Representing Brazil, Martha Vasconcellos was 20 years old when she was crowned Miss Universe 1968 on July 13, 1968 at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. She bested 64 other candidates.
Miss Universe 1969 alumnae
On July 19, 1969, Vasconcellos went back to the Miami Beach Auditorium where she crowned her successor Gloria Maria Aspillera Diaz, then 18, of the Philippines. It was the 18th edition of the international beauty pageant founded by Catalina Swimwear manufacturer Pacific Knitting Mills.
Bob Barker, then 45, and “Petticoat Junction” star June Lockhart, then 44, hosted the coronation ceremony, which aired on CBS. At the end of the show, Diaz made history as the first Filipino beauty queen to win Miss Universe.
Harriet Eriksson of Finland, Joanne Barrett of Australia, Chava Levy of Israel and Kikuyo Osuka of Japan were the respective first, second, third and fourth runners-up. Eva Rueber-Staier of Austria and Maria Julia Mantilla Mayer of Peru finished in the Top 15 while Rosana Vinueza Estrada of Ecuador was unplaced.
On November 27, 1969, Rueber-Staier won Miss World 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, United Kingdom. On December 4, 2004, Mantilla’s niece María Julia “Maju” Mantilla García won Miss World 2004 at the Crown of Beauty Theatre in Sanya, China.
On February 6, 2009, Estrada turned 60. On August 25, 2009, she passed away.
A total of 61 countries and territories were represented at Miss Universe 1969. These were the candidates:
- Lidia Esther Pepe (Argentina)
- Jeannette Geerman (Aruba)
- Joanne Barrett (Australia)
- Eva Rueber-Staier (Austria)
- Joan Bowe (Bahamas)
- Danièle Roels (Belgium)
- Maxine S. Bean (Bermuda)
- Luz María Rojas (Bolivia)
- Julia Nicolaas (Bonaire)
- Vera Lúcia Fischer (Brazil)
- Jacquie Perrin (Canada)
- Marlene Beverly Seneveratne (Ceylon)
- Mónica Larson Teuber (Chile)
- Margarita María Reyes Zawadsky (Colombia)
- Jeanne Mokomo (Congo)
- Clara Freda Antillón (Costa Rica)
- Yvonne Wardekker (Curacao)
- Jeanne Perfeldt (Denmark)
- Rocío García Báez (Dominican Republic)
- Rosana Vinueza Estrada (Ecuador)
- Myra Van Heck (England)
- Harriet Marita Eriksson (Finland)
- Agathe Cognet (France)
- Irene Diamantoglou (Greece)
- Anita Johnston (Guam)
- Welmoed Hollenberg (Holland)
- Viena Paredes (Honduras)
- Christine Tam Mei-Mei (Hong Kong)
- María Baldursdóttir (Iceland)
- Kavita Bhambani (India)
- Patricia Byrne (Ireland)
- Chava Levy (Israel)
- Diana Coccorese (Italy)
- Carol Gerrow (Jamaica)
- Kikuyo Osuka (Japan)
- Lim Hyun-jung (Korea)
- Marie Antoniette Bertinelli (Luxembourg)
- Rosemary Wan Chow Mei (Malaysia)
- Natalie Quintana (Malta)
- Gloria Hernández (Mexico)
- Carole Robinson (New Zealand)
- Soraya Herrera Chávez (Nicaragua)
- Patricia Ingrid Walker (Norway)
- María Julia Mantilla Mayer (Peru)
- Gloria Maria Aspillera Diaz (Philippines)
- Aída Betancourt (Puerto Rico)
- Sheena Drumond (Scotland)
- Mavis Young Siew Kim (Singapore)
- María Amparo Rodrigo Lorenzo (Spain)
- Greta Natsir (Suriname)
- Brigitta Lindloff (Sweden)
- Patrice Sollner (Switzerland)
- Saengduean Maenwongse (Thailand)
- Zohra Boufaden (Tunisia)
- Azra Balkan (Turkey)
- Wendy Jane Dascomb (United States)
- Julia Möller (Uruguay)
- María José Yéllici (Venezuela)
- Shirley Jones (Wales)
- Gesine Froese (West Germany)
- Nataša Košir (Yugoslavia)
The Netherlands competed in Miss Universe as Holland in 1956 and from 1958 to 1990. West Germany was represented in the competition from 1952 to 1990 and became simply Germany starting in 1991.
Yugoslavia existed from 1918 to 1992. Ceylon was the name of Sri Lanka from 1948 to 1972.
Gloria Diaz
Born to Jaime Diaz and Teresa Aspillera Diaz at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital in Sampaloc, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines, Gloria attended St. Scholastica’s College in Malate, Manila. Jaime was a lawyer and Teresa was a model.
Gloria won the Best Supporting Actress awards at the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival for her role in “Jose Rizal”, the 2002 Gawad Urian Awards for her role in “Batang West Side”, the 2006 Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards for her role in “Nasaan Ka Man” and the 2024 FAMAS Awards for her role in “Mallari”. She won the Best Actress award at the 2010 FAMAS Awards for her role in “Sagrada Familia”.
Released on Netflix on October 11, 2019, “Insatiable” Season 2 featured Gloria as a beauty queen. On April 5, 2026, Gloria turned 75.
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