Miss USA 1963
Miss USA 1963 was the 12th Miss USA pageant, held in Miami Beach, Florida on July 17, 1963. The pageant was won by Marite Ozers of Illinois, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Macel Leilani Wilson of Hawaii. Latvian-born Ozers was the first woman born outside the U.S. to take the Miss USA title, and the second delegate from Illinois to do so. Ozers went on to finish as a Top 15 semi-finalist at Miss Universe 1963. This was the first Miss USA to be broadcast on television, first aired on CBS that would be remained in the next 39 years.
Miss USA 1963 | |
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Date | July 17, 1963 |
Venue | Miami Beach, Florida |
Broadcaster | CBS, WTVJ |
Entrants | 43 |
Placements | 15 |
Withdrawals | |
Winner | Marite Ozers![]() |
First runner-up Michele Metrinko later won the Miss World USA 1963 pageant and finished as a Top 14 semi-finalist at Miss World 1963. Metrinko's sister Marsha also competed in Miss USA 1963 – the only instance to date of two sisters competing against each other at the same pageant.
Results
Final results | Contestant |
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Miss USA 1963 | |
1st Runner-Up | |
2nd Runner-Up |
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3rd Runner-Up |
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4th Runner-Up |
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Top 15 |
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Historical significance
- Illinois wins competition for the second time.
- District of Columbia earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time.
- Missouri earns the 2nd runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1952.
- Colorado earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time.
- California earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
- States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Nevada, New York and Tennessee.
- California and New York placed for the seventh consecutive year.
- Nevada placed for the third consecutive year.
- Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois and Tennessee made their second consecutive placement.
- Alabama, Massachusetts, Michigan last placed in 1961.
- Missouri last placed in 1960.
- South Carolina last placed in 1958.
- New Mexico last placed in 1955.
- Oklahoma last placed in 1952.
- Connecticut and Utah break an ongoing streak of placements since 1960.
Delegates
The Miss USA 1963 delegates were:
Alabama - Dinah Armstrong
Alaska - Nina Whaley
Arizona - Diane McGarry
Arkansas - Cheryl Bechtelheimer
California - Francine Herack
Colorado - Rhea Looney
Connecticut - Gail Dinan
Delaware - Susan Kowalski
District of Columbia - Michele Metrinko
Florida - Linda Egland
Georgia - Brenda Seagraves
Hawaii - Susan Molina
Illinois - Marite Ozers
Indiana - Vickie Little
Iowa - Ramona Meylor
Kansas - Diane Stalker
Kentucky - Mary Arnold
Louisiana - Peggy Romero
Maine - Laurel Barker
Maryland - Marsha Metrinko
Massachusetts - Sandra Smith
Michigan - Pamela Sands
Mississippi - Joan Kinnebrew
Missouri - Sandra Marlin
Nebraska - Sandy Zimmer
Nevada - Kathee Francis
New Hampshire - Johnnye McLeod
New Jersey - Judy Ayers
New Mexico - Sandra Fullingim
New York - Jeanne Quinn
North Carolina - Trudy Cauthen
Ohio - Gloria McBride
Oklahoma - Roberta Mosier
Oregon - Joset Fisher
Pennsylvania - Deborah Cardonick
Rhode Island - Rosemary Dickinson
South Carolina - Cecelia Yoder
Tennessee - Bobbie Morrow
Texas - Cheryl Wilburn
Utah - Carla Dinius
Vermont - Ellen Centerbar
West Virginia - Nina Denton
Wisconsin - Lynn Korchunoff
No state delegate: Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming