Title
Maria Menado
Year/Period
1960s
Region
Singapore and Malaysia
Dimension
Object size: 8.5 x 6 cm
Accession No.
2007-55197
Collection of
NLB Type
Photograph
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.
