Maggie McNamara: American actress and model on screen 1949 – 1964, born Marguerite McNamara 18 June 1929, New York; died 18 February 1978, 49 years of age, New York; barbiturate overdose.
Discovered by the Powers Modelling Agency as a schoolgirl, McNamara was plucked from obscurity by Otto Preminger for the lead role in the controversial and sexually-frank film The Moon Is Blue (1954). Refusing to play the Hollywood game, McNamara acted only sporadically, appearing prematurely aged in TV roles 1963 – 1964, then retired to New York where she worked as a typist.
Her suicide in 1978, following acute depression, was widely reported.
