Maggie McNamara

Instead, Maggie pursued acting, taking classes and appearing in several plays. She married actor David Swift in 1951. Her big break came when she was cast in a Chicago production of The Moon Is Blue. She spent eighteen months touring with the show, and when Otto Preminger adapted it for film, he gave her the lead role. The movie's frank treatment of sex made it controversial, and it was banned in several states. However, her performance received rave reviews and earned her an Academy Award nomination. She signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and starred in the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain. But she upset the studio by refusing to pose for cheesecake photos or move to Los Angeles.

In 1955, she had an affair with Richard Burton, her costar in Prince of Players. Her marriage to David Swift ended in 1957, and she suffered a nervous breakdown. She had a brief romance with scriptwriter Walter Bernstein. In 1963, Otto Preminger gave her a small role in The Cardinal, and she appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone that year. Unable to find work as an actress, she took a job as a typist and wrote a script she hoped would be made. But she struggled with severe depression. On February 18, 1978, she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills and tranquilizers. She was 49 years old. Maggie is buried in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.