Juliann Graham

Juliann Graham (February 15, 1915-July 15, 1935) was a church choir singer from Sistersville, West Virginia who became an actress in Hollywood. She worked in the city library in Sistersville before moving west to make motion pictures.

Her only screen credit is in the role of a waitress in "Love In Bloom" (1935). The film was directed by Elliott Nugent and starred George Burns and Gracie Allen.

Graham shot and killed herself in the home of screen cameraman Ben F. Reynolds, 2879 Sunset Place, Los Angeles, California, in 1935. She had spent the weekend at Santa Catalina Island and felt too ill to return to her own residence at the Studio Club. Graham begged Reynolds to take her home until she felt better. He covered her up in a blanket on a davenport (sofa) and went to bed.

Reynolds was awakened on the morning of July 15 by a gun report. He found Graham on the floor under a dressing table, dying from a bullet wound through the temple. She had been seated in front of a mirror and put a gun to her temple. Reynolds called police. Graham died a short time after at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Reynolds was not held by police. His wife was on a vacation trip in the east.

The Los Angeles coroner decided there would be no inquest. Police said that Graham had attempted suicide twice before. She first swallowed poison on March 8, 1934, shortly after arriving from West Virginia. She again swallowed poison the following September.

References

*Los Angeles Times, "Film Girl Dies Of Bullet As Dream Of Fame Fades", July 16, 1935, Page A1.
*Los Angeles Times, "Actress Suicide Theory Upheld", July 21, 1935, Page 5.

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