ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO NEWS OBIT
DATELINE: SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
SOURCE: Associated Press
MARGAUX HEMINGWAY, granddaughter of Ernest and older sister to Mariel, battled bulimia and alcohol between successes.
Margaux Hemingway's mysterious death, days shy of the 35th anniversary of her grandfather Ernest Hemingway's suicide, ended a Hollywood career of booze, bulimia and life in the shadow of her little sister, Mariel.
The statuesque 41-year-old model and actress was found dead Monday in her beach apartment.
She was last seen Saturday. It was unclear what killed Hemingway, but police Sgt. Gary Gallinot said there was no sign of foul play and no illegal drugs were found.
No suicide note was found, ``but we're not ruling it out,'' Gallinot said. An autopsy was planned for Tuesday, but coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey said it could be weeks before a cause of death is determined.
``The body was decomposed, and that often doesn't lead to immediate answers,'' Harvey said.
Hemingway had epilepsy, said her agent, David Mirisch. He said it was possible she didn't take her medication and suffered a fatal seizure.
Neighbor Peter Osterland recalled seeing her on the street Saturday. ``She seemed rather upset and sad. It was obvious enough that it stuck in my mind at the time,'' Osterland said.
Hemingway posed nude for Playboy in 1990, and last month she spent several days at the Playboy offices signing 2,000 collectible cards.
``She seemed pleasant, and she was looking forward to reviving her career. She said she had a lot of irons in the fire,'' Playboy spokesman Bill Farley said.
Hemingway had been doing a psychic hot line for about a year, Mirisch said. She also worked recently as host of ``The Wild Guide,'' a nature TV show for Westinghouse Broadcasting Group.
Near her apartment Tuesday, most neighbors said they didn't know Hemingway, who had moved in recently.
``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,'' her agent said.
Her younger sister, Mariel, was in seclusion with her father and stepmother at the family home in Idaho, Mirisch said. Calls to the Hemingway home weren't immediately returned.
A friend, Judy Stabile, said Hemingway had overcome problems with alcohol and bulimia. ``She doesn't drink. She doesn't do that stuff at all,'' Stabile said.
The 6-foot blonde, named after the fine Chateau Margaux wine, was 19 when she left her Ketchum, Idaho, home for New York and found almost instant fame as a supermodel.``I was a potato from Idaho,'' Hemingway said recently, describing her family as ``very, very dysfunctional.''
She graced the cover of Vogue and landed a $1 million contract to promote a Faberge perfume.
But she was disenchanted by the glamour industry, once saying: ``I genuinely thought that people liked me for myself - for my humor and good qualities. I never expected to meet so many professional leeches.''
She didn't fare well in Hollywood. Her movie debut in 1976 was in the poorly received rape drama, ``Lipstick,'' which also featured Mariel. That was followed by forgettable roles in ``Killer Fish'' in 1979, ``They Call Me Bruce?'' in 1982 and ``Inner Sanctum'' in 1991.
The same year ``Killer Fish'' came out, Mariel Hemingway was starring in the 1979 Woody Allen film ``Manhattan,'' which got her an Oscar nomination.
Meanwhile, her sister, named after the fine Chateau Margaux wine, struggled with alcohol and bulimia.
In 1987, Margaux Hemingway had a bad seizure, caused by alcohol and epilepsy, and nearly bit off her tongue. She then contacted the Betty Ford Center. After a 1988 stint there, Hemingway said, ``For a time, I was living the life of Ernest Hemingway.''
Her grandfather, notorious for drinking and periods of severe depression, killed himself with a shotgun July 2, 1961. His brother, sister and father also killed themselves.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Margaux Hemingway\Found dead in homeby CNB