Macel Patricia Leilani Wilson (born May 5, 1943) is the first Asian American to win the

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, ...

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

(which happened in 1962), a

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film ed ...

for the

Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

, and a visual artist.

Miss USA 1962

In 1962, she became

, becoming the first Asian American and the first titleholder outside of the contiguous United States to win that

. Her title at that pageant was Miss Hawaii USA. She went on to place as a semi-finalist in the 1962

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 ...

Pageant. Ms. Wilson later filled in at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

Parade in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

when Miss Universe Norma Nolan of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

fell ill with the measles. She appeared on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' on October 16, 1962.

Life in Denmark and Tunisia

In 1967, Macel Wilson moved to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and married Jens Henrik Packness, a civil engineer. She then began studying film at

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

and painting in private classes. She also began work as a film editor at the

. From 1973 to 1976, she and her family lived in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, Tunisia, where she continued her art studies at the Tunisian School of Fine Arts in

Le Bardo Le Bardo ( ar, الباردو ' also Bārdaw, Bardaw, and Bardois) is a Tunisian city west of Tunis. As of 2004, the population is 73,953. Built by the Hafsid dynasty in the 14th century, the name Bardo comes from the Spanish word "prado" meani ...

. In 1977 she returned to Copenhagen. In 1978, she resumed work as a film editor with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation until leaving in 2000. She continued her art studies and had several exhibitions in Danish galleries starting in 1999.

References

External links

* ''Archive of Macel Wilson's web site, in Danish and English'' * 1943 births American emigrants to Denmark American film editors American people of Filipino descent Living people Miss Universe 1962 contestants Miss USA 1960s delegates Miss USA winners People from Honolulu University of Copenhagen alumni American women film editors 20th-century American people {{Hawaii-stub