Margaux Hemingway

Margaux Hemingway was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up on a farm in Ketchum, Idaho. Her father was Jack Hemingway, son of Nobel prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway, a heritage that made fame almost foreordained. With her first lead role in the rape melodrama Lipstick (1976), she had a budding movie career, a $1 million promotional contract with Faberge perfume, and her face on magazine covers worldwide. She was 21 at the time. Within a decade, it was all lost. Her sister Mariel Hemingway, whose role in Lipstick had been suggested by Margaux, was a much greater success. Margaux started drinking heavily; two marriages failed. In 1988, she checked herself into the Betty Ford Center for rehabilitation. Attempts to parley her recovery into a revived career failed, and by 41 almost nothing was left. She lived alone in a studio apartment, with no children, no lover, and few friends. Neighbors informed police she had not been seen for days; on July 1, 1996, they entered through a second-floor window. Dental records confirmed her identity. She was American, a supermodel and actress, standing 6'0" with a slim build, brown hair, and blue eyes. She posed naked for Playboy in May 1990. Margaux was active from 1976 to 1996, starting around age 22. She was married to Errol Wetanson from 1975 to 1978 and Bernard Foucher from 1980 to 1987, both ending in divorce. Her sister is Mariel Hemingway, and her niece is Dree Hemingway. Margaux died at 42, leaving a brief but notable legacy.