Photograph of Maria Menado in a scene from a film

Title
Photograph of Maria Menado in a scene from a film
Year/Period
1960s
Region
Singapore and Malaysia
Dimension
Image size: 8 x 10.4 cm
Accession No.
2005-01106

Maria Menado was born in Menado, Indonesia in 1931. She got her start in acting at Shaw Brothers’ Malay Film Productions before moving on to work for Cathay-Keris. She is famous for her role as the ‘pontianak’ (female vampire) in the box-office hits: ‘Pontianak’ (1957), ‘Dendam Pontianak’ (1957) and ‘Sumpah Pontianak’ (1958), all directed by B.N. Rao. She set up her own film production company, Maria Menado Productions in 1959, making her Malaya’s first film-star producer.