Born in Portland, Oregon, she grew up in on a farm in Ketchum, Idaho. But dad was Jack Hemingway, son of the Nobel prize winning author Ernest Hemingway and, with that heritage, fame was almost foreordained. By the time she was 21, after the lead in the rape melodrama Lipstick, she had a budding movie career, a $1 million promotional contract with Faberge perfume, and her face on magazine covers around the world. But, within the decade, it was all lost. Her sister Mariel Hemingway, whose role in Lipstick had been suggested by Margaux, was a much greater success; she had started drinking heavily; two marriages had failed. In 1988, she checked herself into the Betty Ford Center for rehabilitation. Attempts to parley her recovery from alcohol into a revived career failed and, by the time she was 41, almost nothing was left. She lived alone in a studio apartment, no children, no lover, few friends. Neighbors informed police that she had not been seen for days and, on July 1, they entered through a 2nd floor window. Dental records had to be used to confirm her identity.
Passed away without probable cause, found in her studio apartment in Santa Monica, California by friends. Last seen on the street on Saturday, June 29, 1996 by neighbor. [1996] L.A. coroner's office concluded that Margaux Hemingway killed herself by taking an overdose of a sedative. She was the fifth person in her family to commit suicide. Near the end of her life her career was reduced to such things as autographing X-rated trading cards for Playboy magazine, and working on a psychic telephone hotline. Found dead in her Santa Monica apartment one day before the 35th anniversary of the suicide of her grandfather Ernest Hemingway, whose father, brother and sister also committed suicide. Margaux had taken an overdose of Klonopin which is a benzodiazepine. (The benzodiazepine Klonopin is often used in the treatment of certain epileptic seizures as well as in the treatment of anxiety.) Interred at Ketchum Cemetery, Ketchum, Idaho. Margaux's sister Mariel stated, "She (Margaux) was found with her legs propped up on a pillow, with a book in her lap. That does not sound like someone who committed suicide. The coroner said the same thing. Also, my sister was somewhat a drama queen. If she had committed suicide, she would have left a note ... a long note naming everyone who had ever wronged her." Mariel went on to say that it was three weeks after Margaux's death that it was announced that she had committed suicide, and that the press most likely said this because it "made for a better story." Sister Mariel Hemingway, while appearing on Larry King Live on CNN, stated publicly that Margaux did not commit suicide. She said that the original coroner reported that Margaux most likely died of an epileptic seizure. [11 July 2001] Granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway Sister of actress Mariel Hemingway Measurements: 34A-23-35 1/2 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Sister-in-law of Stephen Crisman.