Chelsi Smith

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American actress

title: "Chelsi Smith" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["place-of-death-missing", "1973-births", "2018-deaths", "20th-century-african-american-women-singers", "20th-century-american-women-singers", "20th-century-american-singers", "american-female-models", "american-film-actresses", "deaths-from-liver-cancer-in-pennsylvania", "miss-universe-1995-contestants", "miss-universe-winners", "miss-usa-1995-delegates", "miss-usa-winners", "people-from-kingwood,-texas", "people-from-redwood-city,-california", "african-american-beauty-pageant-winners", "20th-century-african-american-actresses", "20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-african-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-actresses", "actresses-from-san-mateo-county,-california"] description: "American actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsi_Smith" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox pageant titleholder"]

FieldValue
nameChelsi Smith
imageChelsi_Smith_Miss_Universe.jpg
captionSmith as Miss Universe 1995
birth_nameChelsi Mariam Pearl Smith
title
nationalcompetition
birth_date
birth_placeRedwood City, California, U.S.
death_date
death_placeMifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S.
spouse
::

| name = Chelsi Smith | image = Chelsi_Smith_Miss_Universe.jpg | caption = Smith as Miss Universe 1995 | birth_name = Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith | title = | nationalcompetition = | birth_date = | birth_place = Redwood City, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Mifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S. |spouse =

Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith (August 23, 1973 – September 8, 2018) was an American actress, singer, TV host and beauty queen who was crowned Miss USA 1995 and Miss Universe 1995. Smith was the third Miss USA of African-American origin, after Carole Gist (1990) and Kenya Moore (1993), in addition to being the sixth American woman to win Miss Universe and the first since Shawn Weatherly was crowned Miss Universe 1980.

Early life

Smith was born in Redwood City, California, to 19-year-old parents Craig Smith, an African-American maintenance man, and Mary Denise Trimble, a white American secretary. Her parents divorced before she was two, and her mother, an alcoholic at the time, granted Smith's maternal grandparents Barnie and Jeanette custody of her.

When Smith was seven years old, she moved to Kingwood, Texas, where her grandparents would later get divorced. Smith grew up in a divided home while she attended high school in Deer Park, Texas. Prior to her win at Miss USA, she was a sophomore majoring in education at San Jacinto College.

Pageantry

Miss Texas USA

Smith competed in her first major beauty contest in 1994, when she was a semifinalist in the Miss Texas USA pageant, as Miss South East Texas USA. The following year, she competed again as Miss Galveston County USA, and won the title, as well as the Miss Congeniality award. Smith, a multiracial American, was the first titleholder of African-American heritage in the pageant's history.

Miss USA 1995

Smith went on to compete and win at Miss USA 1995 on February 10, 1995. In the top three final question. When asked how she, as an advisor, would change the First Lady's image if asked for a consultation, Smith replied:

She became the seventh woman from her state to hold the Miss USA title and also won the Miss Congeniality award as she had at her state pageant, becoming the only Miss USA winner and Miss Texas USA in history to win this award.

After her win, Smith appeared as a celebrity contestant on Wheel of Fortune and as an award presenter at the People's Choice Awards.

Miss Universe 1995

After winning Miss USA, Smith competed and won at Miss Universe 1995, at the Windhoek Country Club, Windhoek, on May 12, 1995. Her national costume was a suffragist. She was the highest placed contestant after the preliminary competition, which pushed her into the top ten. The first runner-up was Manpreet Brar of India, and Smith became the first Miss USA and sixth representative to win Miss Universe in 15 years. At the end of her reign, she crowned Alicia Machado of Venezuela as her successor.

Life after Miss Universe

As a model, Smith worked for Hawaiian Tropic, Jantzen, Pontiac, Venus Swimwear, and Pure Protein among others. She made appearances on Martin, Due South and the TLC documentary The History of the Bathing Suit.

With the support of Music World Entertainment/Sony, Smith co-wrote and recorded with producer Damon Elliott her first single, "Dom Da Da", part of the soundtrack for The Sweetest Thing, starring Cameron Diaz. In 2003, she appeared in the independent film Playas Ball, where she co-starred with Allen Payne and Elise Neal. She also co-hosted Beyoncé's special Beyonce: Family and Friends Tour on pay-per-view and appeared on HBO in Saladin Patterson's short film One Flight Stand with Marc Blucas and Aisha Tyler. She was a judge at the 2006 Miss Teen USA pageant and a guest judge for the Miss Peru 2016 beauty pageant.

In 2011, she was presented with the Influential Multiracial Public Figure award.

Smith married and later divorced fitness coach Kelly Blair, and after her reign as Miss Universe moved to Los Angeles.

Death

Smith was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2017. She died at her mother's home in Mifflin, Pennsylvania, aged 45 on September 8, 2018.

Legacy

During the 74th edition of the Miss USA pageant on October 24, 2025, it was announced that the Miss Congeniality Award would be renamed in Smith's honor.

References

References

  1. (2018-09-09). "Friends: First black Miss Texas USA and former Miss Universe dies". ABC13 Houston.
  2. Carney Smith, Jessie. (2012). "Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events". Visible Ink Press.
  3. (2016-06-08). "Miss USA just crowned its ninth black woman – now, meet the first eight". The Tempest.
  4. (1995-05-25). "Chelsi Smith, Biracial Woman From Texas Crowned Miss Universe". Johnson Publishing Company.
  5. (9 September 2018). "Former Miss USA and Miss Universe Chelsi Smith dead at 45".
  6. "Miss Universe 1995 Chelsi Smith to judge Miss Peru 2016". Pageants News.
  7. (August 2017). "Multiracial Heritage Week". multiracialheritageweek.com.
  8. (9 September 2018). "Chelsi Smith, Miss Universe 1995, has died at age 45". [[Yahoo News]].
  9. (9 September 2018). "Chelsi Smith, Miss Universe 1995 from Texas, dies at age 45".
  10. [https://people.com/miss-usa-makes-renames-miss-congeniality-award-after-chelsi-smith-11837125 Miss USA Makes History by Renaming Miss Congeniality Award After Late Beauty Queen Chelsi Smith, Who Died from Cancer]
  11. "Chelsi Smith". modelmayhem.com.
  12. (October 22, 1995). "Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith". [[The Dallas Morning News]].
  13. (February 10, 1995). "The 1995 Miss USA Pageant". CBS.
  14. (May 15, 1995). "Hanging Tough". [[People (magazine).
  15. (October 22, 1995). "Miss Universe holds court on equality not just good looks". [[The Dallas Morning News]].
  16. (June 30, 1994). "Smith crowned Miss Texas USA". [[San Antonio Express-News]].
  17. (February 14, 1995). "Chelsi Smith". [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]].
  18. (May 14, 1995). "Miss USA wins 1995 Miss Universe pageant". [[Sun Herald]].
  19. (February 11, 1995). "Texas woman wins". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
  20. (February 10, 2010). "Today in History: Miss Texas crowned Miss USA". [[Houston Chronicle]].
  21. (Apr 13, 1995). "Celebrity". [[Boston Herald]].
  22. "Miss Teen USA 2006". [[NBC]].
  23. (May 21, 2008). "Clemens saga weaves a tangled web in Houston". [[ESPN]].
  24. (March 12, 1995). "Black? White? Or other? Conventional race definitions being questioned.". Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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