The 10th edition of the Miss Universe pageant, Miss Universe 1961, was won by Marlene Schmidt on 15th July 1961. She was at that time the tenth consecutive German entrant to reach the semifinals of the event, and is the first (and to date only) German to be crowned Miss Universe. From 1972 to 1986, Schmidt was involved in the movie industry. Eventually Schmidt returned to Germany, where she now lives in Saarbrücken.