Jean Seberg

JEAN SEBERG d1979. American actress who lived much of her life in France. She appeared in 34 films in Hollywood & Europe, most notably ; Saint Joan / Bonjour Tristesse / Breathless / Lilith / The Mouse That Roared / Moment To Moment / A Fine Madness / Paint Your Wagon and Airport. Her film debut was as Joan of Arc in the 1957 film Saint Joan. She won a talent search conducted by Preminger that reportedly tested more than 18,000 young women for the role. She was also one of the best-known targets of the FBI Cointelpro project. Her victimization was rendered as a well-documented retaliation for her support of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s. On the night of August 30th 1979, Jean Seberg disappeared. Her partner Hasni told police that they had gone to a movie that night and when he awoke the next morning, she was gone. After she went missing, Hasni told police that he had known she was suicidal for some time. He claimed that she had attempted suicide in July 1979 by jumping in front of a Paris subway train. On September 8th (nine days after her disappearance) and aged just 40, her decomposing body was found wrapped in a blanket in the back seat of her Renault parked close to her Paris apartment. Police found a bottle of barbiturates, an empty mineral water bottle and a note written in French from Seberg addressed to her son. It read in part, "Forgive me. I can no longer live with my nerves". In 1979, her death was ruled a probable suicide by Paris police, but the following year additional charges were filed against persons unknown for "non-assistance of a person in danger ...........".