Margaux Hemingway

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Margaux Hemingway

Born Margot Louise Hemingway
February 16, 1955
Portland, Oregon
Died July 1, 1996 (aged 41)
Santa Monica, California
Spouse(s) Erroll Wetson (1975-1978)
Bernard Foucher (1979-1987)

Margaux Louise Hemingway (February 16, 1955 – July 2, 1996) was an American fashion model and actress, who appeared in several movies. She was born in Portland, Oregon, the sister of actress Mariel Hemingway and the granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway. In addition to Mariel Hemingway, she had another sister, Joan. She grew up on her grandfather's farm in Ketchum, Idaho.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Hemingway was named for the wine, Château Margaux, which her parents, Puck and Jack Hemingway (the son of Ernest), were drinking the night she was conceived. In later years, after giving up drinking alcohol, she returned to spelling her name Margot. She struggled with a variety of disorders in addition to alcoholism, including bulimia and epilepsy. She allowed a video recording to be made of a therapy session related to her bulimia and it was broadcast on television. Due to dyslexia, she did not read many of the books her famous grandfather wrote. She once said, "I am not a Hemingway aficionado."[cite this quote]

In an E! True Hollywood Story that profiled Hemingway's life, her mentor and close friend Zachary Selig discussed how he helped launch Hemingway's early career with his initial marketing and public relations work as she became a global celebrity, and he introduced her to yoga and the Solar Kundalini "Codex Relaxatia" paradigm as tools for success and to overcome some of her debilitating mental disorders. Selig and Hemingway spent time with the Hemingway family at their property in Ketchum, Idaho adjacent to Sun Valley, where they both studied Solar Kundalini, yoga and meditation together. Hemingway would continue using these relaxation skills for the rest of her life.[1]

[edit] Career

At six feet tall, Hemingway experienced great success as a model, including a million-dollar contract for Fabergé as the spokesmodel for Babe perfume in the 1970s. She lost the contract due to her unflattering image as a perpetually drunk typical model at Studio 54. She also appeared on the covers of Vogue and Time magazines.

She appeared in the 1976 movie Lipstick alongside her sister Mariel. The bad reviews of her performance were made worse by the critics' adoration of 14-year-old Mariel.

Her first marriage, to Errol Wetson, ended in divorce. They met when, at 19, she accompanied her father to the Plaza Hotel in New York City on a business trip, and four months later she moved from Idaho to New York City to live with Wetson as a guest at Selig's apartment at 12 East 72nd Street, a residence that was owned by heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. It was there that Selig made Hemingways's business and social introductions to his friends such as Marian McEvoy, fashion editor at Women's Wear Daily, photographer Francesco Scavullo, fashion designer Halston, Vogue magazine fashion editor Francis Stein, and Selig's cousin Jon Revson. Revson, a scion of the Revson family that created Revlon cosmetics, declined Selig's offer for Hemingway to endorse Revlon, where as later Fabergé signed her on with the largest salary of its day. Revson did come to visit both Selig and Hemingway with the Hemingway family in Ketchum, Idaho after Hemingways's Time magazine cover appeared in June 1975 to congratulate her. Marion Macelvoy quickly interviewed Margaux at a party given by Selig, which resulted in Hemingway's Women's Wear Daily front and back page story that launched Hemingway into the fashion limelight.[1]

On the rebound, Hemingway married Venezuelan Bernard Fauchier, and they lived in Paris for a year. She also divorced him in 1985 after six years, and the end of the marriage left her feeling suicidal. Like her grandfather, she experienced occasional bouts of clinical depression all through her life. After a skiing accident in 1984, she gained 75 pounds and became more and more depressed. In 1987, she checked into the Betty Ford Center. Making a comeback, Hemingway appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine in May 1990, and she asked Playboy to hire Selig as the creative director for her cover story. It was shot in Belize.[2]

Hemingway experienced familial dramas throughout her life. Her relationship with her mother, Puck, was fraught with tension, but they did reconcile prior to Puck's death from cancer in 1988. She also experienced intense competition with Mariel, her younger sister and a more famous actress. In the 1990s, Hemingway went forward with allegations that her godfather had molested her as a child, and her father, Jack, and stepmother, Angela, resented the allegations and stopped speaking to her. Angela told People magazine, "Jack and I did not talk to her for two years. She constantly lies. The whole family won't have anything to do with her. She's nothing but an angry woman."[3]

She supported herself later in life by autographing her nude photos from Playboy magazine, and endorsing a psychic telephone hotline. She enjoyed yoga and meditation. The last year of her life, she was looking forward to hosting the outdoor adventure series Wild Guide on the Discovery Channel.

[edit] Death

On July 2, 1996, the anniversary of her grandfather's own suicide, Hemingway was found dead in her studio apartment in Santa Monica, California at age 41. She had taken an overdose of phenobarbital, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's findings one month later.[4] Though her death was ruled a suicide, Mariel Hemingway long disputed this finding. Mariel's husband, Steve Crisman, said, "This was the best I'd seen her in years. She had gotten herself back together."[cite this quote] On a December 22, 2005 edition of Larry King Live, however, Mariel said she now accepts the fact that Margaux committed suicide.[5]

Her remains were cremated and Margaux was buried in the Hemingway family plot in the Ketchum Cemetery in Ketchum, Idaho.

[edit] Filmography

  • Lipstick (1976)
  • Killer Fish (1979)
  • They Call Me Bruce? (1982)
  • Inner Sanctum (1991)
  • Double Obsession (1992)
  • Deadly Rivals (1993)
  • Dangerous Cargo (1996)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b E! True Hollywood Story. Margaux Hemingway, season 1, episode 4. 1997.
  2. ^ Hemingway, Margaux "Papa's Girl." Pictorial by Arny Freytag. Playboy Magazine, Vol. 37, Issue 5. May, 1990. Pg. 126-135.
  3. ^ Schneider, Karen S.. "A Life Eclipsed", People, 1996-07-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. 
  4. ^ Margaux Hemingway committed suicide, coroner rules. CNN.com (1996-08-20). Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  5. ^ Larry King Live: Surviving Suicide of Loved One. CNN.com (2005-12-22). Retrieved on 2008-05-24.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Hemingway, Margaux
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hemingway, Margot Louise
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress, model
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Portland, Oregon
DATE OF DEATH July 2, 1996
PLACE OF DEATH Santa Monica, California