Miss Universe 1959

Miss Universe 1959
Date	July 24, 1959
Presenters	Byron Palma
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, USA
Broadcaster	KTTV
Entrants	34
Placements	15
Debuts	Bolivia, Burma, Luxembourg
Withdraws	Alaska, Australia, British Guiana (Guyana), Chile, Paraguay, Singapore, Suriname, Venezuela, West Indies
Returns	Austria, Iceland, Thailand, Turkey
Winner	Akiko Kojima  Japan
Congeniality	Sondsi Sodsal Venijvadhava  Thailand
Photogenic	Pamela Anne Searle  England

Participating Nations and Results.

The 8th Miss Universe pageant, Miss Universe 1959 was held in Long Beach, California, USA for the 8th time. Thirty four contestants competed and in the end Miss Japan, 22-year-old Akiko Kojima won the competition. She was crowned by Miss Universe 1958, Luz Marina Zuluaga from Colombia. This was the last year that the pageant was held in Long Beach before its move to Miami Beach,Florida in 1960.

Results

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss Universe 1959	Japan - Akiko Kojima
1st runner-up	Norway - Jorunn Kristjansen
2nd runner-up	USA - Terry Lynn Huntingdon
3rd runner-up	England - Pamela Anne Searle
4th runner-up	Brazil - Vera Regina Ribeiro
Top 15	Belgium - Hélène Savigny  Colombia - Olga Pumarejo Korkor  France - Françoise Saint-Laurent  Germany - Carmela Künzel  Greece - Zoitsa Kouroukli  Iceland - Sigridur Þorvaldsdóttir  Israel - Rina Issacov  Korea - Oh Hyun-joo  Poland - Zuzanna Cembrzowska  Sweden - Marie Louise Ekström

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Thailand - Sodsri Sodsai Venijvadhava
Miss Photogenic	England - Pamela Anne Searle
Most Popular Girl in Parade	Korea - Oh Hyun-joo

Contestants

Argentina – Liana Cortijo  Austria – Christine Spatzier  Belgium – Hélène Savigny  Bolivia – Corina Taborga  Brazil – Vera Regina Ribeiro  Burma – 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  England – Pamela Anne Searle  France – Françoise Saint-Laurent  Germany – Carmela Künzel  Greece – Zoidsa Kouroukli  Guatemala – Rogelia Cruz Martínez

Hawaii – Patricia Visser  Holland – Peggy Erwich  Iceland – Sigridur Þorvaldsdóttir  Israel – Rina Issacov  Italy – Maria Grazia Buccella  Japan- Akiko Kojima  Korea – 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 Venijvadhava  Turkey - Ecel Olcay  Uruguay – Claudia Bernat  USA – Terry Lynn Huntingdon (CA)

• Misses  New Zealand (Arlenne Nesgitt),  Philippines (Christine Matias), and  United Arab Republic (Syria) (Nawal Ramli) did not compete.

Historical significance

• Japan wins its first Miss Universe crown.
• Last time that the Miss Popular Girl in Parade award was handed out.

Contestant notes

• Miss Japan, 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 Mori won.
• Miss USA, Terry Huntingdon is the first Miss California USA to win the Miss USA title and compete in Miss Universe.
• Miss Austria, Christine Spatzier went on to win the Miss Europe 1959 title. Miss Turkey and Miss Luxembourg also competed in Miss Europe 1959. Both were unplaced. Miss Italy Maria Grazia Buccella ‎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 1959. 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 Nurse" and she managed to stump the panel (though Arlene Francis did surmise she was a nurse of some sort).

Panel of Judges

Maxwell Arnow Claude Berr Ghislaine R. de Amador Christine Fox Palmi Ingvarsson

James H. Noguer Vion Papamichalis Joseph Ruttemberg Vincent Trotta Paul Wellmann

External links

• Pageantopolis's Miss Universe 1959 page
• Judges