Maureen Neliya Ballard (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Hingert) (born 9 January 1937), also professionally known as Jana Davi, is a Sri Lankan actress, dancer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Ceylon 1955 and represented her country at

Miss Universe 1955 Miss Universe 1955 was the fourth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 22 July 1955. This was the first time that the pageant was televised. At the end of the event, Miria ...

where she placed 2nd Runner-Up.

Biography

Hingert was born on 9 January 1937 in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Her parents, Lionel Hingert and Lorna Mabel del Run, were of Dutch Burgher ancestry. Her father was an employee of the

Bank of Ceylon Bank of Ceylon (BOC; Sinhala: ලංකා බැංකුව ''Lanka Bænkuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை வங்கி ''Ilangai Vangi'') is a state-owned, major commercial bank in Sri Lanka. Its head office is located in an iconic cyl ...

with extensive tea holdings. Hingert attended school at the Holy Family Convent in

Bambalapitiya Bambalapitiya is a southern coastal neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The area also known as Colombo 4, spans about along Galle Road. The western boundary of the suburb is the Indian Ocean and it is bordered to the east by Havelock Town, t ...

, Colombo until she was eighteen and continued her college education in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California in the United States. In 1955, Hingert was crowned Miss Ceylon and subsequently selected as a contestant in

pageant. She was the first Ceylonese representative to win an award at the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

pageant, after finishing as the second runner-up. Due to her high placement in the contest, she has been revered as "putting Ceylon on the map" and being an ambassador to her country, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka). She was also a dancer, and gave solo performances at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and other major Los Angeles venues.

Filmography

Following the Miss Universe contest, Hingert was contracted to

Universal International Studios Universal International Studios (formerly known as NBCUniversal International Television Production and NBCUniversal International Studios) is a British international television production company that is a division of American television product ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. Some of the movies she appeared in include ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

'', ''

Fort Bowie Fort Bowie was a 19th-century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona. The remaining buildings and site are now protected as Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Fort Bowi ...

'', '' Gun Fever'', '' The Adventures of Hiram Holiday'', ''Moroccan Halk Moth'', ''

Pillars of the Sky ''Pillars of the Sky'' is a 1956 American CinemaScope Western film directed by George Marshall and starring Jeff Chandler, Dorothy Malone and Ward Bond. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. Plot Oregon Country 1868: Indians of ...

'', ''Dangerous Search'', ''

Gunmen from Laredo ''Gunmen from Laredo'' is a 1959 American Western film produced and directed by Wallace MacDonald, which stars Robert Knapp, Jana Davi and Walter Coy. Plot Cast * Robert Knapp as Gil Reardon * Jana Davi as Rosita * Walter Coy as Ben Keef ...

'', '' The Rawhide Trail'' and the British TV Series '' Captain David Grief''. She was sometimes billed in films as Jana Davi.

Personal life

Hingert married an American designer and artist Mario Armond Zamparelli in 1958. Zamparelli was best known for his work as designer of

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

' empire. The couple had three daughters, one of whom – Gina Zamparelli (died 2018) – achieved fame in arts and entertainment and was active in the field of historic preservation. In July 1970, Hingert divorced Zamparelli, and in 1976 she married with William J. Ballard in

, United States. Ballard died in 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hingert, Maureen 1937 births 20th Century Studios contract players 20th-century Sri Lankan actresses Alumni of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya Burgher people Sri Lankan models Living people Miss Universe 1955 contestants People from Colombo People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan female dancers Sri Lankan dancers Sri Lankan film actresses Sri Lankan people of Dutch descent