1960 - Lovely Lucienne Auclair (Miss Belgium in the 1956 Miss Universe pageant) began her acting career in Hollywood after being disfigured in a traffic accident in 1959. Plastic surgeons rebuilt her right cheekbone. "I never could have made it without your American doctors," Lucienne said.

1961 - Germany was blase over the news that their delegate (Marlene Schmidt) had won the coveted Miss Universe crown. The morning after her win, German newspapers devoted little space to the news and when a U.S. reporter asked people on the streets of Frankfurt about it, he got this: "I couldn’t care less. I’ve got to run for my trolley car now, it’s raining."

And this: "Of all the names for a beauty queen, Schmidt was the least desirable."

And this: "I do not understand why she ever entered the contest. She is a nice person from what I’ve seen of her pictures and she has a decent job to which she should attend."

Here is Marlene, windswept but beautiful, with the delegates from Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, and Belgium.

1961 - Handwriting analysis of the new Miss Universe‘s autograph revealed her to have qualities befitting both an electronics engineer (her profession) and a beauty queen. The analysis indicated that she "expresses her ideas with marked composure and poise" and has "an analytical and exploratory mind, sharp comprehension, and a special aptitude for problem-solving."

1961 - Miss Belgium 1956 (Lucienne Auclair) was given permission to proceed with a $500,000 damage suit resulting from a traffic accident in 1959 she claims disfigured her face and shattered her knee. A U.S. Court ruled in Los Angeles that it was not too late for Miss Auclair to bring the suit against Max Factor Inc. and employee Roman Taporow, who was alleged to have been intoxicated and speeding at the time of the accident.

1962 - Miss South Africa, Lynette Gamble, claimed that the Miss Universe pageant came closer to a "cattle contest than a beauty competition. There were so many wolves about, these contest girls have a fight to keep away from them."

1962 - Miss Haiti (Evelyn Miot) said in Miami that Haitian voodoo drum dances were mostly for tourists. "Real Haitians prefer the Twist", she added. "It’s a good dance and one can lose weight doing it."

Miss Haiti 1962 was the first black woman to be a semifinalist at Miss Universe. Here she is with some other semifinalists, including the eventual winner, Miss Argentina.

1962 - Miss Peru 1953 (Mary Ann Sarmiento Hall) was divorced from her fishing magnate husband of 8 years, Rafael Gana Elizalde. She was awarded nearly $1 million in the settlement plus a monthly alimony of $10,000.

1963 - A talent director for Columbia Pictures (who was also a judge at the contest) asked Miss Korea (Kim Myung-ja) to take in part in Columbia’s upcoming movie 'Lord Jim,' starring Peter O’Toole. Miss Korea’s response to this offer: "I’m not interested in being a movie star. In Korea, we don’t think being a movie star is very good. We think they are bad girls."

1963 - Miss England (Susan Pratt) was unable to compete in the pageant after being knocked down by a car while crossing a Miami Beach street. She suffered a hairline fracture in her left leg and was not released from the hospital under the day after the contest.

1963 - Miss Canada slipped into the Miss Italy’s (Gianna Serra) room to find her pajamas. Miss Italy, startled from her deep sleep, began screaming loudly, enough so that she woke up half the other women on that floor of the hotel. "We thought Castro had attacked," said one chaperone.

1964 - Miss Nigeria (Edna Park), her country's first delegate to Miss Universe, wrote in her diary that she entered the contest to "win the crown." Her self-confidence was shattered the night the semifinalists were selected. She collapsed in tears on stage when she was not announced as one of the top 15 and spent the night in a Miami hospital under sedation. The Nigerian ambassador’s wife offered her this consolation: "All the judges are white and they aren’t really competent to judge dark girls’ beauty."

Miss Nigeria in a happier moment, performing a traditional Nigerian dance for the other contestants.

1964 - Miss Scotland (Doreen Swan) walked out of Miss Universe contest, charging that "it was like a prison that nearly gave me a nervous breakdown." A pageant spokesman claimed that the problem was a dog beautician boyfriend, Watt Nicoll, who wanted "to take her home to Glasgow and marry her."

1964 - The new Miss Universe, Corinna (Kiriaki) Tsopei of Greece said she ate potatoes three times a day. "You don’t get fat on Greek potatoes," she explained. For her victory breakfast the morning after the contest, she had chocolate cake, cantaloupe, and coffee. And her potatoes? "No potatoes. They forgot them," she said.

Miss Universe 1964 with her court, from left to right: 1st runner-up Brenda Blackler of England; 3rd runner-up Siv Marta Aberg of Sweden; Miss Universe 1964, smiling and thinking of potatoes; 2nd runner-up Ronit Rinat of Israel; and 4th runner-up Lana Yi Yu of the Republic of China.

1964 - Miss Universe 1963, Ieda Maria Vargas, was in a Colombian airliner landing at Ibague, Colombia, when it crash-landed at the airport. She fainted but was not injured.

1966 - Five South American contestants - from Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Brazil - complained that they "are the nothings of the contestant" and "that European girls get preferential treatment wherever they go." Miss Venezuela, Magally Beatriz Castro whined, "We are sick of playing second fiddle."

1966 - Blonde Miss Denmark put in a bid for babies instead of beauty titles. "I want to have lots of naughty, noisy children," said 18 year-old Gitte Fleinert. She announced that she would hand back the crown if she was chosen Miss Universe. She said the year-long world tour that went with the title would keep her away from Copenhagen and her boyfriend for too long.

1966 - Minutes after Miss Sweden, Margarita Arvidsson, was crowned Miss Universe, she told the newsmen on hand that she wanted "to go home." "I can never be myself or be what I want to be as Miss Universe," she said. "I can’t go nowhere without a chaperone," she cried.

1967 - Pageant officials allowed contestants to wear false hairpieces and falls for the first time. Padded bras were still banned, though.

1967 - Miss Scotland, Lena McGarvie (38-24-36), said she didn't like bikinis. "I don’t like putting on my bikini," she told a newsman. "It’s too small at the top and I keep coming out of it."

1967 - Pageant officials advised the panel of judges that “a beauty today must not only have a beautiful face, in perfect contour, but her torso must be be well-formed with the bustline not accentuated, and the back lines of the shoulder almost flat...”

Here is Sylvia Hitchcock, Miss Universe 1967, showing off her title-winning torso!

1968 - Miss South Africa, Monica Fairall, was told by pageant officials not to wear her psychedelic evening gown. The audience at the evening-gown preliminary judging gasped and gave a chorus of wolf whistles, cheers and applause after Monica walked to the end of the runway and then turned, revealing that the back of her sequin-covered gown was "cut as far below the waist as the law allows, even lower than her backless bathing suit."

Peek-a-boo!

1968 - While other contestants protested against being chaperoned all the time, Miss Ireland (Tiffany Scales) said she understood: “Can you imagine the chaos if you had 66 beauty queens running around Miami getting plastered and picking up men?”

1968 - The morning after winning the title, Martha Vasconcellos cried for her family and boyfriend. “I’m not feeling well. I’m sad," she said. When asked about her boyfriend, she replied, “We’ve been engaged since I was 12 and he was 16.”

Martha in a happier moment, in her national costume.

1969 - Miss Austria (Eva von Rueber-Staier) "created a stir with her political judgment ... In a reply to a questionnaire, she said that Mao Tse-tung is the greatest man in the world." Beauty School students will note that Eva also competed in Miss World 1969 - and won the title.

1969 - Gloria Diaz, Miss Universe 1969, said she entered the contest to "make friends, meet people and foster better relationships with other countries." She added that her ambition in life was to make as many friends as possible.

Beauty School gives the gregarious Gloria a 9.99 for charm and personality.

Sources:
• Vancouver Sun, Vancouver BC, Canada
• The Province, Vancouver BC, Canada
• Miami Herald, Miami, FL, USA
• New York Times, New York, NY, USA
• Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Daily Press, Norfolk, VA, USA
• Washington Star, Washington, DC, USA
• EBONY, Chicago, IL, USA