Miss Universe 1956

Miss Universe 1956 was the fifth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 20 July 1956.

Miss Universe 1956
Carol Morris
Date	20 July 1956 (1956-07-20)
Presenters	Bob Russell
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, United States
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	30
Placements	15
Debuts	British Guiana Dominican Republic Holland Iceland
Withdrawals	Ceylon El Salvador Finland Honduras Lebanon Nicaragua Norway South Korea West Indies
Returns	Peru Turkey
Winner	Carol Morris United States
Congeniality	Anabella Granados (Costa Rica)
Photogenic	Marina Orschel (West Germany)
← 1955 1957 →

At the end of the event, Hillevi Rombin of Sweden crowned Carol Morris of the United States as Miss Universe 1956.^[1] It is the second victory of the United States in the history of the pageant.^[2]

Contestants from thirty countries and territories competed in this edition. The pageant was hosted by Bob Russell for the fifth time.

Background

Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, the venue of Miss Universe 1956

Selection of participants

Contestants from thirty countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. This is the last edition before 2023 where women who are married and have children can participate.^[3][4][5] Two contestants were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Guðlaug Guðmundsdóttir, the first runner-up of Miss Iceland 1956, was appointed to replace Miss Iceland 1956 Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir after it was discovered that the latter was already married.^[6] Edith Noble Nakpil was replaced by Isabel Escobar Rodriguez as the representative of the Philippines due to undisclosed reasons.^[7]

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of British Guiana, the Dominican Republic, Holland, and Iceland,^[8] and the returns of Turkey and Peru, who last competed in 1953 and 1954, respectively. Mirva Arvinen of Finland withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. Ceylon, El Salvador, Finland, Honduras, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Norway, South Korea, and the West Indies withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or designate a contestant.

Results

Miss Universe 1956 Top 15 semi-finalists together with Hillevi Rombin (center)

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1956	United States – Carol Morris[2]
1st runner-up	West Germany – Marina Orschel[2]
2nd runner-up	Sweden – Ingrid Goude[2]
3rd runner-up	England – Iris Waller[2]
4th runner-up	Italy – Rossana Galli[2]
Top 15	Argentina – Ileana Carré[9]  Belgium – Lucienne Auquier[9]  Brazil – Maria José Cardoso[9]  Cuba – Marcia Rodríguez[9]  France – Anita Treyens[9]  Greece – Rita Gouma[9]  Israel – Sara Tal[9]  Mexico – Erna Bauman[9]  Peru – Lola Sabogal[9]  Venezuela – Blanca Heredia[9]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Costa Rica – Anabella Granados[10]
Miss Photogenic	West Germany – Marina Orschel[11]
Miss Popular Girl	United States – Carol Morris[11]

Pageant

Format

Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. 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.^[12]

Selection committee

• Vincent Trotta – Artistic Director at Paramount Pictures
• James H. Noguer – American professor of Foreign Languages
• Tom Kelley – American photographer
• Dorothy Kirsten – American opera singer^[12]
• Earl Wilson – American journalist and columnist^[12]
• Alberto Vargas – Peruvian-American painter known for his "Vargas Girls"^[12]
• Max Factor – American businessman and make-up man^[12]
• Claude Berr – Founder and president of the Comite Pour Election de Miss Europe^[12]

Contestants

Miss Universe 1956 participating countries and territories.

Thirty contestants competed for the title.^[13]

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Alaska	Barbara Sellar[14]	18	Fairbanks
Argentina	Ileana Carré	19	Buenos Aires
Belgium	Lucienne Auquier[15]	19	Brussels
Brazil	Maria José Cardoso[16]	21	Porto Alegre
British Guiana	Rosalind Iva Joan Fung[17]	20	Georgetown
Canada	Elaine Bishenden[18]	18	Toronto
Chile	Concepción Obach[19]	20	Santiago
Costa Rica	Anabella Granados[20]	18	Alajuela
Cuba	Marcia Rodríguez[21]	19	Havana
Dominican Republic	Olga Fiallo[22]	22	Ciudad Trujillo
Ecuador	Mercedes Flores Espín[13]	18	Guayaquil
England	Iris Waller[23]	21	Gateshead
France	Anita Treyens[24]	18	Paris
Greece	Rita Gouma[13]	20	Athens
Guatemala	Ileana Garlinger[13]	21	Guatemala City
Holland	Rita Schmidt[25]	20	Alkmaar
Iceland	Guðlaug Guðmundsdóttir[26]	19	Kópavogur
Israel	Sara Tal[27]	22	Tel Aviv
Italy	Rossana Galli[28]	21	Rome
Japan	Yoshie Baba[29]	19	Aizuwakamatsu
Mexico	Erna Marta Bauman[30]	18	Mexico City
Peru	Lola Sabogal[31]	21	Lima
Philippines	Isabel Rodriguez[32]	19	Manila
Puerto Rico	Paquita Vivo[18]	20	Santurce, San Juan
Sweden	Ingrid Goude[33]	19	Stockholm
Turkey	Can Uysaloğlu[34]	18	Istanbul
United States	Carol Morris[35]	20	Des Moines
Uruguay	Titina Aguirre[21]	19	Montevideo
Veneuzela	Blanca Heredia[36]	22	Caracas
West Germany	Marina Orschel[37]	19	Berlin

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant