Miss Universe 1960

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.^[a]

Sonja Menzel was originally set to represent Denmark but withdrew for undisclosed reasons,^[3] and was replaced by Lizzie Hess.^[4]

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, which last competed in 1953, Hong Kong and New Zealand in 1954, Finland and Lebanon in 1955, Morocco in 1957, while the others last competed in 1958.^[5]

Hawaii withdrew after becoming a U.S. state on 21 August 1959, resulting in the Miss Hawaii Universe pageant being downgraded from a national Miss Universe qualifier to a Miss USA state pageant.^[6]

Lorena Velázquez of Mexico withdrew for personal reasons.^[7] Marzena Malinowska of Poland withdrew to compete in another international pageant.^[8][9] Miss Turkey 1959, Figen Özgür, was replaced by Miss Turkey 1960, Nebahat Çehre, who also withdrew and later competed at Miss World 1960 instead.^[10][11] Guatemala, and Thailand withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Julienne Ayissi Eyenga Fouda of Cameroon was disqualified for being underage and replaced by Sale Assouen, who subsequently withdrew for undisclosed reasons.^[12] Cluadinette Fouchard of Haiti withdrew due to marriage plans.^[13] Madagascar and Martinique intended to participate but did not appear.^[14]

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.^[15][18]

• Maxwell Arnow – American film producer^[19]
• Fernando Botero – Colombian painter and sculptor^[19]
• Jane Fisher – Wife of American businessman and philanthropist, Max Fisher^[19]
• Irwin Hasen – American cartoonist^[19]
• Dr. M.M. Hollander – American physician and cosmetic specialist^[19]
• Russell Patterson – American cartoonist^[19]
• Vuk Vuchinich – Yugoslavian-American painter and sculptor^[19]
• Miyoko Yanagita – Japanese fashion designer^[19]
• Roger Zeiler – An official from the Mondial Events Organization through the Miss Europe Committee^[19]

Forty-three contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[b]	Hometown
Argentina	Rose Marie Lincke[20]	22	Buenos Aires
Austria	Elizabeth Hodacs[21]	18	Vienna
Belgium	Huberte Box[22]	19	Brussels
Bolivia	Nancy Aguirre[23]	19	La Paz
Brazil	Gina MacPherson[24]	19	Guanabara
Burma	Myint Myint May[25]	18	Rangoon
Canada	Edna McVicar[26]	19	Galt
Chile	Marinka Polhammer[27]	19	Santiago
Colombia	Stella Márquez[28]	21	Pasto
Costa Rica	Leila Rodríguez[29]	18	San José
Cuba	Flora Lauten[30]	18	Havana
Denmark	Lizzie Hess[4]	20	Copenhagen
Ecuador	Isabel Rolando[31]	21	Quito
England	Joan Boardman[32]	22	Wallasey
Finland	Maija-Leena Manninen[33]	21	Helsinki
France	Florence Eyrie[34]	21	Paris
Greece	Magda Passaloglou[22]	24	Athens
Holland	Carina Verbeek[32]	19	The Hague
Hong Kong	Vivian Cheung[35]	20	Hong Kong
Iceland	Svanhildur Jakobsdóttir[36]	19	Reykjavík
Israel	Aliza Gur[37]	19	Haifa
Italy	Daniela Bianchi[38]	18	Rome
Japan	Yayoi Furuno[39]	19	Fukuoka
Jordan	Helen Giatanapoulus[35]	19	Amman
Lebanon	Gladys Tabet[40]	18	Beirut
Luxembourg	Marie Venturi	21	Luxembourg City
Morocco	Marilyn Escobar[41]	19	Rabat
New Zealand	Lorraine Jones[42]	21	Wellington
Norway	Ragnhild Aass[43]	19	Oslo
Paraguay	Mercedes Ruggia[5]	22	Asunción
Peru	Medallit Gallino[44]	19	Lambayeque
Portugal	Maria Teresa Cardoso[14]	19	Lisbon
South Africa	Nicolette Caras[45]	19	Johannesburg
South Korea	Miheeja Sohn[15]	19	Seoul
Spain	Teresa del Río[15]	21	Madrid
Suriname	Christine Jie Sam Foek[46]	21	Paramaribo
Sweden	Birgitta Öfling[4]	22	Uppsala
Switzerland	Eliane Maurath[47]	19	Geneva
Tunisia	Marie-Louise Carrigues[48]	21	Tunis
United States	Linda Bement[49]	18	Salt Lake City
Uruguay	Iris Ubal[14]	22	Montevideo
Venezuela	Mary Quiróz[2]	21	Caracas
West Germany	Ingrun Möckel[50]	18	Düsseldorf