MovieChat Forums > The Beguiled (1971) Discussion > Death of both stars in 1 week...

Death of both stars in 1 week...

posted 16 years ago by Meryllevykryza
14 replies | jump to latest

Both of the female stars in this film, Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Hartman
died 8 days apart:

June 10th, 1987, Hartman committed suicide by throwing herself out of a window
( I met her in college at Carnegie-Mellon--a beautiful, delicate, talented, and intense girl, who I never saw smile)

June 18th 1987- Geraldine Page died of a heart attack

Both excellent actresses..

Beware the dreamers of the day, for they would enact their dreams with open eyes-Lawrence of Arabia

[–] Loomis_Orange 16 years ago

Do you know of any biographies written on Elizabeth Hartman? I would like to know about her childhood, what caused her depression. I think I rememeber reeading somewhere that she and her husband had broken up and she was depressed but I have always had this eerie feeling that the seeds of sadness were planted much, much earlier. Like you said, she never smiled even as a lovely young college girl.

Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night? ~~ Jack Kerouac

[–] Meryllevykryza 16 years ago

No, I don't, unfortunately.
I knew her husband , who she met at Carnegie- Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(where she also killed herself). Very nice guy, Gil Dennis ( unlike his sister, who was the most repulsive person I ever met).
I saw a picture of him and Elizabeth together once,from the 60's, and he was in an army uniform.
He was also a theater student, very smart, polite, handsome-- I think he was a playwritng major or director ( we were all there the same time that James Cromwell and Rene Auberjonios were students.)
I have 1 small connection to him: a friend who he loaned an album of "Lotte Lenya sings Berthold Brecht" to, gave it to me to listen to. She left school early for vacation, and I looked around for him to give it back, but couldn't find him, and since I didn't return to school for my final year due to illness, I still have it.
Hey, Gil, if you see this, I'll be glad to return it...

Beware the dreamers of the day, for they would enact their dreams with open eyes-Lawrence of Arabia

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

Well, I've been looking all over for that copy of "Lotte Lenya sings Bertolt Brecht." Time for you to return it. April Fools!

That is very sad that Geraldine and Elizabeth should die within just a few days of each other, though of course it's just one of those weird coincidences. Geraldine Page was one of the finest actresses to grace the big and small screen, and she lived a long and full life. Elizabeth Hartman was a promising young actress who unfortunately was consumed by her own demons.

This world is an emptier place without them, though thankfully they left a remarkable body of work to remember them by -- including this film.

[–] LoveMyRatBoys 10 years ago

You think Geraldine Page lived a long and full life???
She was only 62 when she died... That's only 6 years older than what I am now... No, not a LONG life...

[–] WarpedRecord 10 years ago

Sorry about that. Her life was more full than long. I thought she was older when she died. She seemed older to me in "The Trip to Bountiful."

[–] LoveMyRatBoys 10 years ago

Yes she did look alot older in The Trip to Bountiful... but the character was supposed to be old... But she was only 62... very sad...

[–] nursewratchet_romanorn 14 years ago

It says 3 days on imdb, but either way it is very eerie....Both died way too young. Its too bad no one at the psych hosp. caught her in time to help her. I wonder what Clint was doing that week?????

[–] Gonsaro 13 years ago

You know what's even weirder. At least three beautiful actresses who worked with Clint committed suicide:
-Inger Stevens (Hang 'Em High), age 35
-Jean Seberg (Paint Your Wagon), age 40
-Elizabeth Hartman (The Beguiled), age 43

Good looks and a promising career aren't everything...

I'm very interested in Clint's career and personal life and I've read he had a (sexual) relation with Jean Seberg, but left her heart-broken after the film was finished. About Inger Stevens I'm not sure.

Must be weird to know 3 young colleagues who commit suicide...

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mazeppa1968 13 years ago

a beautiful, delicate, talented, and intense girl, who I never saw smile)

Yeah, and I'd bet my bottom dollar in real life she was the type who went in for the detructive type of relationships, dangerous type guys, that kind of angst-ridden need many pretty women have, and a boredom of anything sweet and safe. If so, I always find it hard to feel sympathy for such women when they finally self-destruct or getting topped off.

[–] activista 11 years ago

@mazeppa

Yeah, and I'd bet my bottom dollar in real life she was the type who went in for the destructive type of relationships, dangerous type guys, that kind of angst-ridden need many pretty women have, and a boredom of anything sweet and safe.

Yeah, but we don't know if that actually was the case with this actress. Sometimes people with mental illness get it because it runs in their families, or it has to do with environmental and psychological factors,too----there's so many different factors involved in what causes that, and not just a simple factor of picking the wrong men (though that can be a contributing factor sometimes.) And sometimes women (or girls) who like "bad boys" usually like the because they get told by society that "bad boys" are more desirable because they're harder to get. Of course,they learn the hard way down the line that "bad boys" usually don't make good husband material at all, and sometimes they can more trouble than they're worth. Anyway, I liked the film----it was disturbing and intriguing in parts, and very well-made on top of that. Always liked anything Geraldine Page was in,anyway---especially when she specialized in playing evil b******---she was truly at her best and most fun to watch when she did that.

[–] dragmio 11 years ago

"Bad boy" hype is one of the biggest cons in history. It's known even who started it. (A certain female "novelist".) But it's perpetuated ad nauseam by the media machinery because it apparently helps keep women submissive (and good consumers, too).
In my youth I lived in a country not influenced by the western media. Back then "bad boys" weren't deemed very desirable. Only girls who couldn't do better ended up with them.
But now I'm a part of the free world! The women have come to their senses! They're eating up the "bad boy" BS as if with a spoon. Go bad boys, go bad boys, go!

[–] gioconda91423 10 years ago

Yeah, and I'd bet my bottom dollar in real life she was the type who went in for the detructive type of relationships, dangerous type guys, that kind of angst-ridden need many pretty women have, and a boredom of anything sweet and safe. If so, I always find it hard to feel sympathy for such women when they finally self-destruct or getting topped off.

What a nasty, bitter comment to make about the life of a woman who most likely passed away before this poster was born.

"Bitsy" Hartman suffered from clinical depression. Her husband and family placed her in professional treatment some time before her suicide. At that point in her life, she was no longer working in acting due to her mental health problems. Unfortunately, despite treatment, her mental health issues could not be resolved.

May she rest in peace.

May those who suffer clinical depression find help.

ETA
Holy cr&p. I just realized this movie was made almost 45 years ago. What are we arguing about at this point in time? "Bitsy" was a friend of my mother's hairdresser who told us how sick the poor woman was...and how tragic was her demise. This was freaking decades ago. Wow. Time files.

[–] hawktwo 11 years ago

In the movie The Group, Elizabeth Hartman is friends with a character who commits suicide by falling out of a window. (I think the storyline is that everyone thinks it's suicide, but officially leaves it as an accident.)