Kim Seelbrede Biography

Kimberly 'Kim' Seelbrede is a beauty queen from Ohio who held the title Miss USA 1981. Kimberly Seelbrede is a licensed psychotherapist in the state of New York. Kim holds a graduate degree from New York University (NYU) and an undergraduate BA in Psychology.

Following the pageant, Kim embarked on a career in television, commercials and print modeling. She made numerous appearances in soap operas, appeared in national and regional commercials and print ads. Kim signed a lucrative contract as the Sony Beta Movie Spokesperson where she appeared in posters and television advertisements. In 1982, Kim was asked to pose for Playboy but declined.

In 1981, Kim Seelbrede met her future husband Neil Cole during the Miss Universe pageant. Candie's was an official sponsor of the pageant during which Seelbrede represented the company as a spokesperson. The couple married in 1985 and later divorced in 2001 and have two children together.

Seelbrede, who hails from Germantown, Ohio won the Miss Ohio USA pageant in late 1980. She represented her state at the nationally televised Miss USA pageant that was held in Biloxi, Mississippi in May 1981, where she became the second woman from Ohio to win the Miss USA title.

Seelbrede later competed at the Miss Universe pageant held in New York City in July 1981. This was the first time the pageant had been held in the United States for ten years: the pageant had been staged internationally for the previous decade after originally being held in the United States for the first twenty years of the pageant's existence. Seelbrede placed in the semi-finals at the pageant, which was won by Irene Saez of Venezuela. Her relatively low placement was somewhat unexpected, as she was in the lead in the earliest portion of the contest then fell to second in the preliminary competition. There was speculation that a judge was instructed by a pageant official to give Seelbrede the lowest possible score in an effort to keep her from placing in the finals.

The host of the 1981 Miss Universe pageant, Bob Barker, has been criticized for his sarcastic manner during the interview round. It has been speculated that Seelbrede's failure to advance into the finals during the main competition was due to his sardonic questioning about the "exciting" places that she had visited since becoming Miss USA in May that year.

Seelbrede was the second Miss Ohio USA to win the national title, the first being Sue Ann Downey in 1965.