Miss Universe 1961
Marlene Schmidt
Date15 July 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
 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 15 July 1961.

At the end of the event, Linda Bement of the United States crowned Marlene Schmidt of 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.

Results

Placements

Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1961
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
Top 15

Special awards

Award Contestant
Miss Congeniality
Miss Photogenic

Contestants

Miss Universe 1961 participating countries and territories

Forty-eight contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age[a] Hometown
 Argentina Adriana Gardiazábal 18 Buenos Aires
 Austria Ingrid Bayer 20 Vorarlberg
 Belgium Nicole Ksinozenicki[4] 18 Saint-Gilles
 Bolivia Gloria Soruco[5] 19 Santa Cruz de la Sierra
 Brazil Staël Maria da Rocha Abelha 19 Caratinga
 Burma Khin Myint Myint[6] 18 Daik-U
 Canada Wilda Reynolds 19 Toronto
 Ceylon Ranjini Jayatilleke – Colombo
 Chile María Gloria Silva 22 Santiago
 Colombia Patricia Whitman[7] 21 Medellín
 Cuba Martha García Vieta 25 Miami, Florida
 Denmark Jyette Nielsen 18 Copenhagen
 Ecuador Yolanda Palacios 18 Guayaquil
 England Arlette Dobson 18 Surrey
 Finland Ritva Wächter 20 Naantali
 France Simone Darot 19 Paris
 Germany Marlene Schmidt 24 Stuttgart
 Greece Eleftheria Deloutsi 18 Athens
 Guatemala Anabelle Sáenz – Guatemala City
 Holland Gita Kamman 22 Amsterdam
 Iceland Kristjana Magnúsdóttir 21 Reykjanesbær
 Ireland Jean Russell 21 Lisburn
 Israel Atida Pisanti 19 Haifa
 Italy Vivianne Romano 21 Lazio
 Jamaica Marguerite LeWars 20 Kingston
 Japan Akemi Toyama 20 Tokyo
 Lebanon Leila Antaki 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[8] 18 Minden
 United States Virgin Islands Priscila Bonilla – Charlotte Amalie
 Uruguay Susanna Ferrari – Montevideo
 Venezuela Ana Griselda Vegas 20 Caracas
 Wales Rosemarie Frankland 18 Lancashire

Notes

  1. ^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

  1. ^ "German engineer starting plush Miss Universe year". The Spokesman-Review. 17 July 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Miss Germany wins contest". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. 15 July 1961. pp. 1–2A. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "15 girls reach final beauty test". Youngstown Vindicator. 15 July 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  4. ^ "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). 25 May 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via Delpher.
  5. ^ "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 18 October 2023.
  6. ^ Htwe, Nien Ei Ei (28 September 2009). "Former 'Miss Burma' winner passes away". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Louisiana lass is 'Miss U.S.A.'". The Tuscaloosa News. 14 July 1961. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 22 July 2023 – via Google News Archive.

External links

Miss Universe
Miss Universe 1961, national titleholders
Categories