Miss Universe 1969

Miss Universe 1969
Gloria Diaz
Date	19 July 1969
Presenters	Bob Barker June Lockhart
Venue	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Broadcaster	CBS (WTVJ)
Entrants	61
Placements	15
Withdrawals	Haiti Lebanon Okinawa South Africa United States Virgin Islands
Returns	Suriname
Winner	Gloria Diaz Philippines
Congeniality	Zohra Boufaden (Tunisia)
Best National Costume	Sangduen Manwong (Thailand)
Photogenic	Carole Robinson (New Zealand)
←  1968 1970  →

Miss Universe 1969 was the 18th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, the United States, on 19 July 1969.

At the conclusion of the event, Martha Vasconcellos of Brazil crowned Gloria Diaz of the Philippines as Miss Universe 1969. It was the first win by the Philippines at the pageant. ^[1]

Contestants from sixty-one countries and territories competed in this edition. The pageant was hosted by Bob Barker, while June Lockhart provided commentary throughout the competition.

Background

Selection of participants

Contestants from sixty-one countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. One candidate was appointed to represent her country to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Miss Malaysia 1969, Sabrina Loo, chose not to compete due to personal reasons and was replaced by her first runner-up, Rosemary Wan. ^{[2] [3]} However, following the announcement of the Far East Beauty Congress that Wan would be sent to Miami instead of Loo, Loo expressed her dissatisfaction and protested the decision. ^{[4] [5]} The congress stated that it was too late for Loo to change her mind, resulting in Wan representing Malaysia at Miss Universe. ^{[6] [7]}

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the return of Suriname which last competed in 1966. Miss Lebanon 1968, Lily Bissar, was disqualified for being underage. ^{[8] [9]} Haiti, Okinawa, South Africa, and the United States Virgin Islands withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Results

Miss Universe 1969 participating countries and territories

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1969	Philippines – Gloria Diaz [10]
1st Runner-Up	Finland – Harriet Eriksson [10]
2nd Runner-Up	Australia – Joanne Barrett [10]
3rd Runner-Up	Israel – Chava Levy [10]
4th Runner-Up	Japan – Kikuyo Osuka [10]
Top 15 [11] [12]	Austria – Eva Rueber-Staier  Brazil – Vera Fischer  Chile – Mónica Larson  Colombia – Margarita Reyes  Norway – Pia Walker  Peru – María Julia Mantilla  Sweden – Brigitta Lindloff   Switzerland – Patrice Sollner  United States – Wendy Dascomb  Yugoslavia – Nataša Košir

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Amity	Tunisia – Zohra Boufaden [13]
Miss Photogenic	New Zealand – Carole Robinson [14]
Best National Costume	Thailand – Sangduen Manwong [14]
Top 10 Best in Swimsuit [15]	Australia – Joanne Barrett  Austria – Eva Rueber-Staier  Brazil – Vera Fischer  Colombia – Margarita Reyes  Finland – Harriet Eriksson  Israel – Chava Levy  Philippines – Gloria Diaz  United States – Wendy Dascomb  Yugoslavia – Nataša Košir

Pageant

Format

Same with 1966, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. Each of the fifteen semi-finalists were individually interviewed by Bob Barker. Following the interviews, the fifteen semi-finalists participated in the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. From fifteen, five contestants were shortlisted to advance to the final interview. ^[16]

Selection committee

• Sara Lou Harris Carter – African-American model
• Peter de Maerek – Director of the Belgian Tourist Bureau
• Gino di Grandi – Owner of an international public relations organization
• Eileen Ford – American model and founder of Ford Models
• Yousuf Karsh – Armenian-Canadian photographer ^[17]
• Dong Kingman – Chinese-American painter
• David Merrick – American theatre producer ^[17]
• Norma Nolan – Miss Universe 1962 from Argentina ^[17]
• Chiyo Tanaka – Japanese author and fashion designer
• Monique van Vooren – Belgian-American actress ^[18]
• Edilson Cid Varela – Brazilian journalist
• Earl Wilson – American columnist and journalist

Contestants

Miss Universe 1969 finalists in Brazil with Miss Brazil on the right side.

Sixty-one contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown
Argentina	Lidia Pepe	23	Corrientes
Aruba	Jeannette Geerman [19]	21	San Nicolaas
Australia	Joanne Barrett [20]	19	Sydney
Austria	Eva Rueber-Staier [21]	18	Styria
Bahamas	Joan Bowe [22]	21	Georgetown
Belgium	Danièle Roels [23]	19	Hainaut
Bermuda	Maxine Bean [24]	20	Hamilton
Bolivia	Luz María Rojas [25]	21	Cochabamba
Bonaire	Julia Nicolaas [26]	23	Kralendijk
Brazil	Vera Fischer [27]	18	Blumenau
Canada	Jacquie Perrin	20	Toronto
Ceylon	Marlene Seneveratne [28]	24	Colombo
Chile	Mónica Larson [29]	25	Santiago
Colombia	Margarita Reyes [30]	19	Cali
Congo-Kinshasa	Jeanne Mokomo [31]	16	Kinshasa
Costa Rica	Clara Antillón	18	San José
Curaçao	Yvonne Wardekker [32]	21	Willemstad
Denmark	Jeanne Perfeldt [33]	21	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Rocío García	18	Samaná
Ecuador	Rosana Vinueza [34]	20	Guayaquil
England	Myra Van Heck [35]	22	London
Finland	Harriet Eriksson [36]	22	Turku
France	Agathe Cognet [23]	24	Paris
Greece	Irene Diamantoglou	18	Athens
Guam	Anita Johnston [37]	18	Hagåtña
Holland	Welmoed Hollenberg [38]	21	Amsterdam
Honduras	Viena Paredes [39]	18	Choluteca
Hong Kong	Christine Tam	18	Hong Kong
Iceland	María Baldursdóttir	22	Reykjanesbær
India	Kavita Bhambani [40]	18	Bombay
Ireland	Patricia Byrne [41]	25	Dublin
Israel	Chava Levy [42]	19	Haifa
Italy	Diana Coccorese [43]	23	Rome
Jamaica	Carol Gerrow [44]	23	Kingston
Japan	Kikuyo Osuka [45]	18	Aichi
Luxembourg	Marie-Antoniette Bertinelli	18	Esch-sur-Alzette
Malaysia	Rosemary Wan [7]	20	Petaling Jaya
Malta	Natalie Quintana	20	Gżira
Mexico	Gloria Hernández [46]	20	Guanajuato
New Zealand	Carole Robinson [47]	22	Auckland
Nicaragua	Soraya Herrera	18	Tipitapa
Norway	Pia Walker	20	Oslo
Peru	María Julia Mantilla [48]	19	Trujillo
Philippines	Gloria Diaz [49]	18	Parañaque
Puerto Rico	Aída Betancourt [50]	20	Río Piedras
Scotland	Sheena Drumond [51]	18	Coatbridge
Singapore	Mavis Young [52]	18	Singapore
South Korea	Hyun-jung Lim	20	Seoul
Spain	Amparo Rodrigo [53]	19	Valencia
Suriname	Greta Natsier [54]	18	Paramaribo
Sweden	Brigitta Lindloff [11]	22	Västra Götaland
Switzerland	Patrice Sollner [11]	24	Aargau
Thailand	Sangduen Manwong [55]	20	Phra Nakhon
Tunisia	Zohra Boufaden [56]	21	Tunis
Turkey	Azra Balkan	18	Istanbul
United States	Wendy Dascomb [57]	19	Danville
Uruguay	Julia Möller [58]	20	Montevideo
Venezuela	María José Yéllici	24	Aragua
Wales	Shirley Jones [59]	22	Colwyn Bay
West Germany	Gesine Froese [60]	22	Bavaria
Yugoslavia	Nataša Košir [61]	21	Novo Mesto

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

1. "Miss Philippines Wins Title of Miss Universe". The New York Times. July 20, 1969. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013.
2. "Ratu Chantek Malaysia tidak pasti akan ka-Miami". Berita Harian (in Malay). 2 July 1969. p. 5. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
3. "Sabrina tetap tidak mewakili Malaysia di-Miami". Berita Harian (in Malay). 3 July 1969. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
4. "Sobbing Sabrina: I'll try to stop her going". The Straits Times (in Malay). 4 July 1969. p. 11. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
5. "Sabrina Loo membantah keputusan tidak akan ka-Miami". Berita Harian (in Malay). 4 July 1969. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
6. "10 Julai hari bersejarah bagi Rosemary Wan". Berita Harian (in Malay). 4 July 1969. p. 10. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
7. Beltran, Rudy (3 July 1969). "No-yes Sabrina told: You changed your mind too late". The Straits Times . p. 6. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
8. Maroun, Béchara (2 September 2022). "Yasmina Zaytoun, une Miss Liban qui veut tracer son propre chemin" [Yasmina Zaytoun, a Miss Lebanon who wants to forge her own path]. L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). Retrieved 27 September 2025.
9. "ليلي بيسار ملكة جمال لبنان 1968.. لذلك استبعدت من ملكة جمال العالم وهكذا أصبحت اليوم بعد مرور 55 عاماً- بالصور". Elfann News (in Arabic). 21 March 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
10. The Age. The Age.
11. Lo, Ricky (10 May 2007). "Days of Glory on Magpakailanman". Philippine Star . Retrieved 27 September 2025.
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13. "Beauty and peace". ⁨⁨B'nai B'rith Messenger⁩. 25 July 1969. p. 24. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2025– via The National Library of Israel.
14. "Two winners in Miss Universe pageant". St. Petersburg Times. 18 July 1969. pp. 2–B. Retrieved 28 September 2025– via Google News Archive.
15. "World's best-filled swimsuits". The Evening Independent. 17 July 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 15 November 2025– via Google Books.
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17. "Filipino girl is named "Miss Universe 1969"". The Morning Call. 20 July 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 28 September 2025– via Newspapers.com.
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20. "Australia's hope for the Miss Universe Quest". The Australian Women's Weekly. 11 June 1969. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 25 September 2025– via Trove.
21. "Ehemalige "Miss World" Eva Rueber-Staier führt heute ein ruhiges Leben". Oberösterreichische Nachrichten (in German). 2 December 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
22. "Among the fairest in the Universe". The Bermuda Recorder. 2 August 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2025– via Bermuda National Library.
23. "Zeven "schonen", deelneemsters aan de komende "Miss Universe" verkiezing in Miami Beach". Leeuwarder courant (in Dutch). 12 July 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 18 October 2023– via Delpher.
24. "Miss Bermuda 1969". The Bermuda Recorder. 6 June 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 1 May 2025– via Bermuda National Library.
25. "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. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
26. "Tica Nicolaas Miss Bonaire". Amigoe di Curacao (in Dutch). 8 April 1969. p. 9. Retrieved 1 May 2025– via Delpher.
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29. "Aspirantes a Miss Universo, en Miami". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 13 July 1969. p. 50. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
30. "Del Valle la nueva soberana" [The new sovereign from Valle]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). 12 November 1968. pp. 1, 14–16. Retrieved 18 October 2023– via Google News Archive.
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32. "Miss Curacao 1969". Amigoe di Curacao (in Dutch). 23 June 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 1 May 2025– via Delpher.
33. "Early arriving Miss Universe hopefuls". St. Petersburg Times. 12 July 1969. pp. 3–B. Retrieved 20 December 2022– via Newspapers.com.
34. "Familiares y amigos en adiós a Rosana Vinueza". El Universo (in Spanish). 26 August 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
35. "Hoping to bring back the title". The Guardian Journal. 5 July 1969. p. 16. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via Newspapers.com.
36. "Harriet Eriksson toinen Miss Universum-kisoissa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 21 July 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
37. "Better than average". The Tampa Tribune. 15 July 1969. p. 36. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via Newspapers.com.
38. Roodnat, Joyce; Schumm, Niels (1 March 2008). "Ik ben niet oud ik Bben vintage". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2025.
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40. Sikarwar, Ayushi (13 July 2022). "Who is former Miss India Kavita Singh, and why she's holding Sonam Kapoor's baby shower at her residence? Know here". Newsroom Post. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
41. "For Rosemary, such a lovely leggy threat from the west". The Straits Times . 6 July 1969. p. 4. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
42. "A miss que chega". ⁨⁨A Hebraica (in Portuguese). 1 September 1969. p. 34. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via The National Library of Israel.
43. "Sterfelijk en onsterfelijk". Limburgsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 3 July 1969. p. 2. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via Delpher.
44. "Photo Flash-back". The Gleaner. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via PressReader.
45. "Untitled". The Canberra Times. 13 May 1969. p. 4. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via Trove.
46. "Yawning beauties". Star Tribune. 19 July 1969. p. 16. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via Newspapers.com.
47. "HAPPY "MISS N.Z."". The Press . Christchurch, New Zealand. 4 June 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 1 January 2026– via Papers Past.
48. Bustamante Ravina, Enrique (5 July 2021). "María Julia Mantilla: una reina proclamada durante la dictadura de 1969". Trome (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
49. Villano, Alexa (19 July 2019). "LOOK BACK: Gloria Diaz, forever Miss Universe icon". Rappler . Retrieved 18 October 2023.
50. "Reinas de Puerto Rico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2025.
51. "Press ball Queen Sheena went on to be crowned Miss UK". Stirling Observer. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via PressReader.
52. "Miss Young leaves for Miami". The Straits Times . 5 July 1969. p. 24. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via National Library Board.
53. Dominguez Valencia, M. (10 March 2010). "Dos reinas de la belleza en la misma familia". Levante-EMV (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2025.
54. "Miss Surinam door Premier Ontvangen". Vrjie Stem (in Dutch). 9 July 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 27 September 2025– via Delpher.
55. "Beauty wins in a tuk tuk". The Nation Thailand. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
56. "Stuntman has close call". The Miami News. 17 July 1969. p. 16. Retrieved 1 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
57. "Wendy Dascomb, Stratford College Student, Named Miss U.S.A. 1969". The Danville Register . Associated Press. May 25, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
58. "Las confesiones de Julia Möller". El Pais (in Spanish). 6 August 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
59. "Miss Wales is from Colwyn". The North Wales Weekly News. 12 June 1969. p. 9. Retrieved 1 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
60. "5. Mai 1969: Eine Nürnbergerin ist die Schönste". Nürnberger Nachrichten (in German). 5 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2025.
61. Kek, Franci (3 February 2019). "Nataša Košir Mušič, miss Jugoslavije 1968: Obisk v Beli hiši in pri milijonarjih". Dnevnik (in Slovenian). Retrieved 1 May 2025.

External links

• Official website