Jean Seberg

Had an older sister, Mary Ann (b. 1936) and two younger brothers, Kurt (b. 1942) and David (1950-1968).

Was a huge fan of Marlon Brando, since seeing his screen debut in the movie The Men (1950). As a teenager, Seberg wrote to Brando and invited him to stay with her parents in Iowa. She met him years later and Brando asked her to renew the invitation.

Jean Dorothy Seberg was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, to Dorothy Arline (Benson), a substitute teacher, and Edward Waldemar Seberg, a pharmacist. Her father was of Swedish descent and her mother was of English and German ancestry. One month before her eighteenth birthday, Jean landed the title role in Otto Preminger's Saint Joan (1957) after a much-publicized contest involving some 18,000 hopefuls.

The failure of that film and the only moderate success of her next, Bonjour Tristesse (1958), combined to stall Seberg's career, until her role in Jean-Luc Godard's landmark feature, Breathless (1960), brought her renewed international attention.

In the late 1960s, Seberg became involved in anti-war politics and was the target of an undercover campaign by the FBI to discredit her because of her association with several members of the Black Panther party.

Son, Diego Gary, was born out of wedlock on July 17, 1962 in Barcelona, Spain. Romain Gary was married to Lesley Blanch until September 1962. To avoid public scrutiny, he and Jean lied about Diego's year of birth, claiming their son was born in 1963.

Seberg gave a memorable performance as a schizophrenic in the title role of Robert Rossen's Lilith (1964) opposite Warren Beatty and went on to appear in over 30 films in Hollywood and Europe.

Was considered for one of the two female leads in Fahrenheit 451 (1966) before François Truffaut decided Julie Christie would play both parts as a dual role. Another role Seberg was considered for that ultimately went to Christie was that of Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago (1965).

Julie Andrews, Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Diana Rigg and Tuesday Weld each turned down the role that went to Seberg in Paint Your Wagon (1969). (Kim Novak actually wanted to play it but was rejected.) Actresses considered for Seberg's role in Lilith (1964) included Yvette Mimieux, Natalie Wood, Samantha Eggar, Sarah Miles and Diane Cilento.

Her involvement with the Black Panther Party attracted the attention of the FBI, which spread the rumor about her pregnancy in 1970 being a child by Raymond 'Masai' Hewitt, a Black Panther movement leader. Although Seberg initially claimed Romain Gary was the father, after the baby's death she confessed that the father was actually a student revolutionary named Carlos Navarra. The incident may have contributed to her persistent depression over the years, and her decision to take her own life in 1979.

François Truffaut wanted her to play Julie in Day for Night (1973), but she never returned his calls, so Truffaut eventually gave up and cast Jacqueline Bisset.

On every subsequent anniversary of her daughter Nina's death, Jean attempted suicide. In 1978, she somehow survived an attempt, throwing herself under a train on the Paris Metro.

On May 31, 1979, she went through a form of marriage to 19-year-old Algerian playboy Ahmed Hasni. Reverend Thomas Duggan had officiated a "blessing" of the couple at the American Church in Paris, but the ceremony had no legal force because Seberg was still legally married to Dennis Berry.

Her marriage to 24-years-older Russian novelist Romain Gary was tempestuous and profoundly unhappy due to his obsessive, Svengali-like influence on her. Gary took his own life by gunshot in 1980; however, he stated in his suicide note that Jean's suicide the year before had nothing to do with his.

One of the last of her lovers was French filmmaker Jean-Claude Messager, who spoke to CBS's Mike Wallace for a 1981 profile of the actress.

A musical, simply titled "Jean Seberg," based on her life, premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London in 1983. It was written by Julian Barry, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Christopher Adler.

Survived by both parents, Edward Seberg and Dorothy Benson. Her father died in 1984 and her mother died in 1997.