Graham, Barbara Wood (1923–1955)

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Graham, Barbara Wood (1923–1955)

American executed at San Quentin. Born in 1923; executed for murder in San Quentin by cyanide poisoning on June 3 (some sources cite June 5), 1955; married four times; children: one.

Convicted of murder, Barbara Graham was executed by cyanide poisoning in San Quentin in 1955, though some thought she was wrongly implicated by three male companions who were using her in hopes of modifying their own fates. To the final hour, she claimed her innocence, maintaining that she had been home with her husband and newborn son at the time of the killing of Mabel Monahan , a wealthy widow, in Burbank. But a troubled past, that included bad checks, drug addiction, and perjury, and her condemnation by a sensationalized press ensured her execution. Graham was the subject of the 1958 movie I Want to Live!, for which Susan Hayward won an Academy Award.

sources:

I Want to Live! (120 min. film), based on newspaper articles by Ed Montgomery and letters of Barbara Graham, starring Susan Hayward, directed by Robert Wise, produced by United Artists, 1958.

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