Gabriella Brum is a former model and beauty queen of German-British origin who won the 1980 Miss World and resigned 18 hours later, initially claiming her boyfriend disapproved. She stated that this was because of the pressure from the news media, though there were also allegations that she had posed nude in a magazine. The first runner-up in the pageant, Kimberley Santos from Guam, then assumed the title.
Biography
Brum's mother had met soldier, Edward Brum from London in 1961, but separated from him after a few years. The daughter, Gabriella Brum attended the Lessing High School in Berlin from 1976 to 1980, but left school in favor of a desired film career. She worked under various pseudonyms and met acting director, cameraman and producer Wolfgang Benno Bellenbaum, with whom she went to Los Angeles where she worked as a model.
On 26 June 1980 Brum was crowned Miss Germany at the International Congress Center in Berlin. A Time article from July 1980 shows that her election to Miss Germany met with criticism. So it was complained that Brum no longer lived in Germany as the main residence.
Miss World (1980)
On 13 November 1980 Brum won the pageant to Miss World in London, making her after Petra Schürmann the second German to carry this title. As the title holder, she was followed by the runner-up Kimberley Santos from Guam. The following day, Brum resigned on the grounds that her boyfriend disagreed with her new obligations; she voluntarily gave up her title after 18 hours because she "wanted to be with Benno instead of flying through the world under a strict contract for a year." Later it was revealed that allegations had forced her to resign because of nude photos of her. In an interview opposite the mirror, the photographer Wolfgang Heilemann declared himself as the author of these photos. The series was for the magazine Paris Match.
In the early years, Brum was a successful model in the United States. Among other things, pictures of her appeared in Playboy 5/1981. Originally intended success in the film industry can not be found. In 1981, she married in North Hollywood Wolfgang Benno Bellenbaum—best man was Peter Joosten. Both soon separated. Her husband shot himself at the age of 55 in his apartment in Encino, a district of Los Angeles, and his body was identified by Brum. In addition to the weapon, a farewell letter was found. An article on the January 2012 United States Online News indicated that she was still based in Los Angeles at the time.
