Shawn Nichols Weatherly is an American actress and beauty queen who won the titles of

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

and

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

in 1980. She went on to star as Cadet Karen Adams in the film '' Police Academy 3: Back in Training'' (1986), and as Jill Riley in the first season of the TV series ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...

'' (1989–90).

Early life

The youngest of three children, Weatherly was born in San Antonio, Texas, to her mother Joanne, a former

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

model; and her father, a member of the US Air Force stationed in San Antonio. When Weatherly was 9, her family moved to

Sumter, South Carolina Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (o ...

, where she spent the remainder of her childhood years. She is a 1977 graduate of

Sumter High School Sumter High School is a co-educational four-year public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in Sumter School District located in the south side of Sumter, South Carolina, United States. With an enrollment of approximately 2,300 students, Sumt ...

. Weatherly attended

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

as a

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

major. She was also a member of the

Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international women's fraternity founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University by Sarah Ida Shaw, Eleanor Dorcas Pond, Isabel Morgan Breed, and Florence Isabelle Stewart. Tri Delta part ...

sorority.

Career

Beauty pageants

The

1980 pageant was televised live from

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

. Weatherly won the preliminary competition by a clear margin, and went on to win all three rounds of the final competition (interview, evening gown, and swimsuit). She was the only woman to score above 9.0 in the preliminary rounds and in the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. Weatherly was the second contestant from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

to win the title. In July 1980, Weatherly competed in the

pageant held in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, where again she won all rounds of competition. Her closest rivals were

Miss Scotland Miss Scotland is a national beauty pageant in Scotland. Entrants must hold a British passport to enter. The contest, whose title is owned by the Miss World organisation, is organised each year by Janis Sue Smith Director of The Catwalk Acade ...

Linda Gallagher, who was first runner-up, and Denyse Nottle of New Zealand (who placed second in the interview and swimsuit competitions), who was second runner-up. Weatherly was the fifth Miss Universe from the United States.

Miriam Stevenson Miriam Jacqueline Stevenson (born July 4, 1933) is an American television host, actress, former model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1954. She was the first American to win the title, and had previously been crowned Miss USA 195 ...

, the only other Miss USA from South Carolina, had won the title in 1954, making South Carolina one of the most successful states in the national pageant circuit. At the end of her reign, she crowned

Irene Saez Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

as her successor. After Weatherly, no Miss USA became Miss Universe until

Chelsi Smith Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith (August 23, 1973 – September 8, 2018) was an American actress, singer, television host and beauty queen who was crowned Miss USA 1995 and Miss Universe 1995. Smith was the third Miss USA of African-American origin, af ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Film and television

Weatherly is best known for her work as Jill Riley on the

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

show ''

'' and for the early reality show ''Oceanquest,'' which had her swimming with sharks. She played a small part on a ''

Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

'' episode, "Coy vs. Vance," and appeared in other shows such as ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

'', ''

T. J. Hooker ''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network un ...

'' and ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

''. She also had a main role in the 1986 comedy film '' Police Academy 3: Back in Training''. In 2014, she was in the horror comedy film, ''

Love in the Time of Monsters ''Love in the Time of Monsters'' is a 2014 comedy horror film directed by Matt Jackson and starring Doug Jones, Kane Hodder, Mike McShane, Shawn Weatherly and Heather Rae Young. It was produced and distributed by TBC Films and Indican Pictures re ...

''.

Personal life

In 1994 she married Chip Harris, president of a biotech research company, and they have two children together. Previously she had relationships with

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American television ...

and

Dwight Clark Dwight Edward Clark (January 8, 1957 – June 4, 2018) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1979 He was a member of San F ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherly, Shawn American film actresses American television actresses Clemson University alumni Living people Miss Universe winners Miss Universe 1980 contestants Miss USA 1980 delegates Miss USA winners People from San Antonio People from Sumter, South Carolina 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)