Stories by CHOW HOW BAN
Charlie See turned 97 yesterday. The Penang-born founder of Festival of Beauty Inc, which holds rights to 37 pageant titles worldwide, shows no sign of slowing down despite his age.
THANK God I am still alive,” said Charlie See who turned 97 yesterday. See, founder of Model of the Models International Pageant, currently on in Madrid (Sept 1-8), celebrated his birthday at the Spanish capital. See and his wife of 57 years, Ann, were invited by pageant president, Raquel Molinero, to spend a week in Spain.
In a recent interview in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, See talked about his early struggles and how he found fame in the United States.
Charlie See: ‘“Everybody dreams about Hollywood. I made dream girls from all over the world my contacts!’
Born in Penang in 1910, See moved to Raub with his family because his father’s job took him to Pahang. After his primary education, he returned to Penang, where he learned English and French.“After my father died, I tried to do some business and opened a sports store selling badminton rackets,” See recalled.
“Then I became a member of the Rotary Club. In 1935, I went on a world tour. I travelled from Penang to Colombo and then to Europe. As a Rotary Club member, I spoke to the Rotarians of Colombo about Malaysia. From Colombo, I went to Pakistan and Bombay before landing in Europe.”
See promoted Malaysia to Rotarians from other parts of the world. “I gave them a flag and they gave me a flag (in return). I was doing publicity and goodwill on behalf of Malaysia, but that was a long time ago.”
See’s travels took him to Paris, London and New York. He left a deep impression on the Americans.
“At your age, I was making jokes. I said: ‘I come to New York and you got skyscrapers because you think you can go to heaven easier.’ They laughed and said: ‘You Chinaman?’ and I said ‘yes’ and they said ‘We want you. Can you represent us and go to Rotary Clubs around the US?’
“They gave me top hotel accommodation and paid me. I went all over the United States for free.”
From there, See headed for Shanghai where he met six Chinese men. They ended up speaking English. It was the first time See realised that the Shanghainese and other Chinese were different as there were so many dialects spoken by the Chinese.
His boat then sailed to Manila before returning to Malaysia. He had travelled around the world in four years, and so he wrote a book entitled A Chinese Sees the World to share his experiences.
Hungry for more exposure, See left for Singapore in 1939. There he landed a job as manager of the Happy Cabaret, which provided entertainment to guests on cruises. See also organised fashion shows featuring his own batik designs.
See with Audrey Hepburn
The threat of war loomed over them, and See knew the risks he had to take. After his vessel left Singapore and arrived in Indonesia, they received news that Singapore had been bombed.
“I was stuck in Indonesia for a month and continued organising shows in Bali. At that time, I had a visa to travel from Malaysia to the US as a marketing agent.
“After Singapore was bombed, every day the Japanese and Germans were sinking ships. We had with us a convoy of ships sending the last shipment of rubber because the Japanese had cut everything off,” he recalled.
Of the 17 boats that left Surabaya in Java, 16 were sunk. See, together with 12 other passengers and 49 prisoners held in captivity by the Indonesian government, escaped death when the captain of the ship headed towards the Atlantic Ocean.
When they reached South America, they put down the prisoners and continued their journey to the United States.
“When my boat arrived in New York, I had no money. I had only wooden carvings and sarung batik,” See said. “I sold the carvings to feed myself.”
“I was stuck in Indonesia for a month and continued organising shows in Bali. At that time, I had a visa to travel from Malaysia to the US as a marketing agent.
“After Singapore was bombed, every day the Japanese and Germans were sinking ships. We had with us a convoy of ships sending the last shipment of rubber because the Japanese had cut everything off,” he recalled.
Of the 17 boats that left Surabaya in Java, 16 were sunk. See, together with 12 other passengers and 49 prisoners held in captivity by the Indonesian government, escaped death when the captain of the ship headed towards the Atlantic Ocean.
When they reached South America, they put down the prisoners and continued their journey to the United States.
“When my boat arrived in New York, I had no money. I had only wooden carvings and sarung batik,” See said. “I sold the carvings to feed myself.”
Jack of all trades
While in the United States, See met a Chinese ballroom dancer who taught him some basic dance moves. The duo later picked up the samba and rumba from a coach.
As the Chinese jitterbugs were in great demand in the dance scene at that time, See and his partner found some dancing parts in small theatres.
Later, when See heard that the famous Folies Bergere was heading for New York, he jumped at the chance to audition for the French show, which featured a Chinese dance sequence.
“I passed! So after six months, Charlie See was dancing on Broadway!”
See with Ava Gardner
The ever-versatile See turned professional dancer and performed in Hawaii and various places for six years.
At 39, he moved to California in pursuit of his Hollywood dream. There he met his wife, Ann, an actress. They teamed up as professional ballroom dancers.
Ever game for a new challenge, the couple reinvented themselves as photojournalists. They went all over the United States and the Caribbean, taking photographs and distributing stories on Hollywood to news agencies from all over the world.
During their Hollywood days back in the 1950s, the couple rubbed shoulders with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and the late John Wayne, who lived in the same neighbourhood.
When the first-ever Miss Universe beauty pageant was held in Long Beach, California, in 1952, See and Ann knew they would not want to miss the event. However, See could not get access to the auditorium. He was stopped by the police because he did not have a media pass to cover the event. Undaunted, he sneaked through the back door to cover the event.
“For the first eight years, the Miss Universe pageants were held in Long Beach. I made friends with everybody there,” said See.
His big break came in 1957 when Universal Studios, one of the pageant’s sponsors, wanted to produce a film on the pageant.
“For five days, they were looking for someone with coloured films. They had heard about a Chinaman who had coloured films. So one night, someone from Universal Studios called me and said: ‘You Charlie See? You got Miss Universe film?’ and asked if the film was good.
“I told them if I had to spend 10 dollars, it had better be good. So Ann and I tied the films up. A Cadillac came to our house and ferried me to Universal Studios where they viewed my 35mm film.”
Miss Universe cameraman
A representative from Universal Studios negotiated with See on the price of the films. See asked for US$10,000 but had to settle for US$5,000. He was made the official cameraman for the Miss Universe pageants.
“When Universal Studios released the film, all the outdoor scenes were mine. I became famous with a US$40 camera,” he said.
See sold his photographs to another sponsor, Max Factor, which assigned him to photograph former Miss Universe winners such as Gladys Zender from Peru (1957), Luz Marina Zuluaga of Colombia (1958), and Akiko Kojima from Japan (1959), during the beauties’ tours.
See described Zender as a big star. “Zuluaga generated a tremendous following in America as she had her own stamps and songs written after her”.
“I travelled with Kojima for six months in Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia.”
During the interview, See pulled out stacks of photographs of beauty queens and celebrities from his drawer and showed them to me, one by one. Some were taken by him, others by his assistant.
“Here I am with Marilyn Monroe,” See enthused, adding that he was the photographer when the Hollywood legend attended the premiere of her film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
See related that he had small acting jobs too. He was a Japanese soldier in the 1950 wartime film, Three Came Home, which starred Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles and Sessue Hayakawa.
“He brings along his photos wherever he goes and he enjoys showing them to people. It’s a compilation of his life’s work and he’s the only one who does this kind of work,” Ann chipped in.
“Ann and I had been photographing the stars,” See said. “I didn’t always travel with Ann though. Don’t forget it’s not easy with beauty queens around you. When I am alone taking photographs, it’s hard.”
One of See’s most memorable experiences was when he bought their house in Hollywood for US$3,000. That was back in 1950.
“When he was in Penang and Singapore, he was overwhelmed by Hollywood. It was his destination. He dreamed of living in Hollywood,” Ann added.
“Everybody dreams about Hollywood. I made dream girls from all over the world my contacts!” said See, with a twinkle in his eye.
Following his vast experiences in covering beauty pageants, See decided to organise his own pageants, and founded the Festival of Beauty Inc in the United States. That was more than 40 years ago.
See’s trademark pageants include Miss Globe International, Miss Tourism Queen International, Miss Tourism International, Miss Bikini International and Model of the Models International.
See is now wheelchair-bound following a fall two years ago. Apart from the lack of mobility and diminished hearing capacity, he is pretty healthy. He still works hard, travelling all over the world to attend pageants and is busy franchising his trademark pageants.
Molinero said See had become part of her family and his contribution to beauty pageants was tremendous as many contestants had benefited from their participation in such pageants.
“He has achieved the dream of many men – to live in Hollywood, meet important people and be surrounded by beauties,” Ann added.
Source: The Star Online
