Miss Universe 2001, Denise Quiñones (PUERTO RICO)
Miss Universe 2001, the 50th Miss Universe pageant, was held
on 11 May 2001 at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Denise
Quiñones of Puerto Rico was crowned by Lara Dutta of India as her successor at
the end of the event. 77 contestants competed in this year.
Puerto Rico is the second country to win Miss Universe also
as host, after the United States.
Placements
Miss Universe 2001, Puerto Rico – Denise Quiñones
1st Runner-up, Greece – Evelina Papantoniou
2nd Runner-up, United States – Kandace Krueger
3rd Runner-up, Venezuela – Eva Ekvall
4th Runner-up, India – Celina Jaitley
Top 10
France – Élodie Gossuin
Israel – Ilanit Levy
Nigeria – Agbani Darego
Russia – Oksana Kalandyrets
Spain – Eva Sisó
Special Awards Winners
Congeniality, Nakera Simms - Bahamas
National Costume, Kim Sa-rang - Korea
Photogenic, Denise Quiñones - Puerto Rico
BIOGRAPHY
Denise Marie Quiñones August was born on the 9th
September 1980. She is the fourth woman from Puerto Rico to win the Miss
Universe contest. Prior to winning the Miss Universe pageant, she represented
her hometown of Lares in the Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2001 pageant.
Currently, Quinones serves as the national director for Miss
Universe Puerto Rico.
Career
Quiñones won the Miss Universe 2001 pageant in Bayamon,
Puerto Rico in 2001. She was crowned by Lara Dutta, Miss Universe 2000 of India
and also won the awards of Miss Photogenic, Bluepoint Swimsuit, and Clairol
Best Style. She is only the fourth Miss Universe winner to also win Miss
Photogenic after Margareta Arvidsson, Margarita Moran, and Janelle Commissiong.
Her win came on the Miss Universe pageant's 50th anniversary. As Miss Universe,
Quiñones resided in New York City for a year, enjoying the benefits that all
winners of the pageant receive, including complimentary make-up and haircare, a
car, complete wardrobe, professional representation by the Miss Universe
Organization, a $60,000 scholarship to a New York City film school, and
traveling opportunities. Quiñones was the first winner to wear the reputed
Mikimoto Crown during its official press presentation by Mikimoto’s former
brand director, Mr. Toyohiko Miyamoto.
On the night of the Miss Universe 2002 contest, she passed
on her crown, once again in Puerto Rico (this time the event was held in the
city of San Juan), to Oxana Fedorova of Russia.
Since relinquishing the title, Quiñones attended the School
for Film and Television's two-year conservatory acting program. Presently an
actress, Quiñones has starred in the Spanish version of Nilo Cruz's play Ana en
el trópico (Anna in the Tropics) and continues to hone her talent in the United
States. For her role in Anna in the Tropics, she was nominated and awarded an
HOLA Award (from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors) and an ACE Award.
In October 2005, she was selected for the role of Doña Rosita, in a production
of Federico García Lorca's play Doña Rosita la soltera.
Quiñones guest-starred in a season 5 episode of the WB
Network television series Smallville. She played Andrea, a masked avenger who
fought crime in Metropolis and invited Clark Kent (Tom Welling) to join her in
her adventures. On the heels of her Smallville role, she was also cast in the
role of "Rachel", a young fighter pilot in the pilot for the TV
series Aquaman, which was in development for the CW Television Network. The
pilot did not make the fall 2006 lineup.
In November 2006, Quiñones led the off-Broadway cast of
Zanahorias (or Carrots in English), a Spanish comedy by Spanish playwright
Antonio Zancada. For her role in Zanahorias, she won an ACE Award in 2007.
In July 2008, it was announced that Quiñones would play the
part of Lara in the upcoming film I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, based on the
book of the same name. On July 24, 2008, producer Tucker Max announced on the
film's official production blog that Quiñones had dropped out due to a
scheduling conflict.
In February 2014, Quiñones joined the eighth season of
Univision's beauty pageant reality show Nuestra Belleza Latina 2014 as a team
mentor where she coaches a team of young women on modeling industry success
techniques.
On February 15, 2018, Quiñones was named as the new pageant
director for Miss Universe Puerto Rico, taking over responsibilities previously
held by former director Desiree Lowry.
Personal life
Quiñones was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She dated Rene
Perez, from the band Calle 13. From 2010 to 2011, Quiñones was in a
relationship with Dominican actor Frank Perozo.
Films
Elite (2010) - Special agent Sandra Torres
La Soga aka The Butcher’s Wife (2009) - Jenny
Party Time
Bad Boys II (2003) (uncredited) - Street walker in Cuba
Television series
Elena Santos - Yarelis (serie de TV de PR)
Aquaman (2006) TV series - Rachel
Smallville - "Vengeance Chronicles” (2006) Webisode -
Andrea Rojas (Angel of Vengeance)
Smallville - "Vengeance" (2006) TV episode -
Andrea Rojas (Angel of Vengeance)
The Bedford Diaries (2006) TV series - Mia Thorne
(post-production)
Freddie - "The Two That Got Away" (2006) TV
episode - Denise
Freddie - "The Mixer" (2006) TV episode - Denise
Love Monkey - Pilot (2006) TV episode - Gorgeous Woman
Theater
Pantaleón y las visitadoras
Ana en el Tropico
Doña Rosita la Soltera
Doña Flor Y Sus Dos Maridos
Zanahorias (Primera edicion)