Sri Lanka’s First Hollywood Starlet and Miss Universe Finalist, Passes Away at 88
Maureen Nelia Ballardney Hingert, Sri Lanka’s first beauty queen to break into Hollywood, has passed away at the age of 88. The news was announced by former Miss Sri Lanka and actress Angela Seneviratne via Facebook.
Maureen made history by winning the Miss Ceylon title in 1955 and went on to represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant, where she was crowned second runner-up—a milestone achievement at the time.
Following her success, she entered the film industry and starred in several Hollywood productions. In 1958, she appeared in the film Gun Fever, and a photograph from the movie shoot was later published in Playboy magazine in September 1957—making her the first and only Sri Lankan woman to be featured in the magazine.
She signed with major studios like 20th Century Fox and Universal International Studios, and her filmography includes titles such as The King and I, Fort Bowie, The Rawhide Trail, Gunman from Laredo, Pillars of the Sky, and The Adventures of Hiram Holiday, among others. During her peak, she was regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood.
Maureen married Marion Zamperelli in 1958, later separating in 1970, and married William J. Ballard in 1976. She had two children, and after the tragic passing of her daughter due to cancer, Maureen chose to live a private life away from the public eye in Los Angeles, where she remained until her death.
