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Miss Universe 1961

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Miss Universe 1961
Marlene Schmidt
DateJuly 15, 1961
PresentersJohnny Carson
VenueMiami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
BroadcasterCBS
Entrants48
Placements15
Debuts
  • Ireland
  • Jamaica
  • Madagascar
  • Republic of China
  • Rhodesia
  • Scotland
  • United States Virgin Islands
  • Wales
Withdrawals
  • Costa Rica
  • Hong Kong
  • Jordan
  • New Zealand
  • Portugal
  • Suriname
  • Tunisia
Returns
  • Ceylon
  • Guatemala
  • Puerto Rico
  • Turkey
WinnerMarlene Schmidt
West Germany
CongenialityEleftheria Deloutsi Greece)
PhotogenicSharon Brown (United States)
← 1960
1962 →

Miss Universe 1961 was the tenth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on July 15, 1961.

At the end of the event, Linda Bement of the United States crowned Marlene Schmidt of West Germany as Miss Universe 1961. Schmidt was the first representative of Germany to win the contest.[1]

Contestants from forty-eight countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Johnny Carson.

Background

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Selection of participants

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Contestants from forty-eight countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

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This edition saw the debuts of Ireland, Jamaica, Madagascar, the Republic of China, Rhodesia, Scotland, the United States Virgin Islands, and Wales, and the returns of Ceylon, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Turkey.[2] Ceylon and Puerto Rico last competed in 1957, while the others last competed in 1959. Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Jordan, New Zealand, Portugal, Suriname, and Tunisia withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Helen Tan of Malaya and Julie Koh of Singapore were supposed to compete in the pageant. However, they chose to compete at Miss International in Long Beach, California instead.[3][4] Koh eventually competed at Miss Universe the following year.[5]

Results

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Miss Universe 1961 participating countries and territories

Placements

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Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1961
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
  •  Argentina – Adriana Gardiazábal[6]
3rd runner-up
  •  England – Arlette Dobson[6]
4th runner-up
Top 15
  •  Chile – María Gloria Silva[7]
  •  France – Simone Darot[7]
  •  Iceland – Kristjana Magnúsdóttir[7]
  •  Israel – Atida Pisanti[7]
  •  Peru – Carmela Stein[7]
  •  Republic of China – Wang Li-Ling[7]
  •  Scotland – Susan Jones[7]
  •  South Korea – Seo Yang-hee[7]
  •  Sweden – Gunilla Knutsson[7]
  •   Switzerland – Liliane Burnier[7]

Special awards

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Award Contestant
Miss Congeniality
  •  Greece – Eleftheria Deloutsi[6]
Miss Photogenic

Pageant

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Format

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Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition.[7] Each of the fifteen semi-finalists gave a short speech during the final telecast using their native languages. Afterwards, the fifteen semi-finalists paraded again in their swimsuits and evening gowns, and the five finalists were eventually chosen.[6]

Contestants

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Forty-eight contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age[a] Hometown
 Argentina Adriana Gardiazábal[8] 18 Buenos Aires
 Austria Ingrid Bayer[9] 20 Vorarlberg
 Belgium Nicole Ksinozenicki[10] 18 Saint-Gilles
 Bolivia Gloria Soruco[11] 19 Santa Cruz de la Sierra
 Brazil Staël Maria da Rocha Abelha[12] 19 Caratinga
 Burma Khin Myint Myint[13] 18 Daik-U
 Canada Wilda Reynolds[14] 19 Toronto
 Ceylon Ranjini Jayatilleke[15] – Colombo
 Chile María Gloria Silva[16] 22 Santiago
 Colombia Patricia Whitman[17] 21 Medellín
 Cuba Martha García Vieta 25 Miami, Florida
 Denmark Jette Nielsen[18] 18 Copenhagen
 Ecuador Yolanda Palacios[19] 18 Guayaquil
 England Arlette Dobson 18 Surrey
 Finland Ritva Wächter[20] 20 Naantali
 France Simone Darot[21] 19 Paris
 West Germany Marlene Schmidt[22] 24 Stuttgart
 Greece Eleftheria Deloutsi[23] 18 Athens
 Guatemala Anabelle Sáenz – Guatemala City
 Holland Gita Kamman[24] 22 Amsterdam
 Iceland Kristjana Magnúsdóttir[25] 21 Reykjanesbær
 Ireland Jean Russell 21 Lisburn
 Israel Atida Pisanti[26] 19 Haifa
 Italy Vivianne Romano 21 Lazio
 Jamaica Marguerite LeWars 20 Kingston
 Japan Akemi Toyama 20 Tokyo
 Lebanon Leila Antaki[15] 22 Beirut
 Luxembourg Vicky Schoos 18 Luxembourg City
 Madagascar Jacqueline Robertson 22 Antananarivo
 Morocco Irene Gorsse – Rabat
 Norway Rigmor Trengereid 19 Bergen
 Paraguay María Cristina Osnaghi – Asunción
 Peru Carmela Stein 20 Lima
 Puerto Rico Enid del Valle 20 Aguadilla
 Republic of China Wang Li-Ling 19 Taipei
 Rhodesia Jonee Sierra 19 Salisbury
 Scotland Susan Jones 20 Aberdeen
 South Africa Marina Christelis 20 Johannesburg
 South Korea Seo Yang-hee 21 Seoul
 Spain Pilar Gil Ramos 19 Madrid
 Sweden Gunilla Knutsson 20 Ystad
  Switzerland Liliane Burnier 19 Geneva
 Turkey Gülseren Uysal – Istanbul
 United States Sharon Brown[27] 18 Minden
 United States Virgin Islands Priscila Bonilla – Charlotte Amalie
 Uruguay Susanna Ferrari[16] – Montevideo
 Venezuela Ana Griselda Vegas 20 Caracas
 Wales Rosemarie Frankland 18 Lancashire

Notes

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  1. ^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

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  1. ^ "German engineer starting plush Miss Universe year". The Spokesman-Review. July 17, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  2. ^ ""Miss V.I." off to Miami Beach". The Virgin Islands Daily News. July 7, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "Beauties on way to US get warm welcome during stop in Manila". The Singapore Free Press. July 4, 1961. p. 7. Retrieved November 11, 2022 – via National Library Board.
  4. ^ "K.L. girl wins the Miss Malaya title". The Straits Times. May 11, 1961. p. 16. Retrieved December 9, 2022 – via National Library Board.
  5. ^ "Miss Singapore flies to California next month". The Straits Times. May 20, 1961. p. 9. Retrieved November 11, 2022 – via National Library Board.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Miss Germany wins contest". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. July 15, 1961. pp. 1–2A. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "15 girls reach final beauty test". Youngstown Vindicator. July 15, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  8. ^ "Loveliest girl in the world to become "Miss Universe"". Simpson's Leader-Times. July 15, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Beauties at the White House". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. July 6, 1961. p. 13. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "In Knokke is Nicole Ksinozenicki uit Sint Gillis (Brussel) tot miss België uitgeroepen" [In Knokke, Nicole Ksinozenicki from Sint Gillis (Brussels) was proclaimed Miss Belgium.]. Leeuwarder courant (in Dutch). May 25, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Delpher.
  11. ^ "El título les dio alegrías, trabajo y fama que aún saborean" [The title gave them joy, work and fame that they still savor.]. El Deber (in European Spanish). July 29, 2017. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  12. ^ "Stael Abelha, primeira mineira eleita Miss Brasil, é vítima de Alzheimer". Estado de Minas (in Brazilian Portuguese). January 11, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Htwe, Nien Ei Ei (September 28, 2009). "Former 'Miss Burma' winner passes away". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  14. ^ "Former 'Miss Canada' weds army man here". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 11, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved December 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "Universal beauty displayed at Miami". Herald-Journal. July 13, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Latin beauties in native costume". Herald-Journal. July 7, 1961. p. 18. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  17. ^ "Sensación en Miami por Trajes Típicos de Srta. Colombia". El Tiempo (in Spanish). July 11, 1961. pp. 1, 21. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  18. ^ "Untitled". Atuagagdliutit (in Kalaallisut). June 29, 1961. p. 28. Retrieved December 6, 2022 – via Tímarit.is.
  19. ^ "Candidale ai massimi titoli di bellezza" [Nominee for top beauty titles]. La Stampa (in Italian). July 1, 1961. p. 5. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  20. ^ Himberg, Petra (November 18, 2009). "Miss Suomi 1961 Ritva Wächter". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  21. ^ Lo, Ricky (February 1, 2017). "France 1st grand slam winner in world beauty pageants". Philippine Star. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  22. ^ "Beauties parade for title tonight". The Gadsden Times. July 14, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  23. ^ "Downfall of Greece". Philadelphia Daily News. July 15, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved February 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Ene miss Holland is voor ons in Florida". Het Parool (in Dutch). July 12, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2024 – via Delpher.
  25. ^ "Íslensk fegurð '61". Fálkinn (in Icelandic). June 14, 1961. pp. 18–20. Retrieved February 19, 2024 – via Tímarit.is.
  26. ^ "Untitled". The American Jewish World. July 21, 1961. p. 11. Retrieved February 19, 2024 – via National Library of Israel.
  27. ^ "Louisiana lass is 'Miss U.S.A.'". The Tuscaloosa News. July 14, 1961. pp. 1–2. Retrieved July 22, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
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