Miss Universe 1961

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.

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 →

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 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[29]	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[30]	20	Ystad
Switzerland	Liliane Burnier	19	Geneva
Turkey	Gülseren Uysal	–	Istanbul
United States	Sharon Brown[31]	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[32]	24	Stuttgart

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant