Miss Universe 1961

Miss Universe 1961
Marlene Schmidt
Date	15 July 1961
Presenters	Johnny Carson
Venue	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	48
Placements	15
Debuts	Ireland Jamaica Madagascar Republic of China Rhodesia and Nyasaland Scotland United States Virgin Islands Wales
Withdrawals	Costa Rica Hong Kong Jordan New Zealand Portugal Suriname Tunisia
Returns	Ceylon Guatemala Puerto Rico Turkey
Winner	Marlene Schmidt West Germany
Congeniality	Eleftheria Deloutsi (Greece)
Photogenic	Sharon Brown (United States)
←  1960 1962  →

Miss Universe 1961 was the 10th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, the United States on 15 July 1961.

At the conclusion of the event, Linda Bement of the United States crowned Marlene Schmidt of the West Germany as Miss Universe 1961. Schmidt was the first representative of the West 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

Selection of participants

Contestants from forty-eight countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were appointed to replace the original winner.

Replacements

Both, Ana Griselda Vegas of Venezuela and Pilar Ramos of Spain replaced Gloria Lilue and María del Carmen Cervera, respectively, as the latter chose to compete at Miss International 1961. ^{[2] [3]}

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Ireland, Jamaica, Madagascar, the Republic of China, Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Scotland, the United States Virgin Islands, and Wales, and the returns of Ceylon, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Turkey. ^[4] 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. ^{[5] [6]} Koh eventually competed at Miss Universe the following year. ^[7]

Results

Miss Universe 1961 participating countries and territories

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1961	West Germany – Marlene Schmidt [8]
1st Runner-Up	Wales – Rosemarie Frankland [8]
2nd Runner-Up	Argentina – Adriana Gardiazábal [8]
3rd Runner-Up	England – Arlette Dobson [8]
4th Runner-Up	United States – Sharon Brown [8]
Top 15 [9]	Chile – Gloria Silva  France – Simone Darot  Iceland – Kristjana Magnúsdóttir  Israel – Atida Pisanti  Peru – Carmela Stein  Republic of China – Li-Ling Wang  Scotland – Susan Jones  South Korea – Yang-hee Seo  Sweden – Gunilla Knutsson   Switzerland – Liliane Burnier

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Greece – Eleftheria Deloutsi [8]
Miss Photogenic	United States – Sharon Brown [8]

Pageant

Format

Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. ^[9] 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

• Peter Demaerel – Director of the Belgian-American Tourist Office in the United States
• Gustavo Lorca Rojas – Former mayor of Viña del Mar
• Raul Manteola – Argentinian painter
• Russell Patterson – American cartoonist
• Michel Tapié – French painter
• Earl Wilson – American journalist and columnist ^[10]
• Miyoko Yanagita – Japanese fashion designer

Contestants

Forty-eight contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown
Argentina	Adriana Gardiazábal [11]	18	Buenos Aires
Austria	Ingrid Bayer [12]	20	Vorarlberg
Belgium	Nicole Ksinozenicki [13]	18	Saint-Gilles
Bolivia	Gloria Soruco [14]	19	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Brazil	Staël Abelha [15]	19	Caratinga
Burma	Khin Myint Myint [16]	18	Daik-U
Canada	Wilda Reynolds [17]	19	Toronto
Ceylon	Ranjini Jayatilleke [18]	19	Colombo
Chile	Gloria Silva [19]	22	Santiago
Colombia	Patricia Whitman [20]	21	Medellín
Cuba	Martha García Vieta [21]	25	Miami
Denmark	Jette Nielsen [22]	18	Copenhagen
Ecuador	Yolanda Palacios [23]	18	Guayaquil
England	Arlette Dobson [24]	18	Surrey
Finland	Ritva Wächter [25]	20	Naantali
France	Simone Darot [26]	19	Paris
Greece	Eleftheria Deloutsi [27]	18	Athens
Guatemala	Anabelle Sáenz	19	Guatemala City
Holland	Gita Kamman [28]	22	Amsterdam
Iceland	Kristjana Magnúsdóttir [29]	21	Reykjanesbær
Ireland	Jean Russell	21	Lisburn
Israel	Atida Pisanti [30]	19	Haifa
Italy	Vivianne Romano [31]	21	Lazio
Jamaica	Marguerite LeWars [32]	20	Kingston
Japan	Akemi Toyama	20	Tokyo
Lebanon	Leila Antaki [18]	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	18	Asunción
Peru	Carmela Stein	20	Lima
Puerto Rico	Enid del Valle [33]	20	Aguadilla
Republic of China	Li-Ling Wang [34]	19	Taipei
Rhodesia and Nyasaland	Jonee Sierra [35]	19	Salisbury
Scotland	Susan Jones [36]	20	Aberdeen
South Africa	Marina Christelis	20	Johannesburg
South Korea	Yang-hee Seo	21	Seoul
Spain	Pilar Ramos	19	Madrid
Sweden	Gunilla Knutsson [37]	20	Ystad
Switzerland	Liliane Burnier	19	Geneva
Turkey	Gülseren Uysal	18	Istanbul
United States	Sharon Brown [38]	18	Minden
United States Virgin Islands	Priscila Bonilla	18	Charlotte Amalie
Uruguay	Susanna Ferrari [19]	–	Montevideo
Venezuela	Ana Griselda Vegas	20	Caracas
Wales	Rosemarie Frankland [39]	18	Lancashire
West Germany	Marlene Schmidt [40]	24	Stuttgart

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

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2. De los Rios, Elena (21 June 2021). "Miss España a los 18, viuda a los 30, madre soltera a los 37 y baronesa Thyssen a los 42: así pasó Carmen Cervera de los concursos de belleza a convertirse en la mujer más poderosa (y rica) del arte en España" [Miss Spain at 18, widowed at 30, single mother at 37, and Baroness Thyssen at 42: this is how Carmen Cervera went from beauty pageants to becoming the most powerful (and richest) woman in the arts in Spain.]. Mujer Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
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14. "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). 29 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
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18. "Universal beauty displayed at Miami". Herald-Journal. 13 July 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
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20. "Sensación en Miami por Trajes Típicos de Srta. Colombia". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 11 July 1961. pp. 1, 21. Retrieved 18 October 2023– via Google News Archive.
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25. Himberg, Petra (18 November 2009). "Miss Suomi 1961 Ritva Wächter". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 February 2024.
26. Lo, Ricky (1 February 2017). "France 1st grand slam winner in world beauty pageants". Philippine Star . Retrieved 19 February 2024.
27. "Downfall of Greece". Philadelphia Daily News. 15 July 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 19 February 2024– via Newspapers.com.
28. "Ene miss Holland is voor ons in Florida". Het Parool (in Dutch). 12 July 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 19 February 2024– via Delpher.
29. "Íslensk fegurð '61". Fálkinn (in Icelandic). 14 June 1961. pp. 18–20. Retrieved 19 February 2024– via Tímarit.is.
30. "Untitled". The American Jewish World. 21 July 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 19 February 2024– via National Library of Israel.
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32. Johnson, Richard (1 November 2020). "He was a gentleman". Jamaica Observer. Archived from the original on 30 November 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
33. "Reinas de Puerto Rico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2025.
34. "15 girls to compete in finals of Miss Universe pageant". The Bridgeport Post. 15 July 1961. p. 23. Retrieved 30 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
35. Makombe, Leonard (28 November 2002). "Zimbabwe: Blanchfield Possessed Rare Qualities". The Herald. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2025– via AllAfrica.
36. "The man who made Churchill beam". The Herald Scotland. 22 January 1994. Archived from the original on 30 November 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
37. "Miss Universe judges go for European girls". The Akron Beacon Journal. 15 July 1961. p. 2. Retrieved 30 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
38. "Louisiana lass is 'Miss U.S.A.'". The Tuscaloosa News . 14 July 1961. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 22 July 2023– via Google News Archive.
39. "Miss UK 1960". The Vancouver Sun. 22 September 1961. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2025– via Newspapers.com.
40. "Beauties parade for title tonight". The Gadsden Times. 14 July 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 19 February 2024.

External links

• Miss Universe official website