McNamara, Maggie (1928–1978)
McNamara, Maggie (1928–1978)
American actress . Born on June 18, 1928, in New York City; died of an overdose of pills in New York City on February 18, 1978; married director David Swift (divorced).
Maggie McNamara was born in New York City on June 18, 1928. A fashion model while still in her teens, she wanted to be an actress and studied drama and dance from 1948 to 1951, when she made her Broadway debut. She later replaced Barbara Bel Geddes in the lead role in the play The Moon is Blue, a comedy that was considered quite racy for its time. She became a film star when she reprised the role in the 1953 movie version, directed by Otto Preminger, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Despite this promising start and starring roles in her next two films, Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and Prince of Players (1955), lasting fame eluded her. McNamara returned to Broadway in Step on a Crack in 1962, but failed to secure any subsequent stage roles, and appeared on film for the fourth and last time in 1963's The Cardinal, in which she had only a supporting role. McNamara abandoned her acting career and began working as a typist, but suffered from mental illness and committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in 1978.
Grant Eldridge, freelance writer, Pontiac, Michigan