1974 miss universe

Amparo Muñoz declared Miss Universe in 1974
Miss Universe 1974 Amparo Muñoz, who was crowned in the Philippines when the international beauty pageant was held here, has died after a "long illness" at her home in Malaga, Spain, reports Typically Spanish. She was 56 years old.

The actress was the first Miss Spain to be crowned Miss Universe but she renounced the title six months later due to discrepancies with the organizers, reports Typically Spanish. After winning the pageant, she returned to the Philippines to shoot the movie Hayop sa Ganda with 1969 Miss Universe Gloria Diaz, according to Ricky Lo of The Philippine Star. However, she "went home in a huff after she clashed with a producer-talent-scout with whom she swapped court charges."

More than a decade ago, Muñoz was rumored to have died from AIDS, according to Lo's column in 2006. That year, Lo wrote that Muñoz told Spanish newspaper Cronica that she suffered from a cerebral disease, not AIDS, a few years ago.

Lo quoted Muñoz, "I got sick the same day my Papa died of pulmonary infection... I was devastated by his death because I wasn't able to ask forgiveness from him for everything that I did. At first, I felt little symptoms. I would get dizzy when tying my shoes."

She added, "So I consulted a doctor and at first he told me, 'I'm afraid that you have cancer of the brain.' Soon, I was vomiting and feeling tremors. I was checked again by my doctor who found an abnormal growth in my cerebellum. So I underwent chemotherapy."
For more on this story, log on to Typically Spanish and The Philippine Star.