Miss Universe 1964


Miss Universe 1964 was the 13th Miss Universe pageant, held on at the Miami Beach Convention Hall in Miami Beach, Florida, the United States, on 1 August 1964.
At the conclusion of the event, Iêda Maria Vargas of Brazil crowned Corinna Tsopei of Greece as Miss Universe 1964. It is the first victory of Greece in the history of the pageant.
Contestants from sixty countries and territories competed in this edition. The pageant was hosted by Jack Linkletter, while Arlene Francis and John Daly served as backstage correspondents.

Background

Selection of participants

Contestants from sixty countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. One candidate was appointed to represent her country to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Wendy Barrie was appointed to represent Scotland after the original Miss Scotland, Doreen Swan, withdrew from the competition to marry her fiancé James Alexander Do Watt Nicoll. Swan was subsequently reported missing, and the FBI suspected she had been abducted.

Debuts, returns, and withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Aruba, Grenada, Nigeria, and Saint Vincent, and the returns of India, which last competed in 1952; Panama in 1954; Australia in 1958; Tunisia in 1960; Chile in 1961; and England, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Republic of China in 1962. Cuba, Morocco, and Nicaragua withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Vera Wee of Singapore as Singapore is still part of Malaysia until October 1965, and instead competed at Miss Malaysia 1964 where she finished as a runner-up to Angela Filmer. Ulla Donastorg of the United States Virgin Islands was also set to compete, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons.

Pageant

Format

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 ten finalists were eventually chosen. From the ten finalists, the runners-up and the new Miss Universe were then determined.

Contestants

Sixty contestants competed for the title.
Country/TerritoryContestantAgeHometown
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