View source for Christiane Martel

{{Expand Spanish|topic=bio|Christiane Martel|date=July 2022}}
{{short description|French and Mexican actress and beauty queen}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox pageant titleholder
| name       = Christiane Martel
| image      = Christiane Martel, circa 1954.jpg
| caption     = Martel, {{circa|1954}}
| birth_name  = Christiane Magnani 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1935|1|18}} 
| birth_place = [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], [[France]]
| height = 5ft 6in<ref name="spokane">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a3YzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hPYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5553,4347060&dq=christiane-martel&hl=en|title=New Miss Universe Is a Cute Parisian Dish|date=18 July 1953|work=Spokane Daily Chronicle|accessdate=18 April 2019}}</ref>
| nationality = French, Mexican
| occupation  = {{hlist|Actress|beauty queen}}
| years_active = 1954&ndash;1962
| spouse     = Ronnie Morengo (divorced)<br>[[Miguel Aleman Velasco]]
| children   = 4, including [[Miguel Alemán Magnani|Miguel]]
| domesticpartner = 
| title = [[Miss Universe 1953]]
| competitions = Miss Cinémonde 1953<br>(Winner)<br>[[Miss Universe 1953]]<br>(Winner)
}}
[[File:Christiane Martel in 1953 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Martel in 1953]]
'''Christiane Martel''' (born '''Christiane Magnani''' on 18 January 1935) is a French and Mexican actress, model and beauty queen. She became the second woman to win the [[Miss Universe]] beauty pageant in [[Miss Universe 1953|1953]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140330232126/http://guadalupeloaeza.typepad.com/abuelas_bien/2013/06/christiane-magnani-la-miss-universo-que-reina-en-el-coraz%C3%B3n-de-miguel-alem%C3%A1n-velasco.html Christiane Magnani, la “Miss Universo” que reina en el corazón de Miguel Alemán Velasco]. ''Hola''. 3 July 2013</ref> She was the only French woman to hold the Miss Universe title until [[Iris Mittenaere]] in [[Miss Universe 2016|2016]]. She is one of the last surviving stars from the [[Golden Age of Mexican cinema]].

== Life and career ==
Martel was born in [[Nancy, France]] to a modest family [[Italians in France|of Italian ancestry]] and was raised in [[Piennes]]. Amid the [[Second World War]], her family moved to Western France, and later, in 1940, to [[Loudun]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christiane Martel: biography and main films |url=https://www.lifeder.com/christiane-martel/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=lifeder.com}}</ref>

=== 1952{{Endash}}1953: Pageantry ===
She was Miss [[Châtellerault]] in 1952. She was crowned Miss Cinémonde and represented [[France]] at [[Miss Universe 1953]] where she became the second Miss Universe. She was crowned by actress [[Julie Adams]] as Miss Universe 1952, [[Armi Kuusela]] of [[Finland]], had given up her crown.

Martel's runners-up in the [[Miss Universe 1953|1953]] pageant was [[Myrna Hansen]] of the [[United States|USA]], followed by delegates of [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], and [[Australia]].

=== 1954{{En dash}}1962: Acting career ===
Shortly after her reign, Martel embarked on a successful career in international films, appearing in movies such as ''[[Yankee Pasha (film)|Yankee Pasha]]'', ''[[So This Is Paris (1955 film)|So This Is Paris]]'', ''[[Drop the Curtain]]'', the ''[[Corazón salvaje (1956 film)|1956 version]]'' of ''[[Corazón salvaje (novel)|Corazón salvaje]]'' (playing the villain Aimée), ''Viva el Amor!'', ''[[Rosa Blanca]]'' and her last film to date, 1961's ''Leoni al Sole''.

=== Later activities ===
Later, Martel served as a judge at the [[Miss Universe 1978]] pageant. She would also make television appearances at the [[Miss Universe]] pageants held in [[Miss Universe 1989|1989]], [[Miss Universe 1993|1993]], and [[Miss Universe 2007|2007]], all of which were held in Mexico. Her most recent television appearance in France was on 3 December 2011 at the [[Miss France]] pageant. She appeared in the Mexican television show, ''Sale el sol'' in 2017 where she was interviewed.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

== Personal life ==
Martel was married briefly to Ronnie Marengo, a department store heir, whom she divorced in 1955.<ref name="Griffin2010">{{cite book |author=Mark Griffin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEAez6Zv1EgC&pg=PA168 |title=A Hundred Or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli |date=2010 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81893-6 |pages=168–}}</ref> In 1961 she married [[Miguel Alemán Velasco]], who would become [[Governor of Veracruz]] and is the son of [[Miguel Alemán Valdés]], former [[president of Mexico]]. They have three daughters and one son. Their son, [[Miguel Alemán Magnani]], is a stakeholder of [[Televisa]] and is the former owner of [[Low-cost carrier|low-cost airline]], [[Interjet]].<ref name="r1">[http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/656/Christiane+Martel/index.html Christiane Martel Profile]. glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|name=Christiane Martel|id=0551469}}

{{s-start}}
{{S-ach}}
{{s-bef|before={{flagicon|FIN}} [[Armi Kuusela]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Miss Universe]]|years=[[Miss Universe 1953|1953]]}}
{{s-aft|after={{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Miriam Stevenson]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Miss Universe titleholders}}
{{Miss Universe 1953 delegates}}
{{Miss France winners in the Grand Slam pageants}}
{{Big Four Pageants titleholders
|Year = 1953
|Miss World={{flagicon|FRA}} [[Denise Perrier]]
|Miss Universe={{flagicon|FRA}} '''Christiane Martel'''
}}
{{Miss Universe Organization titleholders
|Year = 1953
|Miss Universe= {{flagicon|France}} '''Christiane Martel'''
|Miss USA= {{flagicon|Illinois}} [[Myrna Hansen]]
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martel, Christiane}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:20th-century French actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Paris]]
[[Category:French beauty pageant winners]]
[[Category:French emigrants to Mexico]]
[[Category:French female models]]
[[Category:French film actresses]]
[[Category:French people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Miss Universe 1953 contestants]]
[[Category:Miss Universe winners]]

{{Europe-pageant-bio-stub}}
{{France-film-actor-1930s-stub}}