Miss Universe 1959
| Miss Universe 1959 |
|---|
| Date |
24 July 1959 |
|---|
| Presenters |
Byron Palma |
|---|
| Venue |
Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, USA  |
|---|
| Broadcaster |
KTTV |
|---|
| Entrants |
34 |
|---|
| Placements |
15 |
|---|
| Debuts |
Bolivia, Burma, Luxembourg |
|---|
| Withdrawals |
Alaska, Australia, British Guiana, Chile, Paraguay, Singapore, Surinam, Venezuela, West Indies |
|---|
| Returns |
Austria, Iceland, Thailand, Turkey |
|---|
| Winner |
Akiko Kojima
 Japan |
|---|
| Congeniality |
Sodsai Vanijvadhana
 Thailand |
|---|
| Photogenic |
Pamela Anne Searle
 England |
|---|
Miss Universe 1959, the 8th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 24 July 1959 in Long Beach, California, USA. 34 contestants competed and in the end Akiko Kojima of Japan won the competition, becoming the first Asian woman to win the title. She was crowned by Luz Marina Zuluaga from Colombia. This was the last year that the pageant was held in Long Beach before it moved to Miami Beach, Florida in 1960, prior to the establishment of the Miss International pageant.
Results
Participating Nations and Results
Placements
| Final results |
Contestant |
| Miss Universe 1959 |
|
| 1st runner-up |
|
| 2nd runner-up |
|
| 3rd runner-up |
|
| 4th runner-up |
|
| Semi-finalists |
|
Special awards
| Awards |
Contestant |
| Miss Friendship |
|
| Miss Photogenic |
|
| Most Popular Girl in Parade |
|
Judges
|
|
- James H. Noguer
- Vion Papamichalis
- Joseph Ruttemberg
- Vincent Trotta
- Paul Wellmann
|
Contestants
Notes
Withdrawals
Crossovers
Other notes
- 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.
- USA - Terry Huntingdon is the first Miss California USA to win the Miss USA title and compete in Miss Universe.
- After winning Miss Amity, 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).
External links
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New Zealand - Arlenne Nesgitt.svg.png)
Philippines - Christine Matias