Hillevi Rombin

Hillevi Rombin Schine (September 14, 1933 – June 19, 1996) was a Swedish actress and beauty queen who was crowned as Miss Sweden and became the fourth winner of Miss Universe in 1955.

Biography

She grew up in Uppsala, Uppland, and was the Swedish national decathlon champion before she competed in the pageant. A remarkable athlete, Rombin excelled in gymnastics, track & field, and downhill skiing. After winning the pageant, she left Sweden for Hollywood to fulfill her acting contract with Universal Pictures, part of the prize package as Miss Universe. She studied acting along with John Gavin, Clint Eastwood, and Barbara Eden, among the other contract actors. Universal put her in a couple of films, with just one or two lines, to give her some exposure and experience. She was credited for small speaking roles in two films. In The Benny Goodman Story (1955) she asks for an autograph and in Istanbul (1957) she appears as a flight attendant near the film's end.

During her yearlong reign as Miss Universe, she traveled in the United States and met G. David Schine, a hotel-business heir who was a central figure in the Army–McCarthy hearings of 1954. Rombin married Schine in 1957 and discontinued her acting career to focus on married life. She and Schine had six children.

In 1996, the couple and one of their sons died in a private airplane accident, the result of an engine failure shortly after take-off. She was 62 years old and the first Miss Universe to die. The three are buried together at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in the Westwood area of Los Angeles.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1957 The Adventures of Hiram Holliday Episode: "Sturmzig Cuneiform"1957 Istanbul Air Hostess (final film role)