Miss Universe 1960

Miss Universe 1960 was the ninth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on 9 July 1960.

Miss Universe 1960
Linda Bement
Date	7 July 1960 (1960-07-07)
Presenters	Charles Collingwood
Venue	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	43
Placements	15
Debuts	Jordan Portugal Spain Tunisia
Withdrawals	Guatemala Hawaii Mexico Poland Thailand Turkey
Returns	Chile Finland Hong Kong Lebanon Morocco New Zealand Paraguay South Africa Suriname Switzerland Venezuela
Winner	Linda Bement United States
Congeniality	Myint Myint May (Burma)
Photogenic	Daniela Bianchi (Italy)
← 1959 1961 →

At the end of the event, Akiko Kojima of Japan crowned Linda Bement of United States as Miss Universe 1960.^[1] Bement was the third representative of the United States to win the contest.

Contestants from forty-three countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Charles Collingwood.

Background

Selection of participants

Contestants from forty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were appointees to their national titles and another was selected after another national pageant was held to replace the original dethroned winner.

Appointments and replacements

Mary Quiróz, Miss Yaracuy 1957, was appointed as the representative of Venezuela at Miss Universe as the Miss Venezuela pageant was held weeks after Miss Universe.^[2] Sonja Menzel was set to represent Denmark at Miss Universe, but withdrew due to undisclosed reasons.^[3] Menzel was then replaced by Lizzie Hess as the representative of Denmark.^[4]

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Jordan, Portugal, Spain, and Tunisia, and the returns of Chile, Finland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Morocco, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Africa, Suriname, Switzerland, and Venezuela. South Africa and Switzerland last competed in 1953, Hong Kong and New Zealand last competed in 1954, Finland and Lebanon last competed in 1955, Morocco last competed in 1957, while the others last competed in 1958.^[5]

Guatemala, Hawaii, Mexico, Poland, Thailand, and Turkey withdrew. Hawaii withdrew after becoming a state of the United States on 21 August 1959.^[6] Lorena Velázquez of Mexico withdrew for personal reasons.^[7] Marzena Malinowska of Poland withdrew after choosing to compete in another international beauty contest.^[8][9] Guatemala, Poland, Thailand, and Turkey withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate. Expected to debut in this edition are the countries of Cameroon, Haiti, and Tahiti, but all did not compete. Julienne Ayissi Eyenga Fouda was expected to be the first representative of Cameroon at the pageant, but was disqualified after it was discovered that she was underage.^[10] She was then replaced by Sale Assouen, but withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. Cluadinette Fouchard was expected to be the first representative of Haiti at the pageant, but withdrew as she is going to be married.^[11]

Results

Contestants from Venezuela, Japan, Ecuador and Brazil during the swimsuit parade.

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1960	United States – Linda Bement[1]
1st runner-up	Italy – Daniela Bianchi[1]
2nd runner-up	Austria – Elizabeth Hodacs[1]
3rd runner-up	South Africa – Nicolette Caras[1]
4th runner-up	Spain – María Teresa del Río[1]
Top 15	Brazil – Jean Gina MacPherson[12]  Colombia – Stella Márquez[12]  England – Joan Ellinor Boardman[12]  West Germany – Ingrun Moeckel[12]  Greece – Magda Passaloglou[12]  Israel – Aliza Gur[12]  Japan – Yayoi Furuno[12]  Norway – Ragnhild Aass[12]  South Korea – Sohn Miheeja[12]   Switzerland – Elaine Maurath[12]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Amity	Burma – Myint Myint May[13]  Louisiana – Judy Fletcher[13]
Miss Photogenic	Italy – Daniela Bianchi

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][14]

Contestants

Forty-three contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Argentina	Rose Marie Lincke[15]	22	Buenos Aires
Austria	Elizabeth Hodacs[16]	18	Vienna
Belgium	Huberte Box[17]	19	Brussels
Bolivia	Nancy Aguirre[18]	19	La Paz
Brazil	Gina MacPherson[19]	19	Guanabara
Burma	Myint Myint May[20]	18	Rangoon
Canada	Edna McVicar[21]	19	Galt
Chile	Marinka Polhammer[22]	19	Santiago
Colombia	Stella Márquez[23]	21	Pasto
Costa Rica	Leila Rodríguez[24]	18	San José
Cuba	Flora Lauten[25]	18	Havana
Denmark	Lizzie Ellinor Hess[4]	20	Copenhagen
Ecuador	Isabel Rolando[26]	21	Quito
England	Joan Boardman[27]	22	Wallasey
Finland	Maija-Leena Manninen[28]	21	Helsinki
France	Florence Eyrie[29]	21	Paris
Greece	Magda Passaloglou[17]	24	Athens
Holland	Carina Verbeek[27]	19	The Hague
Hong Kong	Vivian Cheung[30]	20	Hong Kong
Iceland	Svanhildur Jakobsdóttir[31]	19	Reykjavík
Israel	Aliza Gur[32]	19	Haifa
Italy	Daniela Bianchi[33]	18	Rome
Japan	Yayoi Furuno[34]	19	Fukuoka
Jordan	Helen Giatanapoulus[30]	–	Amman
Lebanon	Gladys Tabet[35]	18	Beirut
Luxembourg	Marie Venturi	21	Luxembourg
Morocco	Marilyn Escobar[36]	19	Rabat
New Zealand	Lorraine Nawa Jones[37]	21	Wellington
Norway	Ragnhild Aass[38]	19	Oslo
Paraguay	Mercedes Ruggia[5]	–	Asunción
Peru	Medallit Gallino[39]	19	Lambayeque
Portugal	Maria Teresa Motoa Cardoso[40]	19	Lisbon
South Africa	Nicolette Caras[41]	19	Johannesburg
South Korea	Sohn Miheeja[12]	19	Seoul
Spain	María Teresa del Río[12]	21	Madrid
Suriname	Christine Jie Sam Foek[42]	21	Paramaribo
Sweden	Birgitta Öfling[4]	22	Uppsala
Switzerland	Elaine Maurath[27]	19	Geneva
Tunisia	Marie Louise Carrigues[4]	–	Tunis
United States	Linda Bement[43]	18	Salt Lake City
Uruguay	Iris Teresa Ubal[40]	22	Montevideo
Venezuela	Mary Quiróz[2]	21	Caracas
West Germany	Ingrun Moeckel[44]	18	Düsseldorf

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant