She was born February 19^th 1955 in Portland Oregon and was named for the famous Bordeaux vineyard Chateau Margaux that supposedly inspired her conception. (Later in life after suffering from alcohol dependence she changed the spelling of her name to Margot.) She was the granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway who killed himself (via shotgun) on July 2, 1961. Shortly after the suicide of her grandfather, Margaux suffered her first epileptic fit at age 7. Growing up she spent most of her youth on a ranch in Ketchum Idaho, which greatly appealed to tomboy Margaux who was a skilled outdoorswoman – who could hunt, shoot, ride, ski, fish and absolutely loved adventure. She was not much for school. In fact, she never finished high school; dyslexia had made math and reading especially difficult for her.

High school didn’t seem essential, especially when the six-foot tall 17 year old was awarded the first ever million-dollar contract for a model by endorsing Faberge and Babe perfume. In addition to her height and bone structure, her predominant feature were her exceptionally full eyebrows. It was sudden stardom. She was even featured on the cover of ‘Time’ magazine. Seemingly overnight she was one of those Studio 54 celebrities (she went at least once a week) though she claims that she always felt awkward amongst the Halston-Liza crowd -- “…like I was just this girl from Idaho”…drinking helped ease her awkwardness. In true Hemingway fashion she prided herself on her ability to hold her liquor. Initially used as a social lubricant, her drinking would eventually become a serious problem.

Gorgeous and famous the next step seemed only natural. She parlayed her modeling celebrity into a movie career. Her high profile film debut was a starring role in the rape revenge flick ‘Lipstick’ in 1976 with Anne Bancroft, Chris Sarandon, and Perry King. The film was declared “wretched” and was torn apart by critics who seem to take special glee in targeting her unskilled performance. Ironically, the critics praised the natural acting ability of her younger sibling Mariel, who played her kid sister in the film. Margaux Hemingway earned her racksandrazors “members card” for her next film – her work in the deliciously bad Piranha clone ‘Killer Fish’ (1979) with a cast that includes Lee Majors, Karen Black, Marisa Berenson, James Franciscus, and Gary Collins. Then she filmed kung fu parody ‘They Call Me Bruce?’ in 1982 with Johnny Yune. In 1988 she entered The Betty Ford Clinic to overcome her alcohol addiction. As her career continued its rapid downward slide she did a ‘Playboy’ spread in an effort to revive her career. The roles that followed in the 90s were primarily adult thrillers.  In 1991 she starred in ‘Inner Sanctum’ (costarring Joseph Bottoms and Tanya Roberts and in which Hemingway was body doubled by Michelle Bauer), ‘Double Obsession’ (1992) in which she plays a psychotic killer, she was a spy in ‘Deadly Rivals’ (1993) with adult thriller guru Andrew Stevens as well as Joseph Bologna and Richard Roundtree. Her final film ‘Dangerous Cargo’ (1996) featured Joey Travolta and Robert Z’dar in supporting roles.

The body was found on Monday when friends grew concerned about her and a building superintendent gained entry to the apartment.

The windows were closed tight and it was intensely hot and odorous in the apartment. The intensely spiritual (“always searching” say her friends) Hemingway had constructed an altar in her bedroom with flowers, white candles inside a white ribboned circle, a toppled chessman (knight), several pendants, etc…and a note with the words “Love, healing, protection for Margot forever”. (She used the “sober spelling” of her name yet in her unplugged refrigerator were 8 bottles of Becks Beer and an open bottle of champagne.) She was lying on her back on her queen-sized bed with blankets up to her chin. She wore only a white T-shirt, which was stained with “post-mortem fluid”. At the time of discovery the body had already begun the first stages of decomposition – skin discoloration and slippage as well as gas distention.

Initially the death was thought perhaps to be accidental. Friends could not understand her passing.  However, the coroner subsequently ruled suicide when the autopsy revealed there was 10 times the recommended dosage of Phenobarbital in her system. She left no note. She was cremated at Forest Lawn in Glendale and her ashes were shipped back to Ketchum Cemetery for burial. She was the 5^th Hemingway (Ernest, his father Clarence, and the writer’s siblings Ursula and Leicaster) in 4 generations to take her own life. A sad farewell indeed.