As her daughter confirmed the depressing news, Maureen Hingert passed away at the age of 88. The King and I-starred actress from Hollywood passed away on Sunday from liver failure.
She appeared in a number of Hollywood movies, including The King and I, Gun Fever, and Gunmen From Laredo, and was born in Sri Lanka in 1937. Hingert’s daughter described her passing as “beautiful and peaceful” at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
The King and I, which received nine Oscar nominations, earned her her best-known work. Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, and Rita Moreno were among the actors who were nominated for five Academy Awards.
Hingert also appeared in Western films like Gun Fever and Gunmen From Laredo in 1959, where she prominently played a Native American role. She won the title of Miss Ceylon and had a successful pageant career in addition to acting.
1955 in Long Beach, California, she placed second overall in the Miss Universe competition. The first television program to feature Miss Universe was. When Hingert was just 18 years old, she first entered the competition as Miss Ceylon.
She became the first person from her country to ever reach the final due to her success in the competition. Hingert’s participation in the contest is credited with putting her South Asian island nation “on the map.”
Hingert made the decision to remain in California and sign a deal with Universal after winning the title of Miss Ceylon. Along with Dorothy Malone and Jeff Chandler, she reprised her role in the western film Pillars of the Sky.
Hingert’s success was not limited to acting and modeling, as she frequently gave dance performances in Los Angeles. In September 1957, her photo shoot for the movie Gun Fever earned her a spot in Playboy Magazine.
Fort Bowie and The Rawhide Trail were other movies she co-starred in, as were Captain David Grief and The Hiram Holliday Adventures.
Hingert had already given birth to Gina, her third of three daughters by the year 1960 when she decided she was no longer interested in acting. She weds Howard Hughes’ corporate empire’s chief designer Mario Armond Zamparelli.
The Desert Inn and RKO Pictures movie posters were both made by the company. When she modeled for a TWA mural he was creating, Hingert met Mario.
From 1958 until their divorce in 1970, they were married. Gina, their daughter, passed away in 2018 from a brain tumor at the age of 59. Andrea, the daughter of Hingert and Mario, passed away in 2009 at the age of 42.
One fan wrote: “Rest in peace, Ms Maureen Hingert,” in tribute to Hingert on social media. Thank you for presenting Sri Lanka’s “perlewed in the Indian Ocean” with such splendor.
“Hollywood Star, First Miss Universe Finalist, and… Hollywood Star, Maureen Hingert, Passes Away,” added one more. A true pioneer and icon who will be remembered.
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Source: Mirror
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