Miss Universe 1961

Miss Universe 1961
Marlene Schmidt
Date	July 15, 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, 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

Selection of participants

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

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

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

Miss Universe 1961 participating countries and territories

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1961	West Germany – Marlene Schmidt [6]
1st runner-up	Wales – Rosemarie Frankland [6]
2nd runner-up	Argentina – Adriana Gardiazábal [6]
3rd runner-up	England – Arlette Dobson [6]
4th runner-up	United States – Sharon Brown [6]
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

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Greece – Eleftheria Deloutsi [6]
Miss Photogenic	United States – Sharon Brown [6]

Pageant

Format

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

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 [18]	25	Miami, Florida
Denmark	Jette Nielsen [19]	18	Copenhagen
Ecuador	Yolanda Palacios [20]	18	Guayaquil
England	Arlette Dobson [21]	18	Surrey
Finland	Ritva Wächter [22]	20	Naantali
France	Simone Darot [23]	19	Paris
Greece	Eleftheria Deloutsi [24]	18	Athens
Guatemala	Anabelle Sáenz	–	Guatemala City
Holland	Gita Kamman [25]	22	Amsterdam
Iceland	Kristjana Magnúsdóttir [26]	21	Reykjanesbær
Ireland	Jean Russell	21	Lisburn
Israel	Atida Pisanti [27]	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 [28]	20	Aguadilla
Republic of China	Wang Li-Ling	19	Taipei
Rhodesia and Nyasaland	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 [29]	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
West Germany	Marlene Schmidt [30]	24	Stuttgart

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

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. "Miss Germany wins contest". Daytona Beach Morning Journal . July 15, 1961. pp. 1–2A. Retrieved October 18, 2023– via Google News Archive.
7. "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. "Universal beauty displayed at Miami". Herald-Journal. July 13, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
16. "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. "History of Cuba in Miss Universe: from its beginnings in 1927 to its return in 2024". CiberCuba (in Spanish). September 27, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
19. "Untitled". Atuagagdliutit (in Kalaallisut). June 29, 1961. p. 28. Retrieved December 6, 2022– via Tímarit.is.
20. "Candidale ai massimi titoli di bellezza" [Nominee for top beauty titles]. La Stampa (in Italian). July 1, 1961. p. 5. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
21. "MISS UNIVERSE WINNERS". The Daily Republic . July 17, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2025– via newspapers.
22. Himberg, Petra (November 18, 2009). "Miss Suomi 1961 Ritva Wächter". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved February 19, 2024.
23. Lo, Ricky (February 1, 2017). "France 1st grand slam winner in world beauty pageants". Philippine Star . Retrieved February 19, 2024.
24. "Downfall of Greece". Philadelphia Daily News. July 15, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved February 19, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
25. "Ene miss Holland is voor ons in Florida". Het Parool (in Dutch). July 12, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2024– via Delpher.
26. "Íslensk fegurð '61". Fálkinn (in Icelandic). June 14, 1961. pp. 18–20. Retrieved February 19, 2024– via Tímarit.is.
27. "Untitled". The American Jewish World. July 21, 1961. p. 11. Retrieved February 19, 2024– via National Library of Israel.
28. "Reinas de Puerto Rico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved March 19, 2025.
29. "Louisiana lass is 'Miss U.S.A.'". The Tuscaloosa News . July 14, 1961. pp. 1–2. Retrieved July 22, 2023– via Google News Archive.
30. "Beauties parade for title tonight". The Gadsden Times. July 14, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2024.

External links

• Miss Universe official website