Miss Universe 1959
Encyclopedia
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, USA for the 8th time. Thirty four contestants competed and in the end Miss Japan, 22-year-old Akiko Kojima
Akiko Kojima
is a Japanese model and the first Miss Universe to originate from Asia.- Biography :Akiko was a 22-year-old model from Tokyo, Japan when she bested four other finalists from Norway, the USA, England, and Brazil for the 1959 Miss Universe crown in Long Beach, California...
won the competition. She was crowned by Miss Universe 1958, Luz Marina Zuluaga
Luz Marina Zuluaga
Luz Marina Zuluaga is a Colombian beauty pageant winner and Miss Universe 1958. She is the only Colombian in history to hold the Miss Universe title.-Biography:...
from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. This was the last year that the pageant was held in Long Beach before its move to Miami Beach,Florida in 1960.
Placements
| Final results | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Universe 1959 |
|
| 1st runner-up |
 Norway - Jorunn Kristjansen |
| 2nd runner-up |
 United States - Terry Lynn HuntingdonTerry Huntingdon Terry Lynn Huntingdon is Miss USA 1959.After winning the Miss California USA crown, Huntingdon, from Mount Shasta, California went on to become California's first representative to achieve the title of Miss USA. She is also the first Miss USA to win in her home state.Ms. Huntington was also a... |
| 3rd runner-up |
 Kingdom of England - Pamela Anne Searle |
| 4th runner-up |
 Brazil - Vera Regina Ribeiro |
| Top 15 |
 Belgium - Hélène Savigny Colombia - Olga Pumarejo Korkor Early Modern France - Françoise Saint-Laurent Germany - Carmela Künzel Greece - Zoitsa KouroukliZoe Laskari Zoe Laskari , is a Greek film and theatre actress, one of the most popular in Greece.-Life:Zoe Laskari was born Zoe Kouroukli in Thessaloniki, from a middle class family which had a long tradition of service to the Hellenic Army. At an early age she lost both her parents and was raised by her...  Iceland - Sigridur Þorvaldsdóttir Israel - Rina Issacov Poland - Zuzanna Cembrzowska Sweden - Marie Louise Ekström |
Special awards
| Award | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Friendship |
|
| Miss Photogenic |
Kingdom of England - Pamela Anne Searle |
| Most Popular Girl in Parade |
|
Contestants
Argentina – Liana Cortijo
Austria – Christine Spatzier- Belgium – Hélène Savigny
Bolivia – Corina Taborga- Brazil – Vera Regina Ribeiro
Myanmar – Than Than Aye
Canada - Eileen Butter- Colombia – Olga Pumajero Korkor
Costa Rica – Ziane Monturiel
Cuba – Irma Buesa Mas
Denmark – Lisa Stolberg
Ecuador – Carlota Elena Ayala- Kingdom of England – Pamela Anne Searle
- Early Modern France – Françoise Saint-Laurent
- Germany – Carmela Künzel
- Greece – Zoidsa Kouroukli
Guatemala – Rogelia Cruz Martínez
Hawaii – Patricia Visser- ' – Peggy Erwich
- Iceland – Sigridur Þorvaldsdóttir
- Israel – Rina Issacov
Italy – Maria Grazia BuccellaMaria Grazia BuccellaMaria Grazia Buccella, is a former Italian glamour model, Miss Italy contestant and film actress.Buccella screentested for the role of Domino Derval 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. The role eventually went to French actress, Claudine Auger...
Japan- Akiko KojimaAkiko Kojimais a Japanese model and the first Miss Universe to originate from Asia.- Biography :Akiko was a 22-year-old model from Tokyo, Japan when she bested four other finalists from Norway, the USA, England, and Brazil for the 1959 Miss Universe crown in Long Beach, California...- ' – Oh Hyun-joo
Luxembourg- Josée Pundel
Mexico – Mirna García Dávila- Norway – Jorunn Kristjansen
Peru – Guadalupe Mariátegui Hawkis- Poland – Zuzanna Cembrzowska
- Sweden – Marie Louise Ekström
Thailand – Sodsri Sodsai VenijvadhavaSodsri Sodsai VenijvadhavaSodsri Sodsai Venijvadhava is a second Thai representative to the Miss Universe pageant in history.-Biography:Venijvadhava is a faculty of Arts professor at Chulalongkorn University. She completed at the 1959 Miss Universe pageant and won the Miss Friendship Award.In 1964, she married Dr Trong...
Turkey - Ecel Olcay
Uruguay – Claudia Bernat- United States – Terry Lynn HuntingdonTerry HuntingdonTerry Lynn Huntingdon is Miss USA 1959.After winning the Miss California USA crown, Huntingdon, from Mount Shasta, California went on to become California's first representative to achieve the title of Miss USA. She is also the first Miss USA to win in her home state.Ms. Huntington was also a...
(CA)
- Misses
New Zealand (Arlenne Nesgitt), 
Philippines (Christine Matias), and 
United Arab Republic (SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
) (Nawal Ramli) did not compete.
Historical significance
- JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
wins its first Miss Universe crown. - Last time that the Miss Popular Girl in Parade award was handed out.
Contestant notes
- Miss JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Akiko Kojima is the first woman from Japan to win the Miss Universe title. Japan would not win the second Miss Universe crown until 2007, where Riyo MoriRiyo Moriis a Japanese dance instructor and model who won the Miss Universe 2007 title in May 2007.-Early life:...
won. - Miss USA, Terry HuntingdonTerry HuntingdonTerry Lynn Huntingdon is Miss USA 1959.After winning the Miss California USA crown, Huntingdon, from Mount Shasta, California went on to become California's first representative to achieve the title of Miss USA. She is also the first Miss USA to win in her home state.Ms. Huntington was also a...
is the first Miss California USAMiss California USAMiss California USA is a pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss USA pageant.The current titleholder is Katie Blair. She succeeded Alyssa Campanella on June 25, 2011 after Campanella was crowned Miss USA 2011....
to win the Miss USAMiss USAThe Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
title and compete in Miss Universe. - Miss AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Christine Spatzier went on to win the Miss Europe 1959 title. Miss TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Miss LuxembourgLuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
also competed in Miss Europe 1959. Both were unplaced. Miss Italy Maria Grazia BuccellaMaria Grazia BuccellaMaria Grazia Buccella, is a former Italian glamour model, Miss Italy contestant and film actress.Buccella screentested for the role of Domino Derval 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. The role eventually went to French actress, Claudine Auger...
finished third in Miss Europe 1959 and then started a successful career as a movie actress. - Miss Luxembourg went on to compete in Miss World 1959Miss World 1959Miss World 1959, the ninth annual Miss World pageant, was held on November 10, 1959 at Lyceum Theatre, London, United Kingdom and was the first to be televised by the BBC. 37 contestants competed for the Miss World...
. She was also unplaced. - After winning miss amity award, Miss Thailand pursued an acting and singing career in Hollywood for a few years and went back to become the first associate professor in dramatic arts at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. She has been called "the mother of modern dramatic arts" in Thailand and there is an annual national award named after her for best playwrights in Thailand.
- Miss Norway appeared on What's My Line during her trip to the United States for the pageant. Her line was "Dental NurseDental nurseDental nurses work as part of a dental team in a variety of clinical and non clinical settings. The term Dental nurse has a defined meaning within the UK...
" and she managed to stump the panel (though Arlene FrancisArlene FrancisArlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...
did surmise she was a nurse of some sort).
Panel of Judges
- Maxwell ArnowMaxwell ArnowCasting director. He was noted for his discoveries of future film stars Ronald Reagan and Kim Novak.Arnow was born in New York City on 25 November 1902, the son of Jacob and Pauline Cohen Arnowitz. He married Henrietta Schnall in 1929 in New York. In 1932, he moved his family to California and was...
- Claude Berr
- Ghislaine R. de Amador
- Christine Fox
- Palmi Ingvarsson
- James H. Noguer
- Vion Papamichalis
- Joseph Ruttemberg
- Vincent Trotta
- Paul Wellmann