Lynne Baggett was a 1940s starlet whose struggled with addiction and took her own life
She was born Ruth Baggett on May 10, 1924 in Witchita Falls, Kansas. Her father, David Baggett, worked in the oil industry and her mother, Ruth Simmons Baggett. was a stenographer. At the age of eighteen she was discovered by Warner Brothers talent scout. Lynne signed a three year contract and made her film debut in the 1941 drama Manpower, The flame haired beauty appeared in the films The Adventures Of Mark Twain, Hollywood Canteen, and Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford. Unfortunately most of the roles she got were bit parts. In 1946 she signed with Universal and was given her first leading role in The Time Of Their Lives. The movie was not a success and her career quickly stalled. She married director Sam Spiegel, who was twenty-two years older, than her in 1948. The couple had a turbulent relationship and were known for their frequent fighting. During the marriage she had affairs with John Huston and writer Irwin Shaw. Lynne had a supporting role in the 1951 film-noir The Mob. It would be her final film. She and Sam separated in January of 1952. By this time she was suffering from severe depression and was addicted to sleeping pills.
On July 7, 1954 she was involved in a hit and run car accident that killed a nine year old boy. Lynne was arrested and charged with manslaughter. After several headline making trials she was convicted of a felony hit and run and served fifty days in jail. She said "The judge did me a favor. This is the end of a cycle of bad luck for me. The past three years have been filled with anxiety because of my marital problems." Her marriage to Sam ended in divorce in 1955 and she received a settlement of $91,000. In June of 1959 she attempted suicide by overdosing on pills. A few months later she claimed she was severely injured when a foldaway bed fell on her. Lynne began suffering from paralysis due to her drug use. She spent several months in a sanitarium where she was diagnosed as a "chronic depressed neurotic". Tragically on March 23, 1960 she was found dead in her apartment from an overdose of sleeping pills. She was only thirty-five years old. Her death was ruled a suicide but some of her friends believed it was an accident. Lynne was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
