No matter what they have done in their later years, certain performers will always be known for one specific role, and they will never be able to shake that association.
Just to mention a few, Marlon Brando will always be known as The Godfather, Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, and Jennifer Gray as Baby Houseman in Dirty Dancing will always be remembered.
But Kim McGuire, the actress? She will always remind me of Mona “Hatchet-Face” Malnorowski from the musical Cry-Baby, at least in my eyes.
Kim McGuire became an overnight Hollywood star when the cult hit debuted in 1990, but only six years later, her stardom had completely faded.
On December 1, 1955, Kim Diane McGuire was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. At first, it appeared that Kim would pursue a career in law, much like her lawyer father.
However, Kim decided to pursue a career in dancing after finishing high school in New Orleans. She consequently pursued a master’s degree in theater and dance at the University of New Orleans.
Kim Diane McGuire was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 1, 1955. At first, it seemed as though Kim would become a lawyer like her father.
However, after completing high school in New Orleans, Kim made the decision to pursue a career in dance. So she went to the University of New Orleans to get her master’s in theater and dance.
However, Kim had a strong fatherly legacy and had a keen interest in the legal field. So she too attended Loyola Law School and graduated from law school.
But Kim would succeed in the entertainment sector. She made others laugh and feel unique since she had “a joyful personality and was always smiling.”
Kim honed her acting abilities at the University of New Orleans, where she appeared in numerous plays produced by the theatre department. Kim relocated to New York City in 1989 to pursue a career in theater.
John Walters had already begun writing the script for a movie he was calling “Hatchet-Face” in 1985. A “lady and her complex beauty concerns” was the subject of the movie. But even though the movie was never made, John Walters’s persona would endure. So when he began developing Cry-Baby, Walters wanted to include a character that was comparable.
Harris Glenn Milstead, better known by his stage name Divine, has been conjectured to have been cast as Mona “Hatchet-Face” Malnorowski. The American performer, drag queen, and actor has previously appeared in several of Walter’s films. However, Milstead passed away unexpectedly in March 1988, a year before Cry-production Baby’s got underway.
Hatchet-Face, a hideous and obnoxious juvenile gang member who is commanded by Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker played by Johnny Depp, was cast in 1989.
For those of you who don’t know, Cry-Baby is a 1950s Baltimore-set teen musical romantic comedy movie. The main character of the film is Allison, a stunning middle-class woman who defies her family and envious boyfriend by starting a relationship with Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, a motorcycle gang leader played by Johnny Depp.
When casting for the film, Walters was very clear about what he was seeking. He said “Hatchet-Visage” had “the physique of Jayne Mansfield and the face of Margaret Hamilton… and nobody, but nobody, gives her sorrow.”
The “Hatchet-Face” search advertisement caught people’s attention since it stood unique. Wanted: Girl with good body and scary face who is proud of it, it said.
The contestants were instructed to send Cry-Baby productions a personal card. Kim McGuire seized the opportunity without delay.
That week, I had only sent my photo to six casting directors at random. I emailed it to Paula Herold, the casting director, even though I had no idea what the movie, Reversal of Fortune, was about. In It Came From Baltimore, a special feature on the director’s cut DVD of Cry Baby, Kim commented, “And I think I had a reversal of fortune, because they called me in for Cry-Baby.
After Kim’s tryout, Waters “very instantly” hired her.
I’ve wanted to do this since I was three years old. When I first started, I was a dancer and declared that I intended to be a triple threat by doing both Shakespeare and Chekhov… It just seems so amazing to me. I detest to admit it, but I have always wished to be famous.
The part would eternally alter Kim, making her famous in movie history. The audience was left with a lasting impression by the distinctive appearance she wore in the film.
Kim already had a very striking appearance, but Cry-Baby further accentuated her inherently odd facial traits. Kim eventually lost her ability to be recognized.
Later, Walters remarked, “That expression she wears in the movie is definitely makeup; Kim has a pretty blank face in real life.
A critic referred to Kim’s character as “a Cubist poster-child” because of the horrifying quantity of makeup she was wearing.
Kim handled the attention surrounding her arrival with ease.
She remarked to The Atlanta Journal in 1991, “When people see me after seeing it, they think I look pretty nice.”
People spoke about more than simply her beauty and her bizarre facial expressions. In a large ensemble cast that featured well-known actors like Iggy Pop, Ricki Lake, Troy Donahue, Willem Dafoe, and of course, Johnny Depp, Kim, who was 34 at the time, produced a great role interpretation. She was undervalued as an actress in many ways.
For instance, Walters learned during a series of test screenings that Kim’s rendition of “Hatchet-Face” received rave reviews.
As a result, the director decided to include more sequences with Kim’s character, thus the production team was instructed to shoot fresh scenes with her.
Sadly, after its 1990 debut, Cry-Baby, which had a $12 million budget, was seen as a box office dud.
But since then, the movie has developed something of a cult following, and a Broadway musical with brand new songs was created from it. The musical premiered in 2008 at the Marquis Theater in New York City, according to IMDB. It had 68 performances and received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Book, and Score.
Kim McGuire would find it difficult to advance her acting career despite the success of Cry-Baby. She relocated to Los Angeles, but that had little effect.
Kim made a cameo appearance in John Waters’ Serial Mom two years after she made her television film debut in Acting on Impulse in 1993. However, it is very obvious from looking back at the 1990s that Kim was not the sexiest actress in Hollywood.
She made her final appearance on television on an episode of New York Undercover in 1995.
After getting married in 1994, Kim’s life began a new chapter. A few years after the wedding, she began practicing law in Los Angeles and focused on the area of entertainment law. She was successful in her new work, but it appeared like she was unable to give up performing, which was her true calling.
She and her husband Gene relocated to New York in the early 2000s for “a last hoorah in theater.” But we’ll never know if moving to New York would have helped Kim further her career.
After 9/11, the couple’s employment dried up, and they were forced to leave New York. Kim and Gene made the decision to relocate to Biloxi, a Mississippi city on the Gulf of Mexico, that same year in order to start again.
They built themselves a new life and began working at the Mississippi Repertory Theater Company. While her husband Gene worked in advertising and marketing, Kim handled the legal matters.
Sadly, in 2005, the pair would have a severe setback. When Hurricane Katrina “slabbed” their home one August day, their entire life came crashing down.
“We had firmly established ourselves in Biloxi. It’s unfortunate how things turned out, Kim McGuire said to Sun Herald in 2015.
When Katrina slammed into their house one summer day, their entire lives came crashing down at once.
Stormy winds and high water on August 29, 2005, compelled Kim and Gene to leave their house. In fact, when the calamity hit in full force, the couple had to swim for their life.
Kim had much lost everything, including her home, possessions, family memories, and way of life. Nothing could have prepared the former actress for Hurricane Katrina, despite the fact that she had grown up in New Orleans and was accustomed to strong storms.
In order to save his wife, her husband Gene had to carry Kim on his back. They sought shelter in a school breezeway but were left out in the storm for eight hours before the winds died down. Later, she and her husband were evacuated to Mobile, Alabama, where Kim was treated for a foot injury.
Kim’s life was destroyed, but her foot recovered.
Except for Gene’s Emmy, which was discovered broken amidst the debris that formerly was their home, they reportedly lost everything.
Kim and her husband went around and stayed in motels and shelters after Katrina. The couple, who were essentially living alone, moved into low-income accommodation in November 2005. Kim’s parents had likewise lost everything; they were New Orleans residents.
We ultimately had to move into Section 8 housing. a genuine shift. We were both very well off in Los Angeles. My outfits cost $1,200 each. To nothing from there. Having nothing in Beverly Hills. Just a significant change in way of living. It goes beyond tangible things. Its roots are eroding. It’s terrible that I haven’t seen my parents in three years, Kim stated in 2015.
Kim was able to land a position in Alabama as a lawyer. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, she assisted weak women who had broken up relationships with their spouses.
Kim and Gene relocated five times in ten years. But they will always have the memory of the catastrophe.
“Despite their best efforts, they can never prepare adequately for something like this. We should know because we experienced the 9/11 attacks, lived through the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, and are currently living through this. After the disaster, he told the San Diego Union Tribune, “I told a friend about all of that, and he said, “Do me a favor and tell me where you’re relocating to next..”
The pair ultimately settled in a new location after a 10-year ordeal that included homelessness and financial difficulties.
Kim and Gene relocated to Naples, Florida, where they led happy lives. Kim was able to preserve her resiliency and perseverance despite all the challenges she had to overcome. As you can expect, the entire Katrina incident had a negative psychological and physical impact on both Kim and Gene.
About her 2005 experiences and how Katrina affected her and her family, the Cry-Baby actress penned a book. She kept assisting the victims in her capacity as a lawyer as well.
Sadly, Kim didn’t have much time to settle into her new life in Florida. She was admitted with pneumonia to the ICU at Physicians Regional Hospital in Naples, Florida, in September 2016.
Unfortunately, when Kim didn’t improve after receiving treatment, the doctors were helpless. The day after checking into the hospital, she passed away from a heart attack. Aged 60, she was.
Kim McGuire’s passing was widely reported in 2016, and her husband Gene, close friends, and family all expressed their sorrow at her passing.
“Kim’s family, friends, and fans have shown her an amazing and consoling amount of love and prayers. The family of Kim thanks you very lot. According to her obituary, Kim was a dancer, choreographer, actor, lawyer, and novelist who thanked her wonderful father for instilling a passion of learning in her.