in 1953 maurey appeared opposite bing crosby in "little boy lost" that was filmed in france. the following year universal-international brought nicole maurey from france, gia scala from italy and myriam verbeeck from belgium to the united states to test for the role of mary magdelene in an unproduced biblical epic "the galileans". she remains most noted as charlton heston's leading lady in "secret of the incas" (1954), often cited as the primary inspiration for "raiders of the lost ark" (1981). she starred in films with alec guinness, bette davis, bing crosby, jeff chandler, fess parker, rex harrison, robert taylor and mickey rooney, among numerous others. she was the leading lady in the original 1962 science fiction cult film "the day of the triffids". later in life, she moved into television, appearing in various made-for-tv movies and mini-series.