Bizarre Hollywood Deaths: Gwili Andre

Many young men and women have packed up and moved to Hollywood throughout the years with high hopes of finding fame and fortune. Only a select few actually reach their goal which sadly means that a great number never see their dreams come to fruition. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Gwili Andre was fortunate enough to briefly live the Hollywood life, but when her star began to fade she was unable to cope. Gwili Andre's suicide sadly became her legacy, as most people would not remember her had it not been for the bizarre manner in which she killed herself.

Gwili Andre was the stage name of Gurli Andresen, born in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 4, 1908. There is little information on Gwili's early life or when she came to America, however, when she did arrive in Hollywood, people took notice of her Greta Garbo good-looks and eventually became promoted as "America's Most Beautiful Model." She caught the attention of movie producer David O. Selznick at RKO Studios and she signed with that company to try her hand at acting. In 1932 Gwili made her debut in Roar of the Dragon, playing the role of femme fatale "Natascha" opposite actor Richard Dix. The reviews of the film and Gwili's performance were harsh, referring to her character as "lifeless." Gwili fulfilled her contract with RKO Studios, starring in Secrets of the French Police in 1932 and in 1933's No Other Woman with Irene Dunn. Neither of those films did anything to further Gwili's reputation as an actress and it was reported that she was dropped from starring in 1934's The Captain Hates the Sea. Gwili was romantically linked to the eccentric Howard Hughes during this time, which many believed was a publicity stunt. Gwili took a brief hiatus from acting while planning a comeback, but she was only cast in minor supporting roles, such as her part in the Joan Crawford film A Woman's Face in 1941. Her personal life wasn't in much better shape than her acting career. She had divorced her first husband in 1935 and remarried wealthy engineer William Cross in 1940. They had one son, Peter Lance Cross, in 1944 but the couple divorced in 1948. Like so many other people battling hardships, she turned to alcohol to cope with her problems and was unable to return to acting or modeling. The day following her 51st birthday Gwili gathered the promotional items and publicity stills from her earlier career and set them on fire, allowing the fire and smoke to consume her. Gwili later died from injuries sustained in the fire.

Sources:

Allmovie.com
Gwili Andre Biography, IMDB