businesswoman Anna Santisteban. Malaret's strong will, impeccable ethics and stunning beauty made her a crowd favorite in the local contest.

Due to her win in the Miss Universe pageant, she was honored with what was considered until then one of the biggest welcomings ever at San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, then known as Isla Verde International Airport.

After completing her reign as Miss Universe, Malaret became and still remains a very popular public figure in Puerto Rico, becoming a TV show host, radio personality and magazine editor. She has been married three times: the first, to former male model Butch James; the second, to musician Corky Stroman --with whom she procreated her only daughter, Sasha--; and the third, to Cuban-born engineer Frank Cué.

Among her TV jobs as a show host, Malaret worked on the Noche de Gala show, one of the island's highest rated tv shows during the middle-1980s, and as a magazine editor. She founded the island's first and most important women's magazines, Imagen in 1986, and also created Caras in 1992, which she headed until 2002. She was also involved in the fashion industry, by co-owning with former actress Gladys Aguayo the high-profiled women's boutique La Femme. Recently, she opened along with her daughter En Casa, a European-concept home store.

Malaret's face has graced the covers of countless international and Puerto Rican entertainment and gossip magazines, such as Vea, Teve Guía, Artistas, Estrellas and its smaller version Estrellitas. She has participated in many advertising campaigns, and performs occasionally as a motivational speaker to young women and aspiring business leaders.