Miss Universe 1961

Contestants from forty-eight countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were appointed to replace the original winner.

Both, Ana Griselda Vegas of Venezuela and Pilar Ramos of Spain replaced Gloria Lilue and María del Carmen Cervera, respectively, as the latter chose to compete at Miss International 1961.^[2][3]

This edition saw the debuts of Ireland, Jamaica, Madagascar, the Republic of China, Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Scotland, the United States Virgin Islands, and Wales, and the returns of Ceylon, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Turkey.^[4] 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.^[5][6] Koh eventually competed at Miss Universe the following year.^[7]

Same with 1955, fifteen semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition.^[9] 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.^[8]

• Peter Demaerel – Director of the Belgian-American Tourist Office in the United States
• Gustavo Lorca Rojas – Former mayor of Viña del Mar
• Raul Manteola – Argentinian painter
• Russell Patterson – American cartoonist
• Michel Tapié – French painter
• Earl Wilson – American journalist and columnist^[10]
• Miyoko Yanagita – Japanese fashion designer

Forty-eight contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Argentina	Adriana Gardiazábal[11]	18	Buenos Aires
Austria	Ingrid Bayer[12]	20	Vorarlberg
Belgium	Nicole Ksinozenicki[13]	18	Saint-Gilles
Bolivia	Gloria Soruco[14]	19	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Brazil	Staël Abelha[15]	19	Caratinga
Burma	Khin Myint Myint[16]	18	Daik-U
Canada	Wilda Reynolds[17]	19	Toronto
Ceylon	Ranjini Jayatilleke[18]	19	Colombo
Chile	Gloria Silva[19]	22	Santiago
Colombia	Patricia Whitman[20]	21	Medellín
Cuba	Martha García Vieta[21]	25	Miami
Denmark	Jette Nielsen[22]	18	Copenhagen
Ecuador	Yolanda Palacios[23]	18	Guayaquil
England	Arlette Dobson[24]	18	Surrey
Finland	Ritva Wächter[25]	20	Naantali
France	Simone Darot[26]	19	Paris
Greece	Eleftheria Deloutsi[27]	18	Athens
Guatemala	Anabelle Sáenz	19	Guatemala City
Holland	Gita Kamman[28]	22	Amsterdam
Iceland	Kristjana Magnúsdóttir[29]	21	Reykjanesbær
Ireland	Jean Russell	21	Lisburn
Israel	Atida Pisanti[30]	19	Haifa
Italy	Vivianne Romano[31]	21	Lazio
Jamaica	Marguerite LeWars[32]	20	Kingston
Japan	Akemi Toyama	20	Tokyo
Lebanon	Leila Antaki[18]	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	18	Asunción
Peru	Carmela Stein	20	Lima
Puerto Rico	Enid del Valle[33]	20	Aguadilla
Republic of China	Li-Ling Wang[34]	19	Taipei
Rhodesia and Nyasaland	Jonee Sierra[35]	19	Salisbury
Scotland	Susan Jones[36]	20	Aberdeen
South Africa	Marina Christelis	20	Johannesburg
South Korea	Yang-hee Seo	21	Seoul
Spain	Pilar Ramos	19	Madrid
Sweden	Gunilla Knutsson[37]	20	Ystad
Switzerland	Liliane Burnier	19	Geneva
Turkey	Gülseren Uysal	18	Istanbul
United States	Sharon Brown[38]	18	Minden
United States Virgin Islands	Priscila Bonilla	18	Charlotte Amalie
Uruguay	Susanna Ferrari[19]	–	Montevideo
Venezuela	Ana Griselda Vegas	20	Caracas
Wales	Rosemarie Frankland[39]	18	Lancashire
West Germany	Marlene Schmidt[40]	24	Stuttgart