Miss Universe 1955

Miss Universe 1955
Hillevi Rombin
Date	22 July 1955 (1955-07-22)
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, United States
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	33
Placements	15
Debuts	Ceylon Ecuador England Guatemala Lebanon Nicaragua
Withdrawals	Australia Hong Kong New Zealand Panama Peru Singapore Thailand
Returns	Venezuela
Winner	Hillevi Rombin Sweden
Congeniality	Maribel Arrieta (El Salvador)
←  1954 1956  →

Miss Universe 1955 was the 4th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 22 July 1955. ^[1] This is the first time that the pageant was televised.

At the end of the event, Miriam Stevenson of the United States crowned Hillevi Rombin of the Sweden as Miss Universe 1955. ^[2] It is the first victory of Sweden in the history of the pageant. ^[3]

Contestants from thirty-three countries and territories competed in this edition. The pageant was hosted by Bob Russell.

Background

Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue of Miss Universe 1955

Selection of participants

Contestants from thirty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. The age requirement in this edition is still from eighteen to twenty-eight, where women who are married and have children can also participate. ^[4]

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

The 1955 edition saw the debuts of Ceylon, Ecuador, England, Guatemala, Lebanon, and Nicaragua, and the return of Venezuela who last competed in 1953. ^[5] Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Singapore, and Thailand withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Expected to compete are Consuelo Díaz of Bolivia, ^[6] Karin Rasmussen of Denmark, Gladir Leopardi of Egypt, Angelina Kalkhoven of Holland, and Suna Soley of Turkey. However, these women withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. ^[7]

Results

Miss Universe 1955 and her court (from left to right): Margit Nünke, Maribel Arrieta, Maureen Hingert, and Keiko Takahashi.

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1955	Sweden – Hillevi Rombin [3]
1st runner-up	El Salvador – Maribel Arrieta [3]
2nd runner-up	Ceylon – Maureen Hingert [3]
3rd runner-up	West Germany – Margit Nünke [3]
4th runner-up	Japan – Keiko Takahashi [3]
Top 15	Argentina – Isabel Sarli [8] Belgium – Nicole De Mayer [8] Brazil – Emília Barreto [8] Canada – Cathy Diggles [8] England – Margaret Rowe [8] Guatemala – María del Rosario Molina [8] Honduras – Pastora Pagán [8] Norway – Solveig Borstad [8] United States – Carlene King Johnson [8] Venezuela – Susana Duijm [8]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Friendship	El Salvador – Maribel Arrieta
Miss Popular Girl	England – Margaret Rowe
Best Dressed Girl	Nicaragua – Rosa Argentina Lacayo

Pageant

Format

From sixteen in the previous edition, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. 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. ^[8]

Selection committee

• Milo Anderson – American movie dress designer ^[9]
• Myrna Hansen – Miss USA 1953 from Illinois ^[10]
• Samuel Heavenrich – from the Long Beach Municipal Arts Center ^[9]
• Tom Kelley – American photographer ^[9]
• Robert Palmer – American casting director ^[9]
• George Rony – American author ^[9]
• Ginny Simms – American actress and singer ^[9]
• Vincent Trotta – Artistic director of Paramount Pictures ^[9]
• Alberto Vargas – Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls ^[9]
• Earl Wilson – American columnist and journalist ^[9]
• Roger Zeiler – Member of the Miss Europe committee ^[9]

Contestants

Miss Universe 1955 participating countries and territories

Thirty-three contestants competed for the title. ^[11]

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown
Alaska	Lorna McLeod [12]	22	Fairbanks
Argentina	Isabel Sarli [13]	25	Buenos Aires
Belgium	Nicole De Mayer [14]	19	Ghent
Brazil	Emília Barreto [15]	21	Fortaleza
Canada	Cathy Diggles [16]	20	Toronto
Ceylon	Maureen Hingert [17]	18	Colombo
Chile	Rosa Merello [18]	18	Santiago
Costa Rica	Clemencia Martínez [19]	22	San José
Cuba	Gilda Marín [20]	26	Havana
Ecuador	Leonor Carcache [21]	21	Guayaquil
El Salvador	Maribel Arrieta [22]	19	San Salvador
England	Margaret Rowe [23]	19	London
Finland	Sirkku Talja [24]	19	Helsinki
France	Claude Petit [25]	18	Aulnay-sous-Bois
Greece	Sonia Zoidou [26]	18	Athens
Guatemala	María del Rosario Molina [24]	18	Guatemala City
Honduras	Pastora Pagán [27]	18	San Pedro Sula
Israel	Ilana Carmel [28]	19	Bat Yam
Italy	Elena Fancera [29]	20	Rome
Japan	Keiko Takahashi [30]	20	Tokyo
Lebanon	Hanya Beydoun [21]	18	Beirut
Mexico	Yolanda Mayen [31]	18	Tijuana
Nicaragua	Rosa Argentina Lacayo [32]	19	Managua
Norway	Solveig Borstad [33]	23	Oslo
Philippines	Yvonne de los Reyes [34]	19	Manila
Puerto Rico	Carmen Laura Betancourt [35]	20	Rio Piedras
South Korea	Kim Mee-chong [36]	22	Busan
Sweden	Hillevi Rombin [12]	21	Uppsala
United States	Carlene King Johnson [37]	22	Rutland
Uruguay	Inge Hoffmann [38]	19	Montevideo
Venezuela	Susana Duijm [39]	18	Caracas
West Germany	Margit Nünke [40]	24	Cologne
West Indies	Noreen Campbell	18	Port of Spain

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

1. "'Miss Universe' crowned tonight". The Pittsburgh Press. 22 July 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 18 July 2023– via Google News Archive.
2. "They're favored in Miss Universe Contest". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 23 July 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2023– via Google News Archive.
3. Mosby, Aline (23 July 1955). "Swedish beauty wins "Miss Universe" title". The Pittsburgh Press . p. 1. Retrieved 14 May 2023– via Google News Archive.
4. Williams, Vera (23 March 1952). "Pageant of Pulchritude". Long Beach Press-Telegram . p. 50. Retrieved 7 July 2023– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Miss Ceylon is Dutch". The Straits Times. 27 June 1955. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2023– via National Library Board.
6. "Consuelo Díaz, la primera Miss Bolivia" [Consuelo Díaz, the first Miss Bolivia]. Los Tiempos (in Spanish). 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
7. "Miss Holland trok aller aandacht" [Miss Holland attracted everyone's attention]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 1 June 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 18 July 2023– via Delpher.
8. "Finalists". The Logan Daily News . 23 July 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 14 May 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. Bacon, James (23 July 1955). "Miss Sweden named Miss Universe in final judging to pick world's most beautiful". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 5. Retrieved 20 March 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. Bacon, James (23 July 1955). "Judges pick Swedish beauty for '55 Miss Universe title". The Day. p. 1. Retrieved 25 July 2023– via Google News Archive.
11. "Here's official list of Miss Universe charmers". Long Beach Press-Telegram . Long Beach, California. 17 July 1955. p. 8. Retrieved 14 May 2023– via Newspapers.com.
12. "First "Universe" aspirants named". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 19 May 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 18 July 2023– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Beauty seeking guy who bathes". Daily News . New York, New York. 12 July 1955. p. 269. Retrieved 26 July 2023– via Newspapers.com.
14. "It might be sex appeal, Sonia says". The Singapore Free Press. 12 July 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 26 July 2023– via National Library Board.
15. "Corpo de ex-miss Brasil Emília Barreto vai ser cremado neste sábado no Rio". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 4 February 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
16. "43 Miss United States candidates start prancing for judges tonight". Panama American. 20 July 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 28 July 2023– via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
17. "Ceylonese beau-tea". The News-Dispatch. 14 July 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 19 July 2023– via Google News Archive.
18. "Two are lucky". The Daily News. Perth, Australia. 19 July 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2023– via Trove.
19. Herrera, Manuel (29 October 2016). "Especial 70 años de moda: Las memorias de las 'misses'". La Naciónal (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2025.
20. "Filmará en México la Señorita Cuba 1955, se dijo" [Miss Cuba 1955 will be filmed in Mexico, they said]. La Opinion (in Spanish). 5 September 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Google News Archive.
21. "US and foreign beauties in California for Miss Universe contest". Youngstown Vindicator . 15 July 1955. p. 17. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Google News Archive.
22. Vargas, Andrew S. (8 November 2016). "Remembering Maribel Arrieta, the "Salvadoran Marilyn Monroe" Who Turned Down Hollywood". Remezcla . Retrieved 25 August 2023.
23. "Miss England and Sweden favoured". The Singapore Free Press. 23 July 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via National Library Board.
24. "Beauty queens wilt". The Central Queensland Herald. 21 July 1955. p. 31. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Trove.
25. "Here come the tears". The Daily News. 28 June 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Trove.
26. "Life's darkest hour; she has to go home". The Los Angeles Times . 18 December 1955. p. 165. Retrieved 19 July 2023– via Newspapers.com.
27. Gámez, Sabino (20 August 2010). "Pastora Pagán, 55 años después de la hazaña" [Pastora Pagán, 55 years after the feat]. La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
28. "Miss Israel gets 29 marriage bids". ⁨⁨The American Jewish World . 9 September 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via National Library of Israel.
29. "Italy's choice". Daily Press . 8 July 1955. p. 16. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Newspapers.com.
30. "Asian misses just miss". The Straits Times . 24 July 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via National Library Board.
31. ""Miss Universe" beauties on Western film lot". The Enid Daily Eagle . 19 July 1955. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Newspapers.com.
32. Mendoza, Tammy Zoad (13 January 2013). "La primera Miss Nicaragua" [The first Miss Nicaragua]. La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
33. "Our secrets–by beauties". The Singapore Free Press. 21 July 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via National Library Board.
34. Lo, Ricky (12 February 2010). "Misses RP for Miss U pageant, 1952-'63". Philippine Star . Retrieved 11 May 2023.
35. "Reinas de Puerto Rico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2025.
36. "Meet Miss Korea, 1955". The Daily News. 22 June 1955. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Trove.
37. Bacon, James (21 July 1955). "Miss Vermont named Miss U.S.A." The Boston Globe . p. 1. Retrieved 14 May 2023– via Newspapers.com.
38. "Miss Uruguay cut down to size". The Daily News. 15 July 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Trove.
39. Roterman, Natalie (19 June 2016). "Susana Duijm Dead: First Latina To Ever Win Miss Mundo Passes At 79". Latin Times . Retrieved 25 August 2023.
40. "Feuilleton Kompakt" [Feuilleton Compact]. Die Welt (in German). 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2023.

External links

• Miss Universe official website