Postcard History

This essay examines seven women, whose names have faded into history, but they should be remembered for the lives they led, not the deaths they suffered. Decade upon decade there are young women who are much too young to die, but death always comes as an uninvited guest. We know many of their names because they chose careers where they would present themselves to the public as actresses, singers, and models representing one of the world most subjective industries.

Love affairs, low self-esteem due to misplaced trust, and poor career choices are only excuses, not reasons. The effect of working as a young (I suppose the word “beautiful” should be here) Hollywood actress is so damaging that only the strongest personalities can live to be old women.

Carole Landis

Carole Landis, an enchanting and soon to be a Hollywood super-star, died on July 5, 1948, at the age of 29, from an overdose of Seconal, a sleeping pill, after a romantic fallout with actor Rex Harrison. Known for her roles in One Million B.C. and Topper Returns, she was also beloved for her efforts to entertain the troops during World War II. Her death was ruled a suicide.

Controversy has long surrounded her death, with her family suspecting foul play and questioning Harrison’s delayed response upon discovering her. Despite the mystery, Landis is remembered not only for her beauty and talent but also for her warmth, patriotism, and her emotional legacy.

Dorothy Dandridge

The first African American woman nominated for an Academy Award, Dorothy Dandridge, died on September 8, 1965, at the age of 42. Her nomination was for Best Actress in her performance in the title role of Carmen Jones, an Otto Preminger block-buster movie released in 1954.

Despite her success, Dandridge faced relentless racial barriers, personal heartbreak, and financial hardship. Her later years were marred by a declining career, failed relationships, and the emotional toll of caring for her special needs daughter.

On the day of her death, she was found unresponsive in her apartment. While initial reports cited an embolism as the cause, later findings discovered excessive amounts of an antidepressant in her blood. Whether accidental or intentional, her passing underscored the immense pressures she endured as a black woman in a segregated industry.

Linda Darnell

Linda Darnell, once hailed as “the girl with the perfect face,” met a tragic end on April 10, 1965, at the age of 41. While visiting her former secretary’s home in Glenview, Illinois, a fire broke out during the night. Ironically, Darnell had been watching Star Dust—the very film that launched her career—on television just before the blaze began. Trapped on the second floor, she suffered burns over 80% of her body and died the following day in a Chicago hospital.

The fire was accidental, likely caused by careless smoking near a living room sofa. Darnell’s ashes were eventually interred in Union Hill Cemetery in Pennsylvania after a decade in storage due to a dispute over her original wish to have them scattered on a New Mexico ranch

Her death marked a sorrowful close to a career that had a very bright future.

Lupe Vélez              

Lupe Vélez, the fiery Mexican actress known as the “Mexican Spitfire,” died on December 14, 1944, at age 36. A pioneer in Hollywood, Vélez had a vibrant career in silent films and made the transition to the “talkies” without a hitch. Her personal life, however, was a total and absolute mess. The tumult began when she became pregnant and abandoned by her lover, Austrian actor Harald Ramond. As a result, Vélez took her own life with an overdose of Seconal, a barbiturate.

She left behind a poignant suicide note expressing despair over her situation and concern for her unborn child. Though rumors and myths later clouded the circumstances of her death, official reports confirmed she died peacefully in bed. Her death shocked the world and she, like others, remains a haunting reminder of the pressures faced by women in early Hollywood.

Marie McDonald

Marie McDonald was born in 1923 in Kentucky. Her mother was a former Ziegfeld girl and her grandmother an operatic singer. Her father was a warden at Leavenworth Prison. Her parents divorced when Marie was just six years old. Marie’s mother remarried and moved to Yonkers, New York, where she attended Roosevelt High School and excelled in piano and wrote for the school newspaper.

She was one who suffered from the unprincipled behavior of many Hollywood executives. One once dubbed her Marie “The Body” McDonald, and a few reporters chose to use it in a headline, unfortunately, it stuck with her thereafter.

As a former beauty queen turned actress and singer, McDonald once worked with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and rose to fame in the late 1940s. She appeared in films like Guest in the House and The Geisha Boy.

Despite her glamorous image, her life was marked by personal turmoil, including multiple marriages (six) and a controversial kidnapping claim that drew wide-spread media scrutiny. Apparently, a grand jury declined to press charges, and the truth behind the incident remains a mystery.

She died on October 21, 1965, at the age of 42. Her sixth husband, Donald F. Taylor, found her unresponsive in their Hidden Hills, California, home early that morning. The coroner ruled her death an accidental overdose due to “active drug intoxication.”

Though her career had faded, her death shocked the country. McDonald left behind three children, who were raised by her ex-husband Harry Karl and his wife, actress Debbie Reynolds.

Marilyn Monroe

Because of her fame, the whole world learned of Marilyn Monroe’s death on August 4, 1962, at age 36. She was found in her Brentwood, Los Angeles home, having succumbed to a barbiturate overdose. Officially ruled a suicide, her death shocked the world and sparked decades of speculation.

Miss Monroe had struggled with mental health issues, substance abuse, and intense media scrutiny. Despite her tragic end, she remains a figure of beauty and vulnerability. The circumstances of her death remain a subject of fascination.

Allyn King

Allyn King’s tragic death in 1930 at age 31 marked a time in the history of American entertainment that shows how the dark side of beauty became a standard in show business. Born in North Carolina in 1899, King rose to fame as a vaudeville performer and Ziegfeld Follies girl, captivating audiences with her charm and talent. Her career flourished in the 1920s, with appearances on Broadway and in silent films.

Nevertheless, behind the glamour there was relentless pressure to conform to an idealized image of femininity. King’s contract famously included strict physical requirements, mandating that her weight and body measurements remain within narrow limits.

Trying to maintain her “boyish figure” that was fashionable at the time, she resorted to dieting and the use of pills. After nearly three years of starvation diets, her health deteriorated so severely that she was hospitalized.  Meanwhile, she lost not only her health but wealth. She was forced to live with an aunt. Although she attempted a comeback, the emotional toll of her fading career proved overwhelming.

On March 29, 1930, King jumped from the fifth-story window of her aunt’s New York City apartment. Though she initially survived the fall, she succumbed to her injuries two days later. She left behind a note expressing despair over her inability to return to the stage.

One rather despicable newspaper editor headlined her obituary with the line, “She would rather die than weigh 149 pounds.”

Allyn King’s death sparked public discourse about the unrealistic expectations placed on women in the entertainment industry. Her story remains a reminder of the cost of fame and the dangers of valuing appearance over well-being. Now, nearly a century later, her legacy has been forgotten, but every day, newly discovered young women have to endure the price of perfection to be in the spotlight.