Miss Universe 1963 was the 12th Miss Universe pageant held on 20 July 1963 at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Iêda Maria Vargas of Brazil was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Norma Nolan of Argentina.[1] This marks the first time that a Miss Universe titleholder marks the same placement as the 1962 World Cup champion. Fifty countries and territories participated.

Miss Universe 1963
Iêda Maria Vargas, Miss Universe 1963
Date20 July 1963
Hosts
VenueMiami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
BroadcasterCBS, WTVJ
Entrants50
Placements15
Debuts
  • Bahamas
  • Curaçao
  • Okinawa
  • Trinidad and Tobago
Withdrawals
  • Dahomey
  • England
  • Haiti
  • Hong Kong
  • Lebanon
  • Malaya
  • Portugal
  • Republic of China
  • Singapore
  • Tahiti
  • United States Virgin Islands
Returns
  • British Guiana
  • Denmark
  • Jamaica
  • Nicaragua
  • Suriname
WinnerIêda Maria Vargas
Brazil
CongenialityGrace Taylor (Scotland)
Best National CostumeSherin Ibrahim (Israel)
PhotogenicMarlene McKeown (Ireland)
← 1962
1964 →

Results

Placements

Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1963
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
Top 15

Special awards

Award Contestant
Miss Amity
Miss Photogenic
Best National Costume

Contestants

 
Miss Universe 1963 participating nations and results

Fifty contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age[a] Hometown
  Argentina Olga Galuzzi 23 Buenos Aires
  Austria Gertrude Bergner 19 Vienna
  Bahamas Sandra Louise Young 19 Nassau
  Belgium Irene Godin 19 Liège
  Bolivia Ana María Velasco Santa Cruz de la Sierra
  Brazil Iêda Maria Vargas 18 Porto Alegre
  British Guiana Gloria Blackman-Miller Georgetown
  Canada Jane Kmita 24 Regina
  Ceylon Manel De Silva 24 Kandy
  Colombia María Cristina Álvarez 18 Bogotá
  Costa Rica Sandra Chrysopulos Morúa 18 San José
  Cuba Alicia Margit Chia 19 Havana
  Curaçao Philomena Zielinski 18 Willemstad
  Denmark Aino Korva 20 Copenhagen
  Dominican Republic Carmen Abinader Santiago de los Caballeros
  Ecuador Patricia Córdova 19 Quito
  Finland Riitta Kautiainen 18 Helsinki
  France Monique Lemaire 18 Paris
  West Germany Helga Ziesemer 19 Nuremberg
  Greece Despina Orgeta 20 Athens
  Holland Else Onstenk 21 Arnhem
  Iceland Theódóra Þórðardóttir 18 Reykjanesbær
  Ireland Marlene McKeown 18 Belfast
  Israel Sherin Ibrahim 19 Tel Aviv
  Italy Gianna Serra 19 Rome
  Jamaica June Maxine Bowman Kingston
  Japan Noriko Ando 23 Tokyo
  Luxembourg Mia Dahm Luxembourg City
  Morocco Selma Rahal Casablanca
  New Zealand Regina Scandrett 18 Christchurch
  Nicaragua Leda Sánchez 20 Carazo
  Norway Eva Carlberg 20 Oslo
  Okinawa Reiko Uehara 25 Okinawa
  Paraguay Amelia Benítez Asunción
  Peru Dora Toledano 18 Iquitos
  Philippines Lalaine Bennett[2] 19 Quezon City
  Puerto Rico Jeanette Blascoechea 18 San Juan
  Scotland Grace Taylor 20 Motherwell
  South Africa Ellen Liebenberg 20 Cape Town
  South Korea Kim Myoung-ja 20 Seoul
  Spain María Rosa Pérez 18 Santa Cruz de Tenerife
  Suriname Brigida Hagens 18 Paramaribo
  Sweden Kerstin Margareta Jonsson 21 Stockholm
   Switzerland Diane Tanner 25 Geneva
  Trinidad Jean Stoddart 18 San Fernando
  Turkey Guler Samuray 22 Istanbul
  United States Marite Ozers[3] 19 Chicago
  Uruguay Graciela Pintos Montevideo
  Venezuela Irene Morales 18 Achaguas
  Wales Maureen Thomas 22 Pontypool

Notes

  1. ^ Ages at the time of the pageant

Did not compete

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Miss Brazil Is Miss Universe Contest Winner". The Troy Messenger. United Press International. 21 Jul 1963. p. 1. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  2. ^ Dolor, Danny (19 September 2015). "Lalaine B. Bennett: Miss U '63 finalist". Philippine Star. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Miss Illinois Wins Miss U.S.A. Title". Tri-City Herald. Associated Press. July 18, 1963. Retrieved 23 July 2023.