19th place – Ieda Maria Vargas, Brazil
(Our judges are: Greg Borowski, Willian Prendiz de Jurado, Edwin Toledo (Times of Beauty), Ricardo Guiraldes (Chilean Charm), Julio Rodriguez (Belleza Venezolana), Alberto Dubal (Miss Memorabilia), Jimmy Harris (Beauty School), Pepe Medel, Jean-Marie Vandecasteele, Andre Sleigh, Rose Foulger, Luis Trujillo. From GB, Ed Dominguez, Henrique Fontes, and Chris Kuntz)
In 1963 Miami Beach welcomed the Miss Universe pageant for the 4th consecutive year. The pageant’s 12th edition was held at the Miami Beach Auditorium on July 20. 50 countries competed, with Trinidad, Bahamas, Curaçao and Okinawa debuting. British Guyana and Nicaragua returned. The host was Gene Rayburn.
Miss Denmark: 2nd place
Miss Universe 1963 showed great improvement from previous editions. In reality, the creation of Miss International in Long Beach two years earlier, a pageant which in those days considered more of a competition for Miss Universe than Miss World, made Miss U organizers realize that it was about time to modernize the event and make it more interesting for the tv audience. After all, in 1962 Miss International was considered a better organized contest than Miss Universe.
The first change to make it more popular with the locals, was copying Miss International’s open car parade, at Flager Street. Thousands of people attended the parade, hoping to get a glimpse of the most beautiful girls in the Universe and in the USA, waving back to them, who were wearing their national costumes. In addition, to show the world how big it was, MU revealed some interesting numbers: 50.000 girls would’ve competed in local, state, and national levels that year, in 50 different countries; 455 reporters and photographers covered the pageant, a coverage less extensive only than the Olympic Games (in Miss U’s own words); over 3000 people were involved in the pageant production in 50 countries + 50 American states.
Miss Brazil in her "gaucha" costume
The prizes for the winner that year would be considerably greater than in past years: USD 7500 in cash plus a one-year-contract valued in USD 10,000 (in today’s numbers, approximately USD 130,000).
The first Miss Okinawa got some massive press attention in Miami. Reiko Uehara would be asked by journalists: where’s Okinawa? Aren’t you supposed to compete in Miss Japan? Located in Southern Japan, this archipelago was under US administration from the end of World War II to 1972. It participated in Miss Universe from 1963 to 1968 independently of Japan. As a matter of fact, although reincorporated into Japan in 1972, Okinawa has always had its own very particular culture and characteristics. In its short Miss Universe history, the islands never had a semi-finalist or special award winning candidate.
The Irish Liz Taylor
Some spectacular women competed in Miss Universe 1963, and the favorites for the crown had different types of beauty and came from different corners of the planet. One of them was Denmark’s Aino Korva, a blond bombshell from Copenhagen whose face approached perfection. Miss Philippines, Lalaine Betia Bennett, had all the attributes to give Asia a second Miss Universe. She was a front-runner and major favorite for the crown. Press photographers also loved Ireland’s Marlene McKeown, whose beauty was such, that she was often compared to actress Elizabeth Taylor – she was elected ‘Miss Photogenic’; and then there was Miss Brazil, Ieda Maria Vargas, a “gaucha” (native of Rio Grande do Sul state) whose big almond eyes, stunning smile and a perfect figure, made of her the #1 bet from South America.
The first Miss Bahamas Universe
Another standout was Miss Germany, Helga Carla Ziesemer. The German candidate was just as beautiful as she was cold. She wouldn’t speak to any of the other candidates! France, Austria, and Finland were the other European regularly commented and photographed candidates. Misses Colombia, Argentina, and Peru were South American charmers, and in Asia, in addition to Miss Philippines, Miss Japan was expected to do well. Miss South Africa was thought to represent Africa in the top 15.
Miss Bahamas, Sandra Louise Young, was the black beauty who the press believed would advance to the semi-finals. It did not happen, and up to today, Bahamas has not yet had a semi-finalist in the pageant.
Some tidbits about the class of 1963:
Beauty truly ruled in MU63: Austria!
* Miss England, Susan Pratt, was ran over by a car in the first days of competition. She wasn’t able to compete, but was introduced in the final event in a wheelchair;
* The victory of Marite Ozers of Illinois in Miss USA, was a huge upset. The favorites were Misses Florida, Nevada, and Texas. Ozers was born in Latvia and later granted U.S. citizenship – she was considered to be a very snob candidate, who did not make many friends;
* Miss Cuba, Alicia Margit Chia, made a political statement by presenting the mayor of Miami with a Cuban flag containing a black strip;
* Miss Luxembourg, Mia Dahm, hated showering! Her feet were always dirty, and she got to the extreme of, when returning from the beach, not even throwing some water on them before wearing her shoes!
Top 15: no surprises
* Almost all candidates wore artificial eye lashes; a few of them dyed their hair with some sort of “instant coloring spray” which was in vogue those days. Those who did it, were criticized for not being 100% natural beauties. Imagine if they could picture what beauty candidates would be doing to their bodies and faces a few decades later!
The final event, watched by millions across the US and in several other countries, ran smoothly. The group of semi-finalists was considered practically perfect: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Philippines, South Africa and USA.
Perhaps the only surprise was Miss Korea, who had not been mentioned up to that point. Instead of her, Miss Peru, and Miss Bahamas, were expected to place.
Miss France
Miss Israel won the Best National Costume Award, and Miss Scotland was voted by other contestants as ‘Miss Amity’.
It was reported that the two American the the British judges, wanted a blond woman to win. When the 15 were announced, the night before the final event, they talked among themselves and decided to vote for Miss Denmark, whose beauty was unquestionable, but never showed much spark or interest in winning the title. At the final night, however, Peter Sellers felt captivated by Miss Brazil’s radiant smile and expressive eyes, and made a last-minute change in his vote. By a 1-vote-difference (Sellers’), Ieda Maria Vargas finally conquered the first Miss Universe title for her country (between 1952 and 1962, Brazil had been 2nd in three occasions, always losing in the tie-break voting, after tying with the eventual winners).
Crowning moment
Miss Denmark was 2nd. Another stunner, Miss Ireland, was 3rd, followed by the beautiful Miss Philippines in 4th place. Rounding out the ‘top 5′, was the surprising Korean doll, who was 5th. Miss Korea looked her very best in the final night, conquering the admiration of the local crowd and the judges to achieve its highest placement in Miss Universe up to that point.
It remains, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful ‘Top 5′s in Miss U history.
Just like Gladys Zender’s father in 1957, Ieda’s dad was not an easy one. After some tough negotiation with Miss Universe officials, both her parents moved to the United States to be close to her during her year of reign. Whenever possible, Ieda’s mom would accompany her in her official trips as Miss Universe.
In Brazil: saluted by millions!
Back in Brazil, Ieda was welcomed not by thousands, but by millions of people in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and her native Porto Alegre, who wanted to salute their queen! In those days, pageants were nearly as big as football in the largest South American nation, and Ieda’s victory was celebrated to the extreme, just as if Brazil had won the World Cup (as it had actually done, a year earlier).
Ana Maria Cumba, the writer of “The World of Miss Universe”, speaks highly of Ieda in her book. Cumba mentions that Ieda had not difficulty
Miss U63 in NY
to learn English in just a few months, and that she was a kind and generous woman, in addition to being charismatic and professional.
From her book: “ In the midst of our farewell tears, Ieda opened her purse and pulled out a small gift wrapped in red and told me not to open it until I got home. When I did open it there was a note, “This is your medal, you sure earned it. Thank you for the year of your life that you spent with and dedicated to me. Love, Ieda.” I was numb. Inside the box was a gold medal with the Miss Universe insignia and the date that she had won the crown. Needless to say, I felt like catching the next plane and going after her!“.
Ieda lived a few years in Miami before going back to Porto Alegre, where she got married and chose to live a private life.
Special thanks to Alberto Dubal for his valuable contribution!
IEDA MARIA VARGAS, BRAZIL
2nd PLACE
MOST BEAUTIFUL MISS UNIVERSE FROM THE 1960′S
(Still competing: 1953, 1961, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002-dethroned Oxana, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010)
Ieda Maria Vargas, the first Brazilian Miss Universe
Top 5: Ireland (3rd), Denmark (2nd), Brazil (1st), Philippines (4th), Korea (5th)
Miss Universe 1963, Ieda Maria Vargas
and Ieda and Gladys placed higher than Maritza??? Awful choices,,,Sorry!!!
she is beutifull !!!
Are you kidding me? I find Ieda and Gladys way superior to Maritza. What a beautiful woman Ieda was, more beautiful than I gave her credit for. Well placed.
Next I hope to see Denise Quiñones, who has gotten wayyyyy too far, in my humble opinion.
Definitely a matter of taste!!
From the beginning I though that Denise would be very close to the top.
I am not from Puerto Rico, by the way.
AL FÍN, AT LAST… GOODBYE IEDA! HEHEHE… NEXT, BOLOCCO, GARDINER! ^.^
Stunning miss univesre!!! I simply love her…
Toledo again gave a 8.00… R u sure his fingers r not stuck on that number? (just a joke, ok?)
Ieda Vargas ranked 8th in GB’s 2001 contest.
The winner for the 1960s has been set: Marlene Schmidt.
Marlene Schmidt is one of the 10 best MU ever and Oxana is number 1.
2nd paragraph: you wrote “miss universe 2003″, instead of “1963″.
the paragraph where you list the semi-finalists: you only list 14 countries. you forgot to include USA.
Thanks, corrections made!
Ximena and denise tienen que ser las siguiente.! han tenido demasiada suerte.!
TOTALMENTE EN DESACUERDO CON LA SALIDA DE IEDA MARIA Y GLADYS DEL TOP 10….INSISTO QUE DEBEN SALIR YA DE UNA VEZ CECILIA BOLOCCO Y XIMENA NAVARRETE…
XESSPPE…CUAL SERIA TU RANKING DE AQUI EN ADELANTE?….ESTAS DE ACUERDO EN LA SALIDA DE XIMENA Y CECILIA?
Sinceramente no te podria dar un ranking.! porque segun daniel.! se esta evaluando como lucieron las MU la noche en que ganaron.! y de verdad no me voy a poner en youtube a ver a las 18 MU que faltan.! Sin embargo.! Ximena es bella.! muy simpatica.! pero eso.! mas nada.! para mi ella estuvo floja la noche que gano.! cuando se evaluao el vestido de noche su puntuacion no llego ni a 9.! asi que para mi no se lucio mucho.! y denise pues ESTABA EN PR, MARK ANTHONY AND DAYANARA ERAN PARTE DEL JURADO.! yo te aseguro que cualquier se sentiria confiado para ganar (y mas en PR que son fanaticos del MU) .! denise es bella tambien pero tampoco para estar en el top 10.! ya seria mucho.! ahora.! si todo se evalua por como lucieron la noche en que ganaron y que de verdad el jurado de “expertos” esta tomando en consideracion eso, pues mi top 5 y sin ningun en especifico:
Oxana (aunque no me gustara su vestido)
Alicia (que duelale a quien le duela esa mujer se lucio en su noche)
Dayana (a pesar que no iba de primera le quito el puesto a la colombiana por lenta)
Amparo (Dios esta mujer es super bella)
y Angela (que tiene una elegencia y su rostro expresa mucha dulcura)
cualquier podria quedar de 1.! y Natalie me parece una copia de Oxana.! claro por eso no deja de ser muy bella.!
Well.. well. This ranking is very hot!!!
The next in my opinion:
18th:Jimena Navarrete (Mexico)
17th: Denisse Quiñonez (Puerto Rico)
16th: Crhistiane Martel (Francia)
ieda vargas place in my ranking 23 the 19 place is for denise quiñones from puerto rico
Another great story!! I like her ! Pleasant surprise from this beautiful lady
Yo espero no esten opinando por nacionalidades por que Denisse es bellisima, miren las grabaciones del concurso de la preliminar bella con un look, y luego en la final otro look diferente, simplemente espectacular, su forma de caminar y su inteligencia, ademas de su belleza física que es increible, solo un ciego no ve su belleza.
No se esta juzgando la chica actualmente, si no la noche que gano
Muy acertado tu comentario, aunque parece que la mayoría(por no decir todos) juzgan la imágen actual que la de la noche de su triunfo. Inclusive, si en la noche que ganó estuvo espectacular, comentan que actualmente se descompuso y visceversa. Realmente han sido muy poco objetivos los comentarios y más bien parece que el proposito es hacer comentarios positivos de las favoritas de cada uno y demritar el triunfo de las no favoritas. Me podría atrever a decir que en toooodos los 60 años sólo 1 o 2 ganadoras (no digo nombres por no ofender o causar comentarios polémicos)han sido questionables sus triunfos, sin embargo como lo he comentado antes, aún así tuvieron ses factor de truinfo que las demás no tuvieron en su noche. Y bueno, sin olvidar los visos de nacionalismo que hacen notorio en los comentarios. Insisto, ésto no va a cambiar la historia !!!
she’s one of the most beautiful MU.I did not like this result.
My top5 is:Jen,Oxana,Visser,Ieda,Sylvia top10:Gladys,Dayana, Yvonne,Martel e Natalie.
By the way , where is Bolocco ? It’s high time she left. Also , Ximena and Quiñones.
What I’ve learned from the latest fact-filled GB Most Beautiful Miss Universe Ranking, is how many times it seems that the first runner up should have been named Miss Universe! Who would have guessed?
Exactamente esta era la posición que dije para Ieda María Vargas, la próxoma debería ser Marlene Schmidt (Alemania)…………Luego Ceciclia Bolocco….
r u kidding me????????????????? denisse s way more beautiful than cecilia bolocco
One thing I noticed that in the pageant’s early years, many Black contestants captured the press and the public’s attention and admiration, but not the judges.
Ximena you’re next!
No she won’t !!! HAHAHAHA
Frankly I don’t see anything special about this woman, she looks like a High School prom queen, hairdo and all. There’s nothing memorable abou this woman.
Gladys Zender is prettier than Ieda…. and yes I agree that first runner up Miss Denmark should of been MU
If there was EVER an instance where the 1st runner up should have won, it was in MU 1957 when the crown inexplicably ended on Gladys Zender instead of the gorgeous German representative.
I get that you think Gladys did not deserve her win, but Miss Germany ended up 4th runner up, not 1st runner up. 1st runner up was another Brazilian beauty, but her face wasn’t strong enough for winning either. I think Gladys look better than the Brazilian first runner up though. All a matter of personal taste. Btw, Miss Germany certainly should have won. Was there any interview portion during the early Miss Universe years? Most of GB’s coverage is all about beauty and pose and backstage stories, but nothing about how the ladies talk on stage!!
Dear Administrators of Globalbeauties, can you please post the top 10 Most Beautiful Miss Universe from 2001. I know that 1989 was # 1, 2000 was either 2 or 3, 2001 i think was 3, 1984 was 4, 1968 was 5, 1979 was 6 and 1963 was 8. I thank you in advance.
I love her today. Specially by the note and medal that she gave away. I was not crazy about her when she won, but unlike Martha Vasconcellos also from Brazil she got better.
Look at her last photo, a real MU!
If you guys are judging the final night….then why is the puerto rican Zuleyka Rivera that far?? If she had one of the best performances ever!!! Denise QuiÑones did too….she should be top 3… The winner should be Amparo MuÑoz, .or Denise QuiÑones….
Agree 100%
Denisse Quinones tiene todo para ganar
Miss Philippines went on to be one of the most beautiful movie stars in the Philippines. This is really a great top 5. And Miss Brazil is very pretty.
1. Oxana Fedorova (Russia)
2. Jennifer Hawkins (Australia)
3. Christiane Martell (France)
4. Ximena Navarrete (México)
5. Angela Visser (Holland)
6. Natalie Glevoba (Canada)
7. Dayana Mendoza (Venezuela)
8. Anne Marie Pohtamo (Finland)
9. Bárbara Palacios (Venezuela)
10. Kerry Anne Wells (Australia)
I agree with your choices / predictions. But I guess you’re missing Janelle from Trihidad & Tobago. She’s gorgeous and deserves to be on the top 10 !!! I would put her from 10 to 6 instead of…Well, better I’ll keep it to myself.
Hola mis chulas y adoradas expertas de la belleza. Bueno, yo estoy un poco preocupada por Ustedes, por su salud chiquitas lindas, como dice mi comadrita casi hermana Jimenita “Les vá a salir una úlcera”. No chulas, yo no quiero eso para personas tan distinguidas como Ustedes. Mejor disfruten del factor sorpresa, es mucho muy divertido ¡SIIIIIIIIIIII! Yo estoy emocionada esperando ver quien será la # 18. La verdad el resultado puede ser muy sorpresivo, quedan 18 y son divinas: El glamour de Christiane, la sofisticación de Marlene, la clásica belleza setentera que tanto nos encanta de Kerry Ann, el rostro de porcelana de Amparito, la delicadez de Ann Marie, la belleza de ébano representada en Jeanelle, la belleza de Margaret, la típica Miss Universo latina que es Bárbara, el porte y la estampa de Cecilia, la perfección de Angela, la chispa de Alicia, el temple de Lara, la belleza caribeña de Denisse, el rostro de impacto de Oxana, la frescura de Jennifer, la lindura de Natalie, la picardía de Dayana y la belleza serena de Jimenita. Así es que bueno, todas son diferentes y hermosas. Disfruten de todas y no hagan corajitos. Las quiere su amiguita Miss Panocha International.
She’s one of my Favorite Miss Universe of all time.
Denisse Quiñones es muy bella……pero al cesar lo que es del cesar……hay muchas más bellas que ella……..
DESDE 1954 CON MARTA ROCHA, SE ESPERABA EL TRIUNFO DE UNA BRASILEIRA COMO REINA UNIVERSAL. EN 1957 HUBO UN DESTELLO DE ESPERANZA CUANDO SE DESCUBRE QUE GLADYS ZENDER, INCUMPLIA EL REGLAMENTO Y SE ESPERABA QUE TERENSINHA GONCALVES OCUPASE SU PUESTO.
EN 1958 ADALGISA COLOMBO SE CONVIERTE EN LA TERCERA BRASILEIRA EN OBTENER EL PUESTO DE VIRREINA UNIVERSAL, TODO UN RECORD!!
FINALMENTE EN 1963 SE HIZO PLENA JUSTICIA CON LA CORONACION DE IEDA MARIA VARGAS COMO LA PRIMERA MISS UNIVERSO BRASILEIRA!!
LA PROXIMA EN SALIR DEBE SER LA QUINONES, QUIEN HONESTAMENTE DEBIO QUEDAR ENTRE LOS ULTIMOS PUESTOS. UNA MUJER DE ESCASA BELLEZA, A QUIEN LE OBSEQUIARON LA CORONA, SOLAMENTE PORQUE EL CONCURSO SE REALIZABA EN SU ISLA.
Aunque en esta lista las sorpresas estan a la orden del día……puede ser que gane o que sea la próxima……..vamos a ver que pasa……..hasta ahora mi top 5 es: Oxana Federova MU 2002, Amaparo Muñoz MU 1974, Angela Visser MU 1989, Dayana Mendoza MU 2008 y Jennifer Hawkins MU 2004………
Why are people trying to shove Denise Quiñones down our throats when the discussion is about IEDA MARÍA VARGAS? Ay, ya, yi…
It is so difficult to assess Ieda María based on photos when we have access to color video and a plethora of photos (most PhotoShopped, of course) of the more recent winners.
Some of her photos are very captivating. The coronation ones not so much. I’m up in the air about her because of limited material.
I’M HOPING THIS COUNTDOWN DOESN’T GET TOO PREDICTABLE and that the overrated (Jennifer Hawkins, Cecilia Bolocco, Angela Visser) and the ordinary (Margaret Gardiner, Denise Quiñones, Ximena Navarrete, Anne Marie Pohtamo) are eliminated sooner than later.
If this is all based on THE NIGHT THEY WON MU, it should be headlined by Oxana Fedorova, Alicia Machado and Amparo Muñoz. Christiane Martel comes to mind because of her movies in México (not that she wasn’t beautiful when she won but again material is so limited). Janelle Commissiong had such a pretty face but THE NIGHT SHE WON the styling was a little suspect as were her appearances at other MU telecasts.
I don’t know about you, I remember watching the telecast of Miss Univese 1977 and I was captivated by Janelle and knew she would win that night. At the time I was too young to realize the importance of her victory and for some strange reasons, for years afterward I thought she was from South Africa (the irony!).
I love ximena and Natalie they are the best
Creo que lo que busca este ranking es quien representa el miss universo en su maxima expresion, es decir quien lo ha llevado por el mundo y a quien siempre se lo estan asociando, independiente si es por un escandalo o no, asi es la vida de alguien que es famosa y cuando despierta interes en los demas. Como no olvidar las operturas del miss universe 1987 y 1988, FABULOSAS, con Cecilia Bolocco y Barbara Palacios luciendose a mas no poder, ojala alguna de ella anime el Miss Universe en brazil… por lo anterior creo que quien representa el miss universo ya sea por triunfos y fracasos es Cecilia Bolocco, siempre se esta reinventando, animadora, actriz y ahora diseñadora, ganadora de un Emmy…creo que en este punto la llevan las latinas…mis favoritas, Barbara Palacios, Alicia Machado, Amelia Vega y Denisse Quiñones, ya sea por simpatia o escandalos, en sus reinado supieron llevar el miss universo y lo mantiene aun por sobre las demas, sin importar los años…
Don’t like her at all, Denmark should have won.
De acuerdo con comentarios de Mike. Ambas son de las misses con mayor carisma que se hayan visto. Cecilia Bolocco y Bárbara Palacios lo hicieron fantástico tanto en sus presentaciones como semifinalistas, finalistas y recién electas Miss Universo como el día que entregaron la corona. Bárbara Palacios realmente espectacular en la opertura del Miss Universe 1987 y Cecilia Bolocco lo hizo genial en la coreografía y después en su paseo final como Miss Universo. Ahora, para, si bien ambas me encantan, me parece que Bolocco debería ser sexta y Palacios décima. Hay otras Miss Universos como Angela Visser,Oxana Federova, Jennifer Hawkins, Dayana Mendoza y Marlene Schmidt que son demasiado lindas y carismáticas como para quedar excluidas del top 5.
I hope Ximena reaches at least the top 15!
The next one to go should Trinidad and Tobago’s. To me,she’s ranked even too high!
She looks stunning in that last picture. I know some of them are out, but my top 10 would’ve been like this.
My top 10 in random order;
Christiane Martell ’53
Oxana Fedorova ’02
Dayana Mendoza ’08
Maritza Sayalero ’79
Angela Vissar ’89
Gladis Zender ’57
Ximena Navarrete ’10
Natalie Glevoba ’05
Jennifer Hawkins ’04
Amparo Muñoz ’74 O Marlene Schmidt ’61
Miss Philippines , Korea – Gorgeous Asian!
Has everyone forgotten about Barbara Palacios??? She shoud definitely be in the Top 5.
She has just appeared at number 17…..we are getting close, so who is next….exctiting.
Ieda, Miss Universe 1963, ranked 27th in my ranking with the score 9.315 .
Ieda Maria Vargas e minha favorita….adorei os comentários.
I don’t like her, sorry. Her smile is precisely the most unatractive feature.