Maggie McNamara

Who was Maggie McNamara?

Marguerite "Maggie" McNamara was an American stage, film, and television actress and model.

McNamara began her career as a teenage fashion model. She made her Broadway stage debut in 1951 replacing Barbara Bel Geddes in F. Hugh Herbert's hit play The Moon Is Blue. She later reprised the role in the controversial 1953 film version directed by Otto Preminger. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the film.

By the mid-1950s, McNamara's career began to decline. She appeared in two films after The Moon Is Blue and made her final film in 1963. After five guest-starring roles in television series in early 1960s, she retired from acting. For the remainder of her life, she worked as a typist in New York City. In February 1978, McNamara died of a barbiturate overdose at the age of 48.