The King and I actress Maureen Hingert has died from health complications at the age of 88.
The Sri Lankan star, who was best known for the 1956 Walter Lang musical, died on Sunday (June 29).
Hingert’s daughter Marisa Zamparelli confirmed the former Miss Universe runner-up died of liver failure at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California.
‘It was a beautiful and peaceful passing,’ Zamparelli told The Hollywood Reporter.
A classic of the Hollywood Golden Age, The King and I was adapted from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical of the same name and earned nine nominations at the Oscars, winning five.
Hingert starred as the royal wife alongside the likes of Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner – who won the Best Actor Academy Award – and Rita Moreno.
Hingert was born in Colombo, Ceylon on January 9, 1937 and appeared in two films made in her home country: Circus Girl and the Elizabeth Taylor-starring Elephant Walk, both released in 1954.
After she was crowned Miss Ceylon (the country now called Sri Lanka) in 1955, she went on to compete in the first Miss Universe pageant to be televised.
As an 18-year-old, she became the first Ceylonese contestant to win an award at the competition when she finished second runner-up.
After the Miss Universe pageant, Hingert secured a contract at Universal Studios as well as a role in Pillars of the Sky, a Western starring where she starred alongside Jeff Chandler and Dorothy Malone.
Hingert went on to act in The King and I, as well as filling out her IMDb with credits in Westerns including 1958’s Gun Fever and 1959’s Gunmen From Laredo.
In 1958, Hingert married Mario Armond Zamparelli, a designer who was largely known for his work with business magnate, aerospace engineer and occasional film producer Howard Hughes. Zamparelli was the Chief Executive Designer of Hughes’ business empire.
Hingert and Zamparelli had three children together, including Marisa who shared a statement when her mother died. Their two other daughters Gina Zamparelli and Andrea Zamparelli respectively died in 2018 and 2009.
The couple divorced in 1970, after which Hingert remarried William J Ballard, who died in 2012.
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