Actress Margaux Hemingway Dies -- Natural Causes Suspected, Possibly Related To Epilepsy

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Margaux Hemingway, the model-turned-actress and troubled granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, was found dead in her seaside apartment.

The death did not appear to be a suicide and there was no sign of forced entry or foul play, police said.

Coroner's spokesman Fred Corral said the initial determination was "apparent natural causes," most likely related to her history of epilepsy.

An autopsy was scheduled.

Ms. Hemingway, 41, who moved into the second-floor apartment a few weeks ago, had not been seen by friends or neighbors since Saturday. A friend, concerned that she hadn't returned phone calls, climbed a ladder to peek through a window and saw her body on a bed.

Ms. Hemingway was a supermodel in the 1970s, gracing the cover of Vogue, People and Time magazines and making headlines with a $1 million contract to promote Faberge's "Babe" perfume.

The 6-foot blonde made her movie debut in "Lipstick" in 1976, opposite younger sister Mariel. She appeared in several other critically panned movies, while also struggling with alcoholism and bulimia, and could not match her sister's success.

Judy Stabile, the friend who went to Ms. Hemingway's apartment, said the actress had long overcome her problems with alcohol and bulimia. Ms. Hemingway was treated at the Betty Ford Center in 1988.

Alcoholism and early deaths have plagued the Hemingway clan.

For Ernest Hemingway, one of the most widely read American

novelists of the 20th century, boozing and physical trauma led to depression, electroshock therapy and a final mental collapse. He shot himself to death on July 2, 1961, 35 years ago today. His brother, sister and father also killed themselves.

"For a time, I was living the life of Ernest Hemingway," Ms. Hemingway said after her rehabilitation. "I think alcohol drove my grandfather to suicide, but I'm still alive because I did something about it."

Margaux Hemingway was born in Portland, Ore., in 1955. She left her Ketchum, Idaho, home for New York City in 1974. A year later she achieved fame. Ms. Hemingway was married and divorced twice.

Her career included performances in relatively obscure films including "Over the Brooklyn Bridge, "Mass in C Minor," "Killer Fish," "They Call Me Bruce?" "Killing Machine," "Porta Mi La Luna," "Inner Sanctum" and "Deadly Rivals."

Two years after checking into the Betty Ford clinic, Ms. Hemingway sought to revive her film career by posing nude in "Playboy."

She made several documentaries, including an award-winning special for ABC titled "Hemingway's Adventure: Fly Fishing in South America."

Two years ago, she was treated at a mental institution after a period of bizarre behavior.

Ms. Hemingway's agent, David Mirisch, said yesterday that she had recently finished shooting "The Wild Guide," a nature show for which she was the host for the Westinghouse Broadcasting Group.

"For the past week or 10 days, she hasn't really been the Margaux Hemingway that we all knew as far as having that `up' personality," Mirisch told CNN. "We really felt this series was going to bring her back."

Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report.