Maureen Hingert

Maureen Neliya Hingert (born 9 January 1937) is a retired Sri Lankan dancer, model, actress and beauty pageant title-holder.[1]

Maureen Hingert
Born
Maureen Neliya Hingert

(1937-01-09) 9 January 1937
Colombo, Ceylon
Spouse(s)Mario Armond Zamparelli (m. 1958)
ChildrenGina Zamparelli and 2 other daughters

Biography

Hingert was born on 9 January 1937 in Colombo, Ceylon. Her parents, Lionel Hingert and Lorna Mabel del Run, were of Dutch Burgher ancestry.[2] Her father was an employee of the Bank of Ceylonk.[2] Hingert attended school at the Holy Family Convent in Bambalapitiya, Colombo until she was eighteen and continued her college education in Los Angeles, California in the United States.

In 1955, Hingert was crowned Miss Ceylon and subsequently selected as a contestant in the 1955 Miss Universe pageant.[1] She remains the only Ceylonese representative to win an award at a Miss Universe pageant, after finishing as the second runner-up at the 1955 event.[3] Due to her very high placement in the Miss Universe Pageant, she has long been revered as "putting Ceylon on the map" and being an ambassador for her country, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).

Following the contest, Hingert was put under contract to Universal International Studios and 20th Century Fox. Some of the movies she appeared in include: The King and I, Fort Bowie, Gun Fever, The Adventures of Hiram Holiday, Moroccan Halk Moth, Pillars of the Sky, Dangerous Search, Gunmen from Laredo, The Rawhide Trail and the British TV Series Captain David Grief.[1] She was sometimes billed in films as Jana Davi.[4]

She was also a dancer and gave solo performances at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and other major Los Angeles venues.

Personal life

Hingert married American designer/artist, Mario Armond Zamparelli in 1958. Zamparelli was best known for his work as designer of Howard Hughes' empire.[2] The couple had three daughters, one of whom, Gina Zamparelli (died 2018), achieved fame in the arts and entertainment and was active in the field of historic preservation.[1]

In July 1970 Hingert divorced Zamparelli, and in 1976, married William J. Ballard in Los Angeles.[2] Ballard died in 2012.[1]

References
  1. soma (26 May 2018). "Gina Zamparelli, daughter of Sri Lankan beauty queen Maureen Hingert, dies in LA". newstrails.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. "Eye". nation.lk. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. "Miss Universe Sri Lanka makes it to top 16". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. Maltin, Leonard (2015). Turner Classic Movies Presents Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965. Penguin.
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