Maureen Neliya Ballard nee Hingert, born on 9 January 1937, also professionally known as Jana Davi is a Sri Lankan actress, dancer, model and beauty pageant title holder who was crowned Miss Ceylon in 1955 and represented our country at the Miss Universe in 1955 where she was placed 2nd runner-up.
(Pic on right) Maureen’s portrait adorns the wall also of Lake House.
Maureen Hingert‘s portrait taken at the Photo Studio, Chitra foto that was located in the premises of Lake House in 1955, yet adorns the walls of the Lake House building. Lake House photographer, Shane Rambukwella captured this picture off the framed photo of the beauty queen, Maureen Hingert.
Her parents, Lionel Hingert and Lorna Mabel del Run, were of Dutch Burgher ancestry. Her father was an employee of the Bank of Ceylon. 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 Miss Universe 1955 pageant. She was the first Ceylonese representative to win an award at the Miss Universe pageant, after finishing as the second runner-up and yet holds the record as the only one who has reached the finals.
Due to her very 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 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. She was sometimes billed in films as Jana Davi. Hingert married an American designer and artist Mario Armond Zamparelli in 1958. Zamparelli was best known for his work as designer of Howard Hughes’ empire. The couple had three daughters, one of whom – Gina Zamparelli (died 2018) – achieved fame in the Arts and entertainment and was active in historic preservation. In July 1970, Hingert divorced Zamparelli, and in 1976 she married William J. Ballard in Los Angeles, United States. Ballard died in 2012.
Pictures courtesy – Ceylon Guide
