Darbi Winters

[motherogod]

So ever since I started trolling the celebrity gravesites, I've wondered who is this Darby Winters, a.k.a. Terryl Andersen, child actress? I first saw her listed on beneathlosangeles.com, then find a grave but nowhere else. I've been to her grave-- only made sense to say hello to her AND Marilyn together!

I keep searching but still get nothing... other than her father killed her, she was "buried next to her idol, Marilyn Monroe."

Just interested.

Oops... edit spelling to Darbi, not Darby! Sorry, Darbi!

[mrsjorgy]

What is her claim to fame? I can't find anything

[BlueRose]

Only thing I could find about her was at Find a Grave:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...=gr&GRid=22939

[hrhdiesel]

Ive been searching under her real name terryl lee andersen but found nothing... only the findagrave info...how depressing. This poor girl needs to recognistion - there must be something out there about her?

[attackatdawn]

Ok I found something Quote: One young actress (never famous or ever in film) was murdered by her stepfather and is entombed near Marilyn Monroe, her idol.

I am assuming that is Darbi Winters as it says on find a grave she was murdered ny her stepfather. So if she was not famous that is probably why we can't find anything http://socalstudio.org/calendar/walk...s/westwood.htm

Scroll down to the 4th paragraph

[GODDESS6]

Ok I found something Quote: One young actress (never famous or ever in film) was murdered by her stepfather and is entombed near Marilyn Monroe, her idol.

I am assuming that is Darbi Winters as it says on find a grave she was murdered ny her stepfather. So if she was not famous that is probably why we can't find anything http://socalstudio.org/calendar/walk...s/westwood.htm

Scroll down to the 4th paragraph

good wrk, i was searching the net madly trying to find something~

[motherogod]

You guys are the best! You don't know how many times over the years I've done the same searches but never found the info you found, attackatdawn! An actress but never famous. Thanks!

I guess I can put model on my epitaph... I've been photographed! Anyway, that helps! I've kind of obsessed about this one for awhile.

[Maxster]

There is some new activity in Terry Lee's Find-a-Grave entry, including a memorial note from one of her three cousins.

[KELT]

What is her claim to fame? I can't find anything

Her entombment diagonaly next to MONROE
is her claim to fame.

[Nicki]

I have always wondered about Darby Winters myself. Hope someone who follows FAD can share some information and enlighten us a bit about what actually took place in Darby's young life.
Not sure who Terry Lee is?

[Pamebabby]

AW, that's nice she is where she wants to be buried, but sad, too. Poor girl.

[Maxster]

I have always wondered about Darby Winters myself. Hope someone who follows FAD can share some information and enlighten us a bit about what actually took place in Darby's young life.
Not sure who Terry Lee is?

Darby Winters was her stage name. Her surname at the time of her death was that of her stepfather, but her mother chose to memorialize her under the name of her biological father.

[cachluv]

I found this on page# 275 of a book called Conspiracy in Camelot: The Complete History of the Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy by Jerome A. Kroth:

"One tier above Marilyn, in the same wall, lies the body of an obscure teenager called Darbi Winters. She was murdered in 1962, just after Marilyn's death. She had only recently told her mother that, one day in the distant future, she wanted to be buried near Marilyn Monroe."

Nothing we didn't already know

[Guest]

Wow thank you for the information, very sad.

[King Tut]

Wow thank you for the information, very sad.

Ditto that.

[Mintgiver]

Here's an odd hypothetical question for you.

Say you were Darbi's living kin; a cousin or something. A relative of anyone buried adjacent to Marilyn, really. What if someone offered you BIG money for the crypt, and even offered to pay for the reburial of the person moved. What would you do? Would it matter if you were close to the person or not?

Just something I have wondered about over the years. If a crypt on that section of the wall came up for sale, it would go for a good price, I think.

[King Tut]

Here's an odd hypothetical question for you.

Say you were Darbi's living kin; a cousin or something. A relative of anyone buried adjacent to Marilyn, really. What if someone offered you BIG money for the crypt, and even offered to pay for the reburial of the person moved. What would you do? Would it matter if you were close to the person or not?

Just something I have wondered about over the years. If a crypt on that section of the wall came up for sale, it would go for a good price, I think.

Wow. What an entrepreneurial mind you have!! I wanna start a business with you!

[Maxster]

The crime was headline news in October 1962, and details can be found in archived California newspapers of the day.

[motherogod]

Amazing story, thanks JSKnowles. Wow. Her story really does deserve to be heard.

As does your question, mintgiver!

[Lout_Rampage]

I have a few questions about the bio given by JSKnowles.

- How could she be considered an up and coming star if she'd never been in anything?

- Why would she be mentioned in movie magazines if she'd never been in anything?

Maybe she was "out on the town" with a real star, on one of those fake dates the studios would set up? Also, it sounds like some polite euphemisms are being used to get around the term "stage mother".

Sounds like the poor girl was the casualty of a relationship between a control freak and a drunk. I wouldn't be surprised if the internment location was entirely mom's idea.

RIP Terryl Lee Anderson. You didn't deserve what you got.

[ratkin638]

I have a few questions about the bio given by JSKnowles.

- How could she be considered an up and coming star if she'd never been in anything?

- Why would she be mentioned in movie magazines if she'd never been in anything?

Maybe she was "out on the town" with a real star, on one of those fake dates the studios would set up? Also, it sounds like some polite euphemisms are being used to get around the term "stage mother".

Sounds like the poor girl was the casualty of a relationship between a control freak and a drunk. I wouldn't be surprised if the internment location was entirely mom's idea.

RIP Terryl Lee Anderson. You didn't deserve what you got.

I have what I believe are correct answers to your questions, but let me stress that this is all speculation on my part.

Hollywood was still in the later stages of the studio system in the early 1960s. Studios would hire people like Darbi Winters and use them in their stable of players. The Darbe Winters of the world would start as extras or bit players and work their way up (they hoped) to supporting or starring roles for that studio. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is "up and coming star." A publicist would be hired to create exactly that impression, and getting what were then called 'starlets' mentioned in movie magazines was part of the process.

All of what JSKnowles says would be consistent with that idea.

[Lout_Rampage]

I have what I believe are correct answers to your questions, but let me stress that this is all speculation on my part.

Hollywood was still in the later stages of the studio system in the early 1960s. Studios would hire people like Darbi Winters and use them in their stable of players. The Darbe Winters of the world would start as extras or bit players and work their way up (they hoped) to supporting or starring roles for that studio. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is "up and coming star." A publicist would be hired to create exactly that impression, and getting what were then called 'starlets' mentioned in movie magazines was part of the process.

All of what JSKnowles says would be consistent with that idea.

Ahh, I see. Thank you!

[Maxster]

Ive been searching under her real name terryl lee andersen but found nothing... only the findagrave info...how depressing. This poor girl needs to recognistion - there must be something out there about her?

There is; so far, I've found it in online vital statistics records and archived newspapers.

The crime itself was well-publicized and briefly shared headlines with the Cuban Missile Crisis and the California gubernatorial election. It was reported in newspapers across the country.

[deathpool]

Very interesting. I wonder if there are any pictures of her around.

[Maxster]

Photos of Terry definitely exist. If anyone has access to Ancestry.com, at least one of the archived newspapers has a photo. (The edge is visible in the sample fragment.)

Try your local library for microfilmed archival newspapers from October 20-24 of 1962.

Edit: The L.A. Times archives has seven articles available. One of them is bound to contain a photo.

[deathpool]

hmm i might try looking there.

[Maxster]

The first article has a grainy photo. (I bought access to all seven articles.)

[deathpool]

maybe you could post it up. Was she blonde?

[Maxster]

No, she was raven-haired, with dark eyes.

[deathpool]

She was pretty. thanks for the pic . I dont know why i always thought she was blond. maybe because she wanted to be buried near her idol marilyn. That stepfather of her's was a brute to hurt her never mind kill her.

[Maxster]

I found two more (via archived papers accessed through Ancestry.com), but they are of terrible quality. The large pair were in the Alameda Daily Review Oct. 19, 1962.

They were captioned "Trophies for acting and dancing frame two pictures of 16-year-old Terryl Lee -----...."

The smaller picture is from another paper, and evidently is a crop taken from the left of the two Daily Review pictures.

[Maxster]

I have a few questions about the bio given by JSKnowles.

Alas, it seems the bio has been deleted.

- How could she be considered an up and coming star if she'd never been in anything?

She'd performed with USO shows, appeared on local TV shows, and sang with a trio in nightclubs. The newspaper accounts from 1962 are peppered with adjectives like "promising" and "talented." Perhaps she even appeared in some small film parts, or recorded? I am wondering if there is a body of work to be found, hidden away in Los Angeles vaults.

Sounds like the poor girl was the casualty of a relationship between a control freak and a drunk. I wouldn't be surprised if the internment location was entirely mom's idea.

My findings suggest the opposite, that Ms. Andersen overcame numerous challenges to give her daughter a chance to fulfil her potential. (For starters, I think she was a single mother.) There's more to the story here.

As a point of note, although Terry's mother and stepfather are long dead, her birth father may be very much alive. I connected the dots of the online records, and with a bit of luck, confirmed my hunch.

[Maxster]

Here's a photo from a teen magazine of Terry on a publicity date with 21-year-old Tommy Kirk:

[1karenhb]

Thanks for the great photo maxster.

[Rhonda]

So how did the Step-father kill her and why?

[KELT]

Here's a photo from a teen magazine of Terry on a publicity date with 21-year-old Tommy Kirk:

It could have been a publicity date since TOMMY KIRK was
about as interested in women as he was in nuclear fusion.

[Maxster]

So how did the Step-father kill her and why?

The two were arguing, and in a drunken rage, fueled by resentment over his perception that her film career had ruined his marriage, he strangled her.

[radiojane]

It could have been a publicity date since TOMMY KIRK was
about as interested in women as he was in nuclear fusion.

That's a great way to put it.

I remember very vaguely something about this case. The stepdad was extremely unstable to begin with wasn't he?

I could be mixing up my dead starlets.

[KELT]

The two were arguing, and in a drunken rage, fueled by resentment over his perception that her film career had ruined his marriage, he strangled her.

Good gawd !

[motherogod]

Excellent work, Maxster!

[Guest]

Funny, I just googled Darbi Winters, check out the first entry:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...q=darbi+winter

[foryoudarbi]

Here's an odd hypothetical question for you.

Say you were Darbi's living kin; a cousin or something. A relative of anyone buried adjacent to Marilyn, really. What if someone offered you BIG money for the crypt, and even offered to pay for the reburial of the person moved. What would you do? Would it matter if you were close to the person or not?

Just something I have wondered about over the years. If a crypt on that section of the wall came up for sale, it would go for a good price, I think.

Here's an odd NOT hypothetical answer from her cousin. This has actually been asked of me by a friend. Not enough money for us to do something like that to our cousin. Too disrespectful to both her and her mother.

I would like to thank eveyone for their interest in my cousin Terry. We will be designing a website to her memory and will have some pictures to share in the near future. Your posts have actually been very helpful to me and I do appreciate it. Sometimes, with all the info out there, it is kind of overwhelming on where to look. Luckily someone contacted me after I posted on her "find a grave" memorial site and was very helpful. I had no idea some of these websites existed.

So, thank you again, and I will keep you posted on her website progress.
Cindy

[Rhonda]

Hi, Cindy!! So what was the circumstances regarding the murder - and what happened to the step-father?

[Mintgiver]

Thank you, Cindy for the confirmation. I had heard that the offers were made, but I didn't know how to go about verifying it.

Please tell us a little about Darbi. It is sad that her name is known for her death, but not for her life. She looks like a girl with drive, and it seems she was willing to put in the effort for her career.

Thanks for doing what you can to keep her memory alive. I am sure she is pleased.

[Maxster]

Hi, Cindy!! So what was the circumstances regarding the murder - and what happened to the step-father?

The stepfather was convicted of second degree murder on April 30, 1963, and on May 23, was sentenced to a prison term of five years to life. Amazingly, considering he had faced a death sentence for the crime, a letter-writing campaign by his friends and associates succeeded in getting him paroled after serving only five years.

He died in 1995, aged 73. He had been predeceased by his wife ten years before. She was only 58 and had once again taken the name of the soldier she said had fathered her child. The biological father appears to be very much alive, aged 86 and a prominent member of his community.

[Maxster]

An independent tribute site is taking shape, still a work in progress: http://darbi-winters.com

Research continues, but I'm not yet at liberty to discuss my findings.

[warmbear]

Here's an odd hypothetical question for you.

Say you were Darbi's living kin; a cousin or something. A relative of anyone buried adjacent to Marilyn, really. What if someone offered you BIG money for the crypt, and even offered to pay for the reburial of the person moved. What would you do? Would it matter if you were close to the person or not?

Just something I have wondered about over the years. If a crypt on that section of the wall came up for sale, it would go for a good price, I think.

It depends on the laws of the state.. Today in some states, relatives cannot change burial arrangements made in accordance with the wishes of the deceased. (Washington is one such state)

[Maxster]

Can anyone here identify anyone (apart from Terry Lee) from the five-person group shot? It was shot by the famed beatnik photographer Earl Leaf at a New Years 1962 party. The tall, dark-haired fellow in one of the other shots appears to be actor Richard Beymer.

Terry Lee is the girl in the hat.

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Se...i%20winters%20#

[raphis]

I am a frequent lurker.

IMDB has Terryl/Darbi listed as Terryl Lee Yeigh. Not much new information other than she had been on the Pinky Lee show. It lists her stepfather as Amos Emery Yeigh and that she had been strangled, left under her bed and her mom found her two days later.

Back to my corner now.

[Maxster]

I created the IMDB listing, using her legal name at the time of her death, but not the (incorrect) salacious details.